Mitch Miller

In his two-and-a-half-hour interview, Mitch Miller (1911-2010) talks about his early musical interests and playing the oboe in high school. He talks about his first professional jobs in Rochester, NY, and his move to New York City. He mentions working with George Gershwin and describes the orchestration of "Rhapsody in Blue." He talks about joining the CBS Orchestra in the mid-1930s and appearing with them on radio through the 1940s. He discusses working at Mercury Records and then Columbia Records, nurturing musical talent (such as Johnny Mathis), and developing hit songs (including "I Believe"). Miller talks about providing the song "Let Me Go Lover" to the CBS drama anthology series Studio One, which became an instant hit record for then-unknown Joan Weber. He briefly mentions his own hit record, "The Yellow Rose of Texas." He speaks about getting his first exposure with sing-along songs on television with the special Startime: Sing Along with Mitch. Miller then speaks in great detail about his famed 1960's television series resulting from this special, Sing Along with Mitch. B-roll consists of a shot of a Look magazine cover, along with shots of the issue's article and internal photos. Karen Herman conducted the interview on July 24, 2004 in New York, NY.