In 2009,
Buddy De Franco recalled recording "Opus One" with Dorsey in the 1940s, commenting on Dorsey's desire to be precise and exact. Expanding on De Franco's opinions about Dorsey, writer Peter Levinson said, "He wanted things to be done his way." The band was popular almost from the moment it signed with RCA Victor for "On Treasure Island", the first of four hits in 1935. After his 1935 recording, however, Dorsey's manager dropped the "hot jazz" that Dorsey had mixed with his own lyrical style, and instead had Dorsey play pop and vocal tunes. Dorsey kept his Clambake Seven as a Dixieland group that played during performances. By 1939, Dorsey was aware of criticism that his band lacked a jazz feeling. He hired arranger
Sy Oliver away from the
Jimmie Lunceford band. Sy Oliver's arrangements include "
On the Sunny Side of the Street" and "T.D.'s Boogie Woogie"; Oliver also composed two of the new band's signature instrumentals, "Well, Git It" and "
Opus One". In 1940, Dorsey hired singer
Frank Sinatra from bandleader
Harry James. Sinatra made eighty recordings from 1940 to 1942 with the Dorsey band. Two of those eighty songs are "
In the Blue of Evening" Sinatra achieved his first great success as a vocalist in the Dorsey band and claimed he learned breath control from watching Dorsey play trombone. Dorsey said his trombone style was heavily influenced by
Jack Teagarden. Among Dorsey's staff of arrangers was
Axel Stordahl Bill Finegan, an arranger who left Glenn Miller's civilian band, arranged for the Tommy Dorsey band from 1942 to 1950. The band featured a number of instrumentalists, singers, and arrangers in the 1930s and '40s, including trumpeters
Zeke Zarchy,
Bunny Berigan,
Ziggy Elman,
Doc Severinsen, and
Charlie Shavers, pianists
Milt Raskin,
Jess Stacy, clarinetists
Buddy DeFranco,
Johnny Mince, and
Peanuts Hucko. Others who played with Dorsey were drummers
Buddy Rich,
Louie Bellson,
Dave Tough Edythe Wright,
Jo Stafford with
the Pied Pipers,
Dick Haymes, and
Connie Haines. In 1944, Dorsey hired
the Sentimentalists, name with which he renamed the already known vocal band The Clark Sisters asking them not to reveal their identity. They replaced the Pied Pipers. Dorsey also performed with singer
Connee Boswell In 1942,
Artie Shaw broke up his band, and Dorsey hired the Shaw string section. As
George T. Simon in
Metronome magazine observed at the time: "They're used in the foreground and background (note some of the lovely obbligatos) for vocal effects and for Tommy's trombone." Dorsey made further business decisions in the music industry. He loaned money to
Glenn Miller enabling him to launch his band of 1938, but Dorsey saw the loan as an investment, entitling him to a percentage of Miller's income. When Miller balked at this, the angry Dorsey got even by sponsoring a new band led by
Bob Chester, and hiring arrangers who deliberately copied Miller's style and sound. Dorsey branched out in the mid-1940s and owned two music publishing companies, Sun and Embassy. After opening at the Los Angeles ballroom, the
Hollywood Palladium on the Palladium's first night, Dorsey's relations with the ballroom soured and he opened a competing ballroom, the Casino Gardens circa 1944. He was promised $2,000 if he switched to their label. However, he was reported to have collected $2,500 instead. Jimmy Dorsey broke up his big band in 1953. Tommy invited him to join as a feature attraction. In 1953, the Dorseys focused their attention on television. On December 26, 1953, the brothers appeared with their orchestra on
Jackie Gleason's
CBS television show, which was preserved on
kinescope and later released on home video by Gleason. The brothers took the unit on tour and onto their own television show,
Stage Show, from 1954 to 1956. In January 1956, The Dorseys made rock music history introducing
Elvis Presley on his national television debut. Presley, then a regional country singer, made six guest appearances on
Stage Show promoting his first releases for RCA Victor several months before his more familiar visits to the
Milton Berle,
Steve Allen, and
Ed Sullivan variety programs. ==Personal life==