James, Harry (Haag)

James, Harry (Haag), vibrant American trumpeter and bandleader; b. Albany, Ga., March 15, 1916; d. Las Vegas, Nev., July 5, 1983. With his bravura playing style, James was one of the most outstanding instrumentalists of the Swing Era. He also led one of the most popular big bands of the first half of the 1940s, when he recorded such hits as “Sleepy Lagoon,” “I’ve Heard That Song Before” and “I’ll Get By (As Long as I Have You).” In a professional performing career that lasted more than 50 years, James maintained his orchestra successfully for decades after the heyday of the big bands.

At the time of his birth, James’s parents were working for the Mighty Haag Circus: his father, Everett Robert James, led the band and played trumpet, and his mother, Maybelle Stewart James, was an aerialist. James himself became a circus performer as early as the age of four, appearing as a contortionist billed as the Human Eel. By about six he was playing snare drum in the band and learning the trumpet from his father. By the time he was 12, the family was working for the Christy Brothers Circus, and he was leading the second band. The circus wintered in Beaumont, Tex., where he attended school, and at 14 he won a statewide school music contest as a trumpet soloist. With that, he went professional and began playing with territory bands around the Southwest.

In 1935, James got his first job with a national touring band when he was hired by Ben Pollack. On May 4, 1935, he married singer Louise Tobin. They had two children but divorced in June 1943. James made his recording debut with Pollack in September 1936; by the end of the year he had moved to Benny Goodman’s orchestra. There he was heavily featured, becoming a star player. He recorded his first session on Dec. 1, 1937, as a leader for Brunswick Records, using a pick-up band, and a year later he left Goodman and organized his own orchestra, the Music Makers, which debuted in Philadelphia in February 1939. That June he heard an unknown Frank Sinatra on a radio broadcast and hired him as the band’s male singer. The Music Makers earned excellent notices from jazz critics, but they had trouble making headway in the highly competitive big band scene of 1939-40. Sinatra was hired away by the more successful Tommy Dorsey at the start of 1940, and around that time James was dropped by Columbia Records (which had absorbed Brunswick) and was forced to record for the small Varsity label.

James changed his approach in 1941, adding strings and de-emphasizing hot jazz solos in favor of a sweet, melodic style; he also returned to Columbia Records. In April he scored his first Top Ten hit, the self-composed instrumental “Music Makers.” It was one of five chart singles he released during the year, the most successful of which was a million-selling instrumental revival of the 1913 song “You Made Me Love You (I Didn’t Want to Do It)” (music by James V. Monaco, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy). In 1942 he had 12 recordings in the charts, six of which hit the Top Ten, among them “I Don’t Want to Walk without You” (music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Frank Loesser), which featured the voice of Helen Forrest, a million- selling instrumental treatment of Irving Berlin’s “Easter Parade,” and the #1 instrumental “Sleepy Lagoon” (music by Eric Coates, adapted from his symphonic composition By a Sleepy Lagoon, lyrics by Jack Lawrence). That was enough to rank him second only to Glenn Miller as the most successful recording artist of the year, and when Miller went into the service and James took over his radio spot on Chesterfield Time in September (James himself was 4-F because of a back injury), he became the top bandleader in the country.

James also found time to launch a movie career. Like other swing stars, he was given supporting roles in films, usually playing himself, with generous screen time allotted to his band’s performances. In 1942 he appeared in Syncopation in May, Private Buckaroo in June, and Swingtime in the Rockies in November. The last is notable for featuring a performance of his next hit, “I Had the Craziest Dream” (music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon), sung by Helen Forrest, which topped the charts in February 1943 and sold a million copies, and for starring Betty (Elizabeth Ruth) Grable, one of the biggest movie stars of the day, whom James married on July 5, 1943. They had two children and divorced Oct. 8, 1965.

James scored his second straight #1 hit—the biggest hit of his career and the biggest hit of the year—with “I’ve Heard That Song Before” (music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn), again featuring Helen Forrest on vocals, which topped the charts in March and sold a million copies. Its B-side, “Moonlight Becomes You” (music by James Van Heusen, lyrics by Johnny Burke) also was a reported million-seller. Although he was unable to record because of the musicians union recording ban that had taken effect on Aug. 1, 1942, James had four more chart entries in 1943, the most successful of which was a reissue of “All or Nothing at All” (music and lyrics by Jack Lawrence and Arthur Altman), which he had recorded in September 1939 with Frank Sinatra on vocals. Sinatra’s emergence as a solo star in 1943 turned the record into a million-seller. Meanwhile, James was staying in N.Y. doing the Chesterfield radio show three times a week and playing such prestigious engagements as the Paramount Theatre in April 1943 and the roof of the Astor Hotel in May. In June he appeared in the film Best Foot Forward.

The recording ban extended into 1944, but James reached the charts ten times, all with recordings made before the start of the ban. His biggest hit of the year was a revival of the 1928 song “I’ll Get By (As Long as I Have You)” (music by Fred E. Ahlert, lyrics by Roy Turk), which had been recorded in April 1941 with Dick Haymes on. vocals. The reissue topped the charts in June 1944. Having completed his radio commitment in March, James appeared in two films released in June, Two Girls and a Sailor and Bathing Beauty.

With the end of the recording ban in November 1944, James went back into the studio, resulting in 11 chart records in 1945, the most successful of which were the chart-toppers “I’m Beginning to See the Light” (music and lyrics by Harry James, Duke Ellington, Johnny Hodges, and Don George) and “It’s Been a Long, Long Time” (music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Sammy Cahn), both of which were sung by Kitty Kallen. In January

1945, James became a regular on the radio series The Danny Kaye Show, and he hosted the show as Kaye’s summer replacement from June to September. In 1946 he was signed to a movie contract by 20th Century-Fox, which gave him more prominent roles in the films DoYou Love Me?, released in May, and If I’ m Lucky, released in September. He still found time to enter the recording studio during the year, however, resulting in another five chart entries, the most successful of which was a Top Ten revival of the 1917 song “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows” (music by Harry Carroll, lyrics by Joseph McCarthy) with a vocal by Kitty Kallen, as well as a #1 album, All Time Favorites.He also went on the road for the first time in two years.

Faced with the overall decline of popularity for big-band music, James disbanded in December 1946. A few months later he returned to action with a more jazz-oriented band that reduced the number of strings; soon he eliminated strings entirely. He reached the charts with three singles in 1947, including a Top Ten revival of the 1931 song “Heartaches” (music by Al Hoffman, lyrics by John Klenner), and appeared in the film Carnegie Hall in May. In February 1948 he was in the film A Miracle Can Happen (aka On Our Merry Way) and the same month became a regular on the radio series Call for Music, which ran through the end of June. In 1950 he had two films in release. He served as musical director of Young Man with a Horn, for which he also dubbed the trumpet playing of Kirk Douglas, resulting in a soundtrack that became the most successful album of the year, on which he was co-billed with Doris Day. And he appeared in I’ll Get By.He also returned to the singles charts for the first time in three years with “Mona Lisa” (music and lyrics by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans).

James was active on only a part-time basis during the early 1950s. Columbia Records A&R director Mitch Miller paired him with other label artists, resulting in the Top Ten hits “Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)” (music by Harold Spina, lyrics by Bob Russell) with Doris Day in April 1951 and “Castle Rock” (music by Al Sears, lyrics by Ervin Drake and Jimmy Shirl) with Frank Sinatra in September 1951 and the chart entry “YouTl Never Know” (music by Harry Warren, lyrics by Mack Gordon) with Rosemary Clooney in January 1953. But James was unhappy with Miller, and after scoring a final chart single, “Ruby” (music by Heinz Roemheld, lyrics by Mitchell Parish), in July 1953, he left Columbia.

In 1955, James portrayed himself in the film biography The Benny Goodman Story, then returned to full-time work. He reorganized his band and signed to Capitol Records, re-recording his old hits for the album Harry James in Hi-Fi, which reached the Top Ten. In November 1956 he appeared in the film The Opposite Sex.In October 1957 he toured Europe, and thereafter he alternated national and international tours with long engagements at Las Vegas hotels. In June 1958 he appeared in The Big Beat, and he made his final film appearance in The Ladies Man in July 1961.

James continued to perform regularly throughout the 1960s and 1970s. In 1983 he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, but he continued to tour, giving his last concert on June 26, only nine days before his death at 67. A ghost band, led by trumpeter Art Depew, continued to perform into the 1990s.

Writings

H. J. Trumpet Method (N.Y., 1969); H. J. Studies and Improvisations for Trumpet (N.Y., 1939).

Bibliography

F. Stacy, H. J.’s Fin-Up Life Story (N.Y., 1944); G. Hall, H. J. and His Orchestra (Laurel, Md., 1971); C. Garrod and P. Johnston, H. J. and His Orchestra, 1937-1946 (Zephyrhills, Fla., 1975); Garrod and Johnston, H. J. and His Orchestra, 1947-1954 (Zephyrhills, Fla., 1975); Garrod and Johnston, H. /. and His Orchestra, 1955-1982 (Zephyrhills, Fla., 1985).

—William Ruhlmann