"Pennsylvania 6-5000" (also written "Pennsylvania Six-Five Thousand") is a 1940

swing jazz Swing music is a style of jazz that developed in the United States during the late 1920s and early 1930s. It became nationally popular from the mid-1930s. The name derived from its emphasis on the off-beat, or nominally weaker beat. Swing bands ...

and

pop standard Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

with music by

Jerry Gray Jerry Don Gray (born December 16, 1962) is an American football coach and former player who is the defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL). Gray played college footbal ...

and lyrics by

Carl Sigman Carl Sigman (September 24, 1909 – September 26, 2000) was an American songwriter. Early life Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish-American family, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his bar exams to practice in ...

. It was recorded by

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

and His Orchestra as a

Bluebird The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas. ...

78 rpm A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog signal, analog sound Recording medium, storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

Glenn Miller recording

Many

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

names played in

Hotel Pennsylvania The Hotel Pennsylvania was a historic hotel at 401 Seventh Avenue (15 Penn Plaza) in Manhattan, across the street from Pennsylvania Station and Madison Square Garden in New York City. Opened in 1919, it was once the largest hotel in the world. ...

Cafe Rouge A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

in New York City, including the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and com ...

. The hotel's telephone number,

Pennsylvania 6-5000 PEnnsylvania 6-5000 is a telephone number in New York City, written in the 2L+5N (two letters, five numbers) format that was common from about 1930 into the 1960s. The number is best known from the 1940 hit song " Pennsylvania 6-5000", a swing j ...

, inspired the Glenn Miller 1940 Top 5 ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' hit of the same name, which had a 12-week chart run. The instrumental was recorded on April 28, 1940 in New York. The 78 single was released in June, 1940 as RCA Victor Bluebird 78 B-10754-A backed with "Rug Cutter's Swing". The song was also an advertisement for attendance at the band's live performances, as a call could be put through to Hotel Pennsylvania’s venue the Cafe Rouge for a reservation. Personnel * Saxophones: Hal McIntyre, Tex Beneke, Wilbur Schwartz, Ernie Caceres, Al Klink * Trumpets: John Best, R. D. McMickle, Clyde Hurley, Legh Knowles * Trombones: Glenn Miller, Jimmy Priddy, Paul Tanner, Frank D'Annolfo * Piano: Chummy MacGregor * String bass: Herman "Trigger" Alpert * Guitar: Jack Lathrop * Drums: Moe Purtill According to a televised interview with John Best, he originally improvised the trumpet solo on the recording.

Other recordings

The song became a jazz and big band

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

also recorded by the

Andrews Sisters The Andrews Sisters were an American close harmony singing group of the swing and boogie-woogie eras. The group consisted of three sisters: contralto LaVerne Sophia Andrews (July 6, 1911 – May 8, 1967), soprano Maxene Anglyn Andrews (January ...

Judy Garland Judy Garland (born Frances Ethel Gumm; June 10, 1922June 22, 1969) was an American actress and singer. While critically acclaimed for many different roles throughout her career, she is widely known for playing the part of Dorothy Gale in '' The ...

and

Martha Raye Martha Raye (born Margy Reed; August 27, 1916 – October 19, 1994), nicknamed The Big Mouth, was an American comic actress and singer who performed in movies, and later on television. She also acted in plays, including Broadway. She was honored ...

in a duet, the

Brian Setzer Orchestra The Brian Setzer Orchestra (sometimes known by its initials BSO) is a swing and jump blues band formed in 1990 by Stray Cats frontman Brian Setzer. In 1998, for their breakout album '' The Dirty Boogie'', the group covered Louis Prima's " Jump, ...

Jimmy Mundy James Mundy (June 28, 1907 – April 24, 1983) was an American jazz tenor saxophonist, arranger, and composer, best known for his arrangements for Benny Goodman, Count Basie, and Earl Hines. Mundy died of cancer in New York City at the age of 75 ...

and His Orchestra (1959), Louise Gold, Kathy Miller, Martin Brushane Big Band, the Blue Moon Big Band (1999), in a 1976 ''

Carol Burnett Show ''The Carol Burnett Show'' is an American variety/sketch comedy television show that originally ran on CBS from September 11, 1967, to March 29, 1978, for 279 episodes, and again with nine episodes in fall 1991. It starred Carol Burnett, Harve ...

'' episode in a tribute to Glenn Miller,

Syd Lawrence Syd Lawrence (26 June 1923 – 5 May 1998) was a British bandleader, who became famous in the UK for his orchestra's Big Band sound, which drew on the 1940s style of music of Glenn Miller and Count Basie amongst others. Career Born in Wilmslo ...

, Michael Maxwell and His Orchestra, Richard Hunt and

Jerry Nelson Jerry L. Nelson (July 10, 1934 – August 23, 2012) was an American puppeteer, best known for his work with The Muppets. Renowned for his wide range of characters and singing abilities, he performed Muppet characters on ''Sesame Street'', ' ...

(Bobby Benson and the Baby Band) in ''

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as a ser ...

'' (1979, Episode 319), Fud Candrix and His Orchestra,

, Mina, Lou Haskins, Jack Livingston,

Raquel Rastenni Raquel Rastenni (21 August 1915 – 17 August 1998), born Anna Rachel Rastén, was a popular Danish-Russian singer. She was born in Copenhagen, and grew up in an apartment in the poor part of the city. Her Jewish parents immigrated to Denmark from R ...

(1941) in Copenhagen, Starlight Orchestra,

Klaus Wunderlich Klaus Wunderlich (18 June 1931 – 28 October 1997) was a famous German easy listening organist. Biography Wunderlich was born in Chemnitz. He played the Hammond organ model C3 then mid 60s changed to model Hammond H100. Wunderlich also tri ...

, New 101 Strings Orchestra, Heptet, Meco,

Tex Beneke Gordon Lee "Tex" Beneke ( ; February 12, 1914 – May 30, 2000) was an American saxophonist, singer, and bandleader. His career is a history of associations with bandleader Glenn Miller and former musicians and singers who worked with Miller. H ...

The Modernaires The Modernaires was an American vocal group, best known for performing in the 1940s alongside Glenn Miller. Career The Modernaires began in 1934 as "Don Juan, Two and Three," a trio of schoolmates from Lafayette High School in Buffalo, New Y ...

, Jack Million Band, Al Pierson Big Band, BBC Big Band Orchestra, SWR Big Band, and by Captain Cook und seine singenden Saxophone in 2012.

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

's arrangement of the song for piano was published in the UK songbook ''Francis & Day's Album of Fats Waller: Musical Rhythms'' in the 1940s.

References

Sources

*Flower, John (1972). ''Moonlight Serenade: a bio-discography of the Glenn Miller Civilian Band''. New Rochelle, NY: Arlington House. . *Miller, Glenn (1943). ''Glenn Miller's Method for Orchestral Arranging''. New York: Mutual Music Society. ASIN: B0007DMEDQ *Simon, George Thomas (1980). ''Glenn Miller and His Orchestra''. New York: Da Capo paperback. . *Simon, George Thomas (1971). ''Simon Says''. New York: Galahad. . *Schuller, Gunther (1991). Volume 2 of ''The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930–1945''. New York: Oxford University Press. . {{Authority control Glenn Miller songs 1940s jazz standards 1940 songs 1940 singles 1940s instrumentals Jazz compositions Pop standards Songs with music by Jerry Gray (arranger) Jazz songs Songs written by Carl Sigman Songs about hotels and motels Songs about New York City Songs about Pennsylvania Songs about telephone calls Telephone numbers in the United States

Glenn Miller recording

Other recordings

See also

References

Sources