Solid!
The encyclopedia of big band, lounge, classic jazz and space-age sounds.
Tex Beneke
Born
- February 12, 1914
- Ft. Worth, TX
Died
- May 30, 2000
- Costa Mesa, CA
Real Name
- Gordon Lee Beneke
Tex Beneke
- BIOGRAPHY
- FILMOGRAPHY
Saxophonist Tex Beneke is best remembered for his long association with Glenn Miller. Beneke began his career performing in regional bands in the Oklahoma and Texas area. He joined Ben Young in 1935 and traveled to Detroit with Young's group in 1937. There he was heard by fellow saxophonist Sam Donahue, who recommended him to his then boss, Gene Krupa. Krupa couldn't hire Beneke but knew Miller was putting together a new outfit and informed the bandleader about him.
Beneke debuted with Miller's orchestra in 1938. He quickly became Miller's closest associate and emerged as a popular star in his own right. Aside from his sax duties he occasionally sang, most notably on the hit song ''Chattanooga Choo Choo.'' When Miller disbanded in 1942 to join the Army Air Force, Beneke found work touring with the Modernaires and playing for Jan Savitt and Horace Heidt. Three weeks after joining Heidt, at the reportedly princely sum of $500 a week, he was drafted into the Navy. While in the service he led a dance band at an Oklahoma military base.
After the war Beneke was recruited by Miller's widow to led a reformed Glenn Miller orchestra. Beneke readily accepted, and over the next few years the group charted several hits and played to record-breaking crowds. Its opening night at the Palladium in New York in 1947 attracted 6,750 dancers. Beneke, however, was not content with the restrictions placed upon him by Miller's estate. He was forced to stick with Miller's original and wartime books and allowed no innovation. Beneke felt that Miller's sound was capable of being expanded upon and often argued that Miller himself had planned to explore new directions after the war. Finally in 1950 Beneke broke his official ties with Miller and later formed his own band in the Miller vein.
Beneke's new orchestra quickly found itself popular, and it remained so for many years. Members of note include vocalist Eydie Gorme, in her professional debut, and Henry Mancini, who arranged for the band. Beneke continued working up until the 1990s. Tex Beneke passed away in 2000 from respiratory failure.