My last two picks are in no danger of being selected by anyone else. But they are incredibly personal and important to me, as they represent two very important times in my life.
With my 24th pick, I'm going back further than anyone else and selecting an album that came out in 1958, although it was recorded in 1939.
I grew up listening to the sounds of the Big Band era coming from my mom's record player. On rare occasions, she and my dad would dance to this music on our living room rug, entertaining me and my brother and providing me with the roots from which my love of music would grow. Is it dated? Oh hell yes. But, like my next pick, it represents a mixture of treasured family images with their own sound track.
The Carnegie Hall Concert - Glenn Miller - 1958
In the late fall of 1939, the music publishing company ASCAP put on a concert at Carnegie Hall to celebrate their 25th anniversary. Four orchestras were present that night and performed to a very appreciative audience. Glenn Miller's band was last to perform, following Benny Goodman, Fred Waring and Paul Whiteman. Those three orchestras became after-thoughts once Miller took the stage. His band played everything from swing to slow romantic mood music.
It has been called Miller's defining moment.
1. Moonlight Serenade/Running Wild
2. Sunrise Serenade
3. Little Brown Jug
4. Stairway to the Stars/To You
5. One O'Clock Jump
6. Danny Boy (Londonderry Air)
7. Jim Jam Jimp/F.D.R. Jones/Hold Tight
8. In the Mood
9. Bugle Call Rag/Moonlight Serenade
My mom has been gone for almost four years. I lost my dad 29 years ago. When I hear this album, though, I picture them as they were back then in my childhood. It's a good memory to have for my island.
BTW? The picture on the video clip is of Jimmy Stewart, who played Glenn Miller in the movie,
The Glenn Miller Story.