Les Brown

Kurt L Moore

Something happened back in 1926 that would have an impact on Branson in 2004, 78 years later. What you may ask, could that possibly be? Well, it is not the return of Haley’s Comet. That happened in 1986. Good guess though. Now on with our story and the answer.

In 1926 a little known musician by the name of Les Brown got a few musicians together and started playing great music by forming the first of several bands he would lead, before forming the Les Brown Orchestra, in 1938, that you are familiar with.

Les kept tweaking his act and his musicians until in the early 40s, he and his musicians recorded a couple of songs, “Joltin Joe DiMaggio” and a little later, “Sentimental Journey.” The latter song, the perfect song for all the men returning from the just-won war, was on the Hit Parade for several months and was voted song of the year. That put Les in a new realm when he and his band, before a live radio performance at the Hollywood Palladium, was introduced as “Les Brown and the Band of Renown.” It stuck. From that day forward, Les Brown began his journey into the musical history books as one of the greatest band leaders of the twentieth century or, for that matter, any other century.

Les Brown played with and was associated with Bob Hope for nearly 50 years and went overseas with Hope on 18 separate occasions to entertain our troops and boost their morale. The band was also responsible for jump-starting the careers of Doris Day and Tony Bennett. Who will ever forget Doris Day and the Les Brown rendition of “Sentimental Journey?” Doris Day and Tony Bennett were known at that time as “stand-up” singers. That simply meant that they sat on a chair at the edge of the stage performing area and when it came time, they would stand up, walk to the microphone and sing a song. This would usually happen two to three times per hour. Their place in the scheme of things was to be a ‘warm bridge’ between the band and the audience. To bring the band closer to the people.

The main genres of the big bands were blues, jazz and swing. OK, swing was jazz, so they did basically blues and swing. Swing was probably the bigger of the two with dance being the main reason for the bands. Dance clubs sprang up all across the nation and the bands would literally play for one to eight thousand people at a time. They were playing at the large auditoriums and it was generally broadcast live via radio across the country. People listened to the big bands on their radios and literally danced in the streets. Big bands were big business and Les Brown was dab smack in the middle of it.

It is interesting to note that there is now a resurgence of swing. Swing dance clubs are opening up all over the country. Young people who may never have heard of Les Brown are being introduced to a “new” sound. The big band sound. I was surprised, when about a year ago, my son called me from Indianapolis and told me he had begun taking swing dance lessons. In Indy, as other places throughout the nation, swing is on the upswing, (no pun intended), and younger generations are plugging into what we remember as something of a bygone era and nostalgic.

Let me give you some idea as to how long Les Brown’s band has been around. In 1996, Les Brown and the Band of Renown, went into the Guinness record books as the “Longest Organized Group In The History of Popular Music.” In 1999 Les Brown and his industrial strength group were inducted into the Jazz Hall of Fame.

Les Brown had a band that has been playing continuously since their inception, way back when. Les Brown Sr., himself, passed away in 2001 but the band he started is still carrying on their tradition with Les’ son, Les Brown Jr.

On to Branson and 2004. Les Brown Jr. and the Band of Renown come to Branson at the Mickey Gilley Theater.

Les Brown Jr. grew up at his dad’s heels watching and listening to his dad as his band crooned the songs of the era to millions of people throughout the world. Les Jr. had a multi-faceted career leading up to his dad’s passing in 2001 and had been sitting in with the band occasionally up to that point. In 2001, Les Brown Jr. took the reins of the band on a full time basis and has been leading it ever since.

I was watching the final dress rehearsal of Swing! Swing! Swing! earlier this spring and was surprised at the quality of the band playing for the show. I had thought at the time that Les Brown would be in for some stiff competition with this group of musicians. I learned later during the viewing of the dress rehearsal that the band I was listening to was made up of Les Brown’s people.

Les has musicians still playing for him that have been around since dirt was new and shiny. He has only the very best and most talented players on the face of the earth. Their music is the greatest and the ‘biggest’ sound you will ever hear coming from a stage in Branson, or most anywhere else.

Les Jr. was not raised on a Midwest farm but rather was raised amidst the elite of Hollywood society. He told me about the time when they lived just down the block from Ronald Reagan. The Les Brown I met seemed as if he would be at home on that Midwestern farm just as much as if he were back in Los Angeles dealing with and hob-knobbing with the silver screen jet-set. He was very down-to-earth, a true gentleman whose charm captures you the moment he steps onto the stage.

I took several photos of the man as he was performing onstage and did some shots from behind the curtain off side stage. I couldn’t help noticing that several of the shots I took of him, especially from side and rear angles, looked almost exactly like Ronald Reagan; same athletic build, same swept-back hair style, same chiseled facial features.

Lorri Hafer, another Los Angeles favorite daughter of the entertainment world, was the stand-up singer for Les Brown. Lorri has the look and sound reminiscent of the padded shoulder, straight legged, Hedy Lamarr era of glamour girls, high rollers and gangsters. She has a sultry voice that one would associate with the Gaslight era torch singers. She is doing the exact same thing that Doris Day and Tony Bennett did with Les Brown.

Lorri’s husband is pianist with Les Brown and her son, a teenage musical startup, is a very good bass guitar player and is a frequent guest on the show.

Les Brown Jr. and the Band of Renown is playing at the Mickey Gilley Theater and you will not want to miss hearing them while you are in town. Oh yes, one thing I forgot to mention, Les encourages folks attending his show to get up in the aisles and dance. They do. You will enjoy it too.