THE BAND BUS
THEN UNTIL NOW
To begin, here are several great photos of the Bunny Berigan band and their tour bus, ca. late 1941-early 1942, from the collection of pianist-arranger Eugene “Gene” Kutch (1922-1991).
Bunny clowning to break the monotony of the road. Kutch wrote as a photo caption, “That lovely bus again.”
Battle of the big bands … buses
Who do you think won?
The bus destination sign reads “WHAT IT IS.”
Are they coming or going?
Bennie Moten and his Victor Recording Orchestra
Count Basie’s bus, 1938
Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra, the Thirties
the Fifties
Note his nickname SATCHMO engraved on the suitcase.
That would be the Woody Herman band bus and their nickname THE YOUNG THUNDERING HERD on the destination sign.
Will Bradley and his Orchestra outside their chartered Greyhound bus. Members include Ray McKinley [ kneeling, 2nd from l. ], Peanuts Hucko [ kneeling, r. ], Lee Castle [ standing, 4th from l. ], and Bradley [ standing, 3rd from r. ].
Sammy Nestico (subbing for Tommy) joins Flea Campbell and other members of the Tommy Dorsey band outside their bus, 1952.
Dorsey saxophonist Gene Cipriano has a smoke near the band bus, ca.1952.
After brother Jimmy joined Tommy the following year, they got a fabulous new bus.
The bus carried the band, but a truck (seen in the background of the above photo) brought the instruments and band library.
After Tommy and Jimmy passed away, Lee Castle proudly led the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra from 1957 to 1990.
These two photos were taken when trombonist Chip Hoehler was on the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1962.
NIGHT TRAIN could only mean Buddy Morrow, in this case with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, 1992.
The bus carrying a later edition of the Tommy Dorsey band is unloaded for a show. Band members typically are paid extra to unload the bus and to set up the bandstand.
Trumpeter Ed Shedosky smiles at the door of the Vaughn Monroe band bus.
Monroe was another leader who used a bus for the band and a truck for the equipment, 1949.
Aboard the Harry James Orchestra bus are [ l. to r., front to back ] manager Sal Monte, bassist Ira Westley, saxophonist Chuck Gentry, and vocalist Cheryl Monteiro.
A book to read, a soft pillow, and a hanger for your clothes helped to make life on the Dean Hudson band bus a little more pleasant.
Duck Lewis, a promoter who became Hudson’s road manager in 1946, is shown [ l. ] near the Hudson band bus.
Bus driver Sandy Sandifer makes a rest stop.
Alongside his band bus, Duke Ellington waves to his admirers.
We’re uncertain why Ellington, over any other entertainers, was billed as “Mr. ‘Hi-Fi’” in 1955 and again in 1956.
The band bus even made it to album covers.
This is Stan Kenton’s band, 1947. Normally, wives or girlfriends were not permitted on the band bus.
Kenton trombonist Eddie Bert, trumpeter Chico Alvarez, and vocalist June Christy.
A good example of the various music cases and equipment carried on the band truck.
The Stan Kenton band bus perhaps a dozen or so years later.
The Kenton bus, headed NO WHERE, 1974.
No matter how grueling the road, Stan had a smile and a strong belief in jazz.
Kenton 1970s drummer Peter Erskine and the band’s home on wheels.
Kenton was also part of the “band bus on the cover” trend, now carried on by his alumni.
Benny Goodman boards the bus, 1946
Sammy Kaye [ above ] and Ray McKinley [ below ] near their band buses in the 1940s.
When The Glenn Miller Orchestra was revived in 1956, McKinley became its charismatic leader. That’s Miller Estate Attorney David Mackay [ top photo, l. ].
Peanuts Hucko served as leader of The Glenn Miller Orchestra for only eight months in 1974. Can you read the bus destination panel?
Guy Lombardo’s Royal Canadians in 1988, with [ l. to r. ] Ronnie Miller, Dick Wickman (the leader, in a black tuxedo), Dana Legg, Charlie Mach, Ron Smith, Bill Kleeb, Paul Smith, John Leighty, Bill Hardesty, Clyde Rupert, Dean McCollum, Cliff Kutnick, and Kenny Leighton.
A bus and a driver for The Hal McIntyre Orchestra directed by Don Pentleton, 2010.
Trumpeter Jonah Jones [ l. ] and Cab’s chauffeur Alston [ r. ] stand near the Cab Calloway band bus.
They call it a “hit ‘n’ run” when the band plays a date, then gets on the bus without spending the night at the hotel. Where do the musicians sleep? Like Lionel Hampton’s band [ above ], on the bus!
So while Hampton’s band rode in a bus, a truck - which had FLYIN’ HOME written on the side - carried their instruments.
Ray Anthony, 1951
Mr. Anthony and his band bus at Ciro’s nightclub in Hollywood, ca.1953
Glenn Miller, seated near Jack Lathrop and Al Klink, on the way to a job, spring 1940.
Ernie Caceres and Tex Beneke look directly at the camera, aboard the Miller band bus, spring 1940.
They must have stopped for ice cream.
Chummy MacGregor has his cone.
More on the Miller band bus, spring 1940.
How the Glenn Miller Orchestra traveled during World War II (note the bus destination TEXAS KID).
How the Miller Orchestra was on the road in 1983. The destination may read AMERICAN PATROL.
How The Glenn Miller Orchestra of today travels, with bus driver Dennis Morales [ l. ]
Note the discreet “Glenn Miller” on the front of the bus (just below the windshield).
Miller Orchestra Lead Trumpeter Ashley Hall and Glenn Miller Productions President Greg Parnell do some spring cleaning of the bus, 2020.
Who are these characters? Oh wait, that’s us - Chris and Jay Popa!
Chris was singing with The Glenn Miller Orchestra in downtown Cleveland, Ohio that afternoon.
SOURCE ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Ancestry (ancestry.com). “Improvement?,” Billboard, Sept. 7, 1946, p.20. Popa Family Collection. Bozy White. The Miracle Man of Swing: A Bio-Discography of Jazz Trumpeter Bunny Berigan: Volume Two (Naperville, IL: Shoestring Records Press, 2012).
IMAGE ATTRIBUTION
American Jazz Museum (americanjazzmuseum.org) Walt Boenig Claude Cats Place (claudecat17.tumblr.com) Peter Erskine Milt Hinton Chip Hoehler Stanley Kubrick Gene Kutch Bill Lichtenauer Glenn Miller Archives, American Music Research Center, University of Colorado-Boulder, on behalf of The Glenn Miller Estate Glenn Miller Orchestra Alumni Group on Facebook Glenn Miller Productions, Inc. Glenn Mittler Cheryl Monteiro Par-Due Museum of the City of New York (collections.mcny.org) Don Pentleton Popa Family Collection Prometheus Global Media Tom Shedosky Joe Showler Ron Smolen Mark Sowlakis University of North Texas Digital Library (digital, library.unt.edu) Vaughn Monroe Society (vaughnmonroesociety.org) World Radio History (worldradiohistory.com)