Tuxedo Junction

"Tuxedo Junction"
RCA Bluebird, B-10612-A
Song by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra
Released	1938
Label	RCA Bluebird
Writer(s)	Buddy Feyne
Composer(s)	Erskine Hawkins Bill Johnson Julian Dash

"Tuxedo Junction" is a song co-written by Birmingham, Alabama composer Erskine Hawkins and saxophonist and arranger Bill Johnson. Julian Dash is also credited for the music. Buddy Feyne wrote the lyrics. The instrumental was a no. 1 hit for Glenn Miller and his Orchestra in 1940.

The song was introduced by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra, a college dance band formerly known as the Bama State Collegians. "Tuxedo Junction" rose to number 7 on the national hit parade in 1939. Here is an authentic recording by Hamilton High school https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7liX70jat8 .

In the late 1930s Hawkins and his Orchestra were one of the house bands at the Savoy Ballroom. They alternated with the Chick Webb band, and often used "Tuxedo Junction" as their sign-off song before the next band would take the stage, so that the dancing would continue uninterrupted. A live 6 1/2 minute version of the song by the Hawkins Orchestra exists, with extended solos from Hawkins on the trumpet, Paul Bascomb and Julian Dash on tenor saxophones, and Heywood Henry on the clarinet. It was recorded as an aircheck in the summer of 1942 at the Blue Room club in New York City.

Glenn Miller and His Orchestra had the most successful recording of the song in a best-selling (Billboard Number 1) record, RCA Bluebird B-10612-A. Miller's arrangement slowed down the tempo and added trumpet fanfares. The infamous trumpet lick in the original recording was played by band member Johnny Best. The main soloists on that recording were Best and Bobby Hackett. The Glenn Miller recording sold 115,000 copies in the first week alone. It was featured in the 1953 Glenn Miller biopic The Glenn Miller Story starring James Stewart and Harry Morgan.