Harry James

Harry Haag James † (March 15, 1916 - July 5, 1983 [aged 67]), better known online as Harry James was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He was also an actor in a number of films that usually featured his band.
==History==
===Early Life===
Harry James was born in Albany, Georgia, United States, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Harry-James the son of Everett Robert James, a bandleader in a traveling circus, the Mighty Haag Circus, and Myrtle Maybelle, an acrobat and horseback rider. He started performing with the circus at an early age, first as a contortionist at the age of four, then playing the snare drum in the band from about the age of six. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/harry-james-mn0000950571/biography It was at this age that James was almost trampled by the circus trick horses after he wandered onto the circus track as they were performing their stunts, but he was protected by his mother's pet horse, who stood over him until the other horses rushed by. https://archive.org/details/trumpetblueslife00levi 
James started taking trumpet lessons from his father at age eight, and by age twelve he was leading the second band in the Christy Brothers Circus, for which his family was then working. James's father placed him on a strict daily practice schedule. At each session he was given several pages to learn from the Arban's book and was not allowed to pursue any other pastime until he had learned them. Levinson 1999, p. 11. While still a student at Dick Dowling Junior High School, he participated as a regular member of Beaumont High School's Royal Purple Band, and in May 1931 he took first place as trumpet soloist at the Texas Band Teacher's Association's Annual Eastern Division contest held in Temple, Texas. Levinson 1999, p. 13. 
=== Career ===
In 1924, his family settled in Beaumont, Texas. https://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/ It was here in the early 1930s that James began playing in local dance bands when he was 15 years of age. James played regularly with Herman Waldman's band, and at one performance was noticed by nationally popular Ben Pollack. http://www.touchoftonga.com/DavidMulliss/harry-james.html In 1935 he joined Pollack's band, but left at the start of 1937 to join Benny Goodman's orchestra, where he stayed through 1938. He was nicknamed "The Hawk" early in his career for his ability to sight-read. A common joke was that if a fly landed on his written music, Harry James would play it. His low range had a warmth associated with the cornet and even the flugelhorn, but this sound was under-recorded in favor of James' brilliant high register. https://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/12/prweb11385930.htm
With financial backing from Goodman, James debuted his own big band in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in January 1939, but it didn't click until adding a string section in 1941. Billboard, July 18, 1942 James toured with the band into the 1980s, and as of July 2018 the Harry James Orchestra, led by Fred Radke, was still very much in business. http://www.fredradke.com/fredradkebio.asp
=== Bandleader ===
James' band was the first high-profile orchestra to feature vocalist Frank Sinatra, who signed a one-year, $75 a week contract with it in 1939. James wanted to change Sinatra's name to 'Frankie Satin', but the singer refused. http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2010/10/frank-sinatra-201010 Sinatra only worked seven months before leaving to join Tommy Dorsey's outfit. https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/partners/UNTML/browse/?start=0&fq=untl_collection%3AJGPC
=== Radio ===
James' orchestra succeeded Glenn Miller's on a program sponsored by Chesterfield Cigarettes in 1942, when Miller disbanded his orchestra to enter the Army. In 1945, James and his orchestra had a summer replacement program for Danny Kaye's program on CBS. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2217567/harry_james_7745/
==Personal Life==
James was married three times, first to singer Louise Tobin on May 4, 1935, with whom he had two sons, Harry Jeffrey James and Timothy Ray James. They divorced in 1943. Later that year he married actress Betty Grable. They had two daughters, Victoria Elizabeth and Jessica, before divorcing in 1965. In December 1967 James wed Las Vegas showgirl Joan Boyd. The couple had a son, Michael, before divorcing in 1970. 
==Death==
James was a heavy smoker, drinker, and gambler. https://variety.com/2000/more/reviews/trumpet-blues-the-life-of-harry-james-1200463073/ In 1983 he was diagnosed with lymphatic cancer, but continued to work. He played his last professional job, with the Harry James Orchestra, on June 26, 1983, in Los Angeles, https://www.nytimes.com/1983/07/06/obituaries/harry-james-trumpter-and-band-leader-dies-at-67.html dying just nine days later in Las Vegas, Nevada http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1980.html on July 5, 1983, at age 67. Frank Sinatra gave the eulogy at his funeral, held in Las Vegas. 
== Filmography ==
* Hollywood Hotel (1937)
* Syncopation (1942)
* Springtime in the Rockies (1942)
* Private Buckaroo (1942)
* Swing Fever (1943)
* Best Foot Forward (1943)
* Bathing Beauty (1944)
* Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)
* Do You Love Me (1946)
* If I'm Lucky (1946)
* Carnegie Hall (1947)
* On Our Merry Way (1948)
* I'll Get By (1950)
* The Benny Goodman Story (1956)
* The Opposite Sex (1956)
* Outlaw Queen (1956)
* Riot in Rhythm (1957)
* The Big Beat (1958)
* The Ladies Man (1961)
* The Sting II (1983)
==Discography==
==Notes==
==References==
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