"Room 1411" is a 1928 instrumental composed 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

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

and released as a Brunswick 78 by Benny Goodman's Boys. The song was Glenn Miller's first known composition and was an early collaboration between Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman, who would become the most successful bandleaders of the Big Band Era during the 1930s and 1940s.

Recording history

"Room 1411," also known as "Goin To Town," "Pieza 1411" in Spanish on the label, was composed by Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman in 1928 when Glenn Miller was part of "Benny Goodman's Boys". The instrumental was recorded on June 23, 1928 in New York and was released as a 78, 4013, on Brunswick, paired with "Jungle Blues". The instrumental, Matrix # E27639=C, was described as a "shimmy one-step" on the original Brunswick 78 label as released in 1928. The personnel that made up "Bennie Goodman's Boys" for the studio recording of "Room 1411" was made up of an all-star ensemble that featured Glenn Miller on trombone,

Ray Bauduc Ray Bauduc (June 18, 1906 – January 8, 1988) was an American jazz drummer best known for his work with the Bob Crosby Orchestra and their band-within-a-band, the Bobcats, between 1935 and 1942. He is also known for his shared composition of " ...

on drums, Dick "Icky" Morgan on guitar,

Fud Livingston Joseph Anthony "Fud" Livingston (April 10, 1906 – March 25, 1957) was an American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, arranger, and composer. Career In the 1920s, he performed with Ben Pollack and served as his arranger (to summer 1925, and again ...

on tenor saxophone,

Jimmy McPartland James Dugald "Jimmy" McPartland (March 15, 1907 – March 13, 1991) was an American cornetist. He worked with Eddie Condon, Art Hodes, Gene Krupa, Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, and Tommy Dorsey, often leading his own bands. He was married to ...

on cornet, Vic Breidis on piano, Harry Goodman on tuba, and Benny Goodman on clarinet and baritone saxophone. The band continued to record in 1928 and 1929.

Tommy Dorsey Thomas Francis Dorsey Jr. (November 19, 1905 – November 26, 1956) was an American jazz trombonist, composer, conductor and bandleader of the big band era. He was known as the "Sentimental Gentleman of Swing" because of his smooth-toned trombo ...

on trombone,

Bud Freeman Lawrence "Bud" Freeman (April 13, 1906 – March 15, 1991) was an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer, known mainly for playing tenor saxophone, but also the clarinet. Biography In 1922, Freeman and some friends from high sch ...

on tenor saxophone,

Wingy Manone Joseph Matthews "Wingy" Manone (February 13, 1900 – July 9, 1982) was an American jazz trumpeter, composer, singer, and bandleader. His recordings included " Tar Paper Stomp", "Nickel in the Slot", "Downright Disgusted Blues", "There'll Come a ...

on trumpet, and

Ben Pollack Ben Pollack (June 22, 1903 – June 7, 1971) was an American drummer and bandleader from the mid-1920s through the swing era. His eye for talent led him to employ musicians such as Benny Goodman, Jack Teagarden, Glenn Miller, Jimmy McPartland, ...

on drums, were also members of the group on other sessions. Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman lived in the same suite at the time in the apartments in

The Whitby The Whitby is the name of the residential property at 325 West 45th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, New York. The Whitby was designed by architect Emery Roth and built by Bing & Bing general contractors. It was originally commissioned as a h ...

in New York whose number was 1411. The title of the composition derives from the apartment number. In ''Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Story Of Jazz As Told By The Men Who Made It'' (1955) by

Nat Shapiro Nat Shapiro (September 27, 1922, New York City - December 15, 1983, New York City) was an American jazz writer and record producer. Shapiro worked in the music industry from the late 1940s; he was a promotional director for Mercury Records in 1948 ...

and

Nat Hentoff Nathan Irving Hentoff (June 10, 1925 – January 7, 2017) was an American historian, novelist, jazz and country music critic, and syndicated columnist for United Media. Hentoff was a columnist for ''The Village Voice'' from 1958 to 2009. Fol ...

recalled how the title originated: " ter a couple of weeks we moved into the Whitby Apartments, where

Gil Rodin Gilbert A. Rodin (December 9, 1906 – June 10, 1974) was an American jazz saxophonist, songwriter, and record producer. He was born in the Russian Empire. Career Rodin was raied in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Rodin studied saxophone, clari ...

, Dick Morgan, Benny Goodman, and Glenn Miller had a suite. We all moved into that, practically the whole band. ... The number of that apartment was 1411. And that is how that title came up, ''Room 1411'', by Benny Goodman's Boys." Benny Goodman played baritone saxophone "on the more straight-ahead Chicago-style 'Room 1411'". "Room 1411 (Goin' to Town)" is Glenn Miller's first known composition. Two versions or takes of the instrumental were released. The song was featured on a 1943 album entitled ''Chicago Jazz Classics'', Brunswick Album No. 1007, consisting of four 10" shellac 78s as 80029A which was reviewed in the September 18, 1943 issue of ''Billboard'' magazine. The recording was reissued in 1950 as a 33 and 1/3 LP as part of the Brunswick Collectors' Series as Brunswick BL-5815. The LP recording was reviewed in ''Billboard'' magazine in 1950 as by Benny Goodman & His Boys. The recording also appears on the albums ''The Young Benny Goodman: 1928-1931'' released in 2005 by Timeless Records, '' A Jazz Holiday'', a double LP, Decca, 1973, ''A Jazz Holiday: 1926-31'' by Benny Goodman released in 1998 by ASV Living Era, ''Benny Goodman: 1928-1931'', Classics, 1993, and ''Benny Goodman: Selected Favorites, Volume 17'', Charly, 2006. The instrumental was also released as part of a 7" 45 RPM EP on Brunswick Records as EB-71016 in 1953.Benny Goodman And His Boys --- Chicago Jazz Classics, Volume 2. Discogs.
/ref> An alternate take of the instrumental in German as "Zimmer No. 1411" was released on German Brunswick as a green label 78 single with the 1928 studio recording of "Jungle Blues" as the flip side. The 78 was re-released in Germany also on Brunswick a decade later. The jazz group Chicago Rhythm with Butch Thompson recorded the song in 1983 on their album ''One in a Million'', Vol. 2, on Stomp Off Records, SOS 1059. The instrumental was performed by the Ballyhoo Foxtrot Orchestra at the 2011 Glenn Miller Festival in Des Moines, Iowa, The Mlp's Dixie Blue Blowers in 2018, Italian clarinetist Lorenzo Baldasso in 2021, and by the Original Swingtime Big Band in concert in Vienna, Austria in 2012.

References

Sources

*Firestone, Ross. ''Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman''. Norton, 1998. *Shapiro, Nat, and Nat Hentoff. ''Hear Me Talkin' to Ya: The Story of Jazz As Told by the Men Who Made It''. New York: Rinehart and Company, 1955. * Simon, George Thomas. ''Simon Says.'' New York: Galahad, 1971. .

External links

* ttp://www.jazz-on-line.com 1928 Brunswick 78 recording on the Jazz Anthology website.
Archive.org: Benny Goodman's Boys, "Room 1411".
{{Glenn Miller 1928 compositions Glenn Miller songs Jazz songs 1928 songs Jazz compositions Benny Goodman songs Instrumentals