Mitch Miller

Mitch Miller (1911 - 2010) was interviewed for nearly two-and-a-half hours in New York, NY.  Miller talked about his early musical interests in high school, where he played the oboe.  He talked about his first professional jobs in Rochester, New York, and his move to New York City. He mentioned working with George Gershwin and described the orchestration of “Rhapsody in Blue.”  He talked about joining the CBS symphony orchestra in the mid-30s, where he appeared on radio through the 1940s.  He talked about working at Mercury Records and then Columbia Records, and his nurturing of musical talent (such as Johnny Mathis) and his developing of hit songs (including “I Believe”).  He talked about providing the song “Let Me Go Lover” to the CBS drama anthology series Studio One, which became an instant hit record for unknown Joan Weber.  He briefly talked about his own hit record in “The Yellow Rose of Texas.”  He talked about getting his first exposure with sing along songs on television with the special Startime: “Sing Along with Mitch.”  Miller then spoke in great detail about his famed 1960s television series resulting from this special, Sing Along with Mitch. B-roll consisted of a shot of a Look magazine cover, along with shots of this issue’s article and internal photos.  The interview was conducted by Karen Herman on July 24, 2004.