If you are from Russia, Ohio, are you old enough to remember the Mill Brothers of neighboring Piqua, Ohio? These four brothers began their musical careers singing on the street corner of Green and Main in downtown Piqua or at the village square where their father had a barbershop and founded a barbershop quartet called the Four Kings of Harmony. The brothers were able to imitate the sounds of jazz instruments: John, the tuba: Harry, the trumpet, Herbert, second trumpet and Donald, the trombone.
The brothers got their first big break when they headed to Cincinnati for an audition at WLW-C. which led to a contract with CBS radio. The brothers went on to sing and do TV shows and movies and had a long and illustrious career during the depression, World War II and during the second half of the twentieth century. Even as time passed and brothers died the remaining ones continue on until the last brother Donald died in 1999. This group was without a doubt the most famous entertainment group from my part of the state of Ohio. Dean Martin credited Harry Mills as his greatest musical influence-----more so than either Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby or Sammy Davis, Jr.
I have moved to the top of our playlist some Mills Brothers songs. Take a moment to listen.
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4 comments:
The Mill Brothers.... yes a wonderful sound.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I remember them. Oh, so smooth.
The Coopers Hawks with yellow eyes are the immature ones. They also have irregular splotches of color on their breast feathers. The ones with red eyes are adults and their splotches of breast feather colors give way to an even, more or less, horizontal, kind of banding of lighter color.
I loved the Mills Brothers and people like Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller and a few others.
Joann: Certainly a name from the past and a great sound.
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