Miller, Mitch

Miller, (Mitchell William) Mitch

(1911–  ) oboist, conductor, record producer; born in Rochester, N.Y. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s he played the oboe with distinction for symphony orchestras and as a free-lancer. His contacts with recording companies led him in 1950 to join Columbia Records and he moved from the classical repertoire to scouting and producing such popular performers as Doris Day and Johnny Mathis; his greatest hit single was "Yellow Rose of Texas" (1955). From 1961–66, he had his own television program on the National Broadcasting Company, "Sing Along With Mitch"; with its folksy choristers and his own robust manner, it initiated a brief fad in singing along with traditional music before rock music took over. He went on to become a guest conductor with various symphony orchestras.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.