Editing Lucky Millinder

{{Short description|American  bandleader (1910–1966)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2021}}
{{More citations needed|date=October 2010}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name               = Lucky Millinder
| image              = Lucky Millinder Billboard.jpg
| background      = solo_singer
| birth_name      = Lucius Venables
| alias                = Lucius Venable Millinder
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1910|8|8|mf=y}}
| birth_place       =  [[Anniston, Alabama|Anniston]], Alabama, U.S.
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1966|9|28|1910|8|8|mf=y}}
| death_place      = [[Harlem, New York|Harlem]], New York
| genre               = [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]], [[jump blues]], [[swing music|swing]]
| occupation        = Musician, bandleader
| years_active     = 1925–1955
| label                = [[Decca Records|Decca]], [[King Records (United States)|King]]
| associated_acts = [[Red Allen]], [[Wynonie Harris]], [[Bull Moose Jackson]], [[Sister Rosetta Tharpe]], [[Annisteen Allen]]
}}

'''Lucius Venable''' "'''Lucky'''" '''Millinder''' (August 8, 1910<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger| location= Santa Barbara, California| pages=44 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref><ref>Many sources give 1900 as his year of birth, but Social Security Death Index and census information suggest 1910 is correct.</ref> – September 28, 1966)<ref name="Dead"/> was an American [[swing music|swing]] and [[rhythm and blues|rhythm-and-blues]] bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> His group was said to have been the greatest big band to play rhythm and blues,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/luckymillinder.html |title=Lucky Millinder 'Big Band Rhythm & Blues' |publisher=BigBandLibrary.com |access-date=October 5, 2015}}</ref> and gave work to a number of musicians who later became influential at the dawn of the [[rock and roll]] era. He was inducted into the [[Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame]] in 1986.

==Early career==
Millinder was born '''Lucius Venables'''<ref name="bare"/> in [[Anniston, Alabama]], United States.<ref name="LarkinJazz">{{cite book|title=[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music|The Guinness Who's Who of Jazz]]|editor=[[Colin Larkin (writer)|Colin Larkin]]|publisher=[[Guinness Publishing]]|date=1992|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-580-8|page=283/4}}</ref> He took the surname Millinder as a child,<ref name="bare"/> and was raised in [[Chicago]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> In the 1920s, he worked in clubs, ballrooms, and theatres in Chicago as a master of ceremonies and dancer. He first fronted a band in 1931 for an [[RKO]] theater tour, and in 1932 took over the leadership of Doc Crawford's orchestra in [[Harlem]]. He also freelanced elsewhere.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

In 1933, he took a band to Europe, playing residencies in [[Monte Carlo]] and [[Paris]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> He returned to New York to take over the leadership of the [[Mills Blue Rhythm Band]] in 1934, which included [[Henry "Red" Allen]], [[Charlie Shavers]], [[Harry "Sweets" Edison]] and [[J. C. Higginbotham]], and which had a regular slot at [[Cotton Club (New York City)|The Cotton Club]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/>

==With his own orchestra==
In 1938, he teamed-up with pianist [[Bill Doggett]] to front Doggett's group.<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> By 1940, Millinder had formed a completely new orchestra, which included Doggett and the drummer [[David "Panama" Francis|"Panama" Francis]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> Around this time he discovered the established gospel singer and guitarist [[Rosetta Tharpe]], with whom his ensembles performed for many years,<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> and first recorded with on four cuts for [[Decca Records]] in 1938.

He established a residency at New York's [[Savoy Ballroom]],<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> and won a contract with Decca. [[Dizzy Gillespie]] was the band's trumpeter for a while and was featured on Millinder's first charting hit, "[[When the Lights Go On Again|When the Lights Go On Again (All Over the World)]]", which reached number 1 on the US ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' [[Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs|R&B]] [[record chart|chart]] and number 14 on the pop chart in 1942. The follow-up records "Apollo Jump" and "Sweet Slumber" were also big hits, with vocals by Trevor Bacon.

By the mid-1940s, the band was drifting towards what came to be known as [[rhythm and blues]].<ref name="AMG"/> Other band members around this time included the saxophonists [[Bull Moose Jackson]], [[Tab Smith]] and [[Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis]] and the pianist [[Charles Thompson (jazz)|Sir Charles Thompson]].<ref name="LarkinJazz"/> In 1944, Millinder recruited the singer [[Wynonie Harris]], and their recording of "[[Who Threw the Whiskey in the Well]]" became the group's biggest hit in 1945, staying at number 1 on the R&B chart for eight weeks and also reaching number 7 on the US pop chart. After Harris left for a solo career, Millinder followed up with another hit, "Shorty's Got to Go", on which he took lead vocals. Soon afterwards, [[Ruth Brown]] became the band's singer for a short period before her own solo career took off.

Towards the end of [[World War II]] and into the post-war period, the economic situation for touring ensembles (including gas-rationing and entertainment taxes) began to favor smaller bands (such as [[Louis Jordan]]'s), and limited the number of appearances orchestras such as Millinder's could command. In the late 1940s, the band toured all the larger R&B auditoriums, although it had few chart hits for several years.

In 1949, the band left Decca Records and joined [[RCA Victor Records|RCA Victor]] and then [[King Records (USA)|King Records]], recording with the singers [[Big John Greer]] and [[Annisteen Allen]]. The band's last big hit was "I'm Waiting Just for You", with Allen, in 1951, which reached number 2 on the R&B chart and number 19 on the pop chart. A year earlier, Millinder's track "Silent George" had become a [[dirty blues]] hit.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSU1e-XStVcC&q=%22Silent+George%22.+%22Lucky+Millinder%22.+%221950%22&pg=PA108 |title=Spoken Word: Postwar American Phonograph Cultures |author=Smith, Jacob |page=108 |date= February 7, 2011|publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520948358 |access-date=May 7, 2016}}</ref>

==Later years==
By 1952, Millinder began working as a radio [[Disc jockey|DJ]].<ref name="AMG">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lucky-millinder-mn0000304518/biography|title=Lucky Millinder &#124; Biography & History|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=July 30, 2021}}</ref> He continued touring with his band, but his style was falling out of favor, and the band's history of many personnel changes began to affect its sound. In 1954, he took over the leadership of the house band at the [[Apollo Theater]] for a while. He effectively retired from performing around 1955, although his final recordings were in 1960.

He became active in music publishing and in public relations for a whiskey distillery. He died of a liver ailment in New York City in September 1966.<ref name="Dead">{{cite web|author=Doc Rock |url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/1960.html |title=The 1960s |publisher=The Dead Rock Stars Club |access-date=October 5, 2015}}</ref>

==Selected discography==
===LP compilations===
* ''Lucky Days 1941–1945'' (MCA 1319, 1980)
* ''Let It Roll'' (MCA 1357, 1982)
* ''Shorty's Got to Go'' (Juke Box Lil 609, 1984)
* ''Let It Roll Again'' (Jukebox Lil 613, 1986)

===CD compilations===
Every recording (all Decca, RCA Victor, and King) by Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra is included in this four-volume series from the Classics reissue label.
* ''The Chronological Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra 1941–1942'' (Classics 712, 1993)
* ''The Chronological Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra 1943–1947'' (Classics 1026, 1998)
* ''The Chronological Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra 1947–1950'' (Classics 1173, 2001)
* ''The Chronological Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra 1951–1960'' (Classics 1460, 2008)
* ''Apollo Jump'' (Proper PVCD-115, 2002), 2-CD set
* ''Jukebox Hits 1942–1951'' (Acrobat ACMCD-4029, 2005)
* '' The Very Best of Lucky Millinder'' (all King recordings) (Collectables COL-2898, 2005)

== Preservation ==
Performances of Lucky Millinder & His Orchestra were preserved and restored by the [[UCLA Film and Television Archive|UCLA Film & Television Archive]] from 16mm prints. Restoration funding was provided by a grant from the [[Grammy Museum at L.A. Live|GRAMMY Museum®]]. The restoration had its world premiere at the 2024 UCLA Festival of Preservation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Topper Takes a Trip {{!}} UCLA Film & Television Archive |url=https://cinema.ucla.edu/events/2024/04/07/topper-takes-a-trip |access-date=2025-02-12 |website=cinema.ucla.edu}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.southernmusic.net/luckymillinder.htm  Career overview]
*[http://home.earthlink.net/%7Ejaymar41/luckym.html  Detailed history of mid career] Archived: [https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202143/https://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/luckym.html]
*[http://www.bigbandlibrary.com/luckymillinder.html  "Lucky Millinder: Big Band Rhythm & Blues" by Music Librarian Christopher Popa]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20101229140310/http://www.jazzhall.com/ Official website of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Millinder, Lucky}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1966 deaths]]
[[Category:American big band bandleaders]]
[[Category:American jazz bandleaders]]
[[Category:American jazz singers]]
[[Category:American rhythm and blues singers]]
[[Category:Jump blues musicians]]
[[Category:RCA Victor artists]]
[[Category:New York blues musicians]]
[[Category:Singers from Chicago]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Illinois]]
[[Category:Mills Blue Rhythm Band members]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]