Dick Jurgens

Dick Henry Jurgens (real. Dietrich Heinrich Jurgens Jr .; born January 9, 1910 in Sacramento (California) ; † October 5, 1995 there ) was an American jazz bandleader of swing .

Dick Jurgens was born in Sacramento, the son of Dietrich Heinrich Jurgens and Clara Matilda (Erath) Jurgens. He first played in an orchestra in high school. In 1928 he founded his first own formation when he was still a student. His brother Will Jurgens, who later became its manager, was also a member. Jurgens studied at Berkeley University and Sacramento Junior College before accepting an engagement with his orchestra at the St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco in 1933 . The following year he signed to Decca Records , and he made numerous records for the label between 1934 and 1940. Jurgens' singer at the time was Eddy Howard . Jurgens played a. a. at the Casino Ballroom on Santa Catalina Island , Elitch Gardens in Denver , the Aragon Ballroom and the Trianon Ballroom in Chicago . In 1938 he recorded for Vocalion Records and from 1940 for Okeh Records ; his first success in the US American Your Hit Parade was "It's a Hundred to One You're in Love with Me" in 1939; the following year the track "In an Old Dutch Garden" was a huge hit.

Glenn Miller often played versions of Dick Jurgens' songs, which were then often more successful than the originals, such as the song "Careless". After singer Howard Jurgens' band left in 1940, Harry Cool became the lead singer. Jurgens recorded more hits around 1940, such as "A Million Dreams Ago" and the instrumental "Elmer's Tune", which finally brought Glenn Miller to a number one hit in a vocal version. Other late hits included "The Bells of San Raquel" and "Happy in Love" (which was released on Columbia Records ). His greatest success in 1942 was "One Dozen Roses", with Buddy Moreno as the singer; the song hit reached # 1 on the charts that summer.

At the end of 1942 Jurgens broke up his band as a result of the record strike of the American Federation of Musicians . He then did his military service with the Marines from 1942 to 1945 and directed theater shows in the troop support. In 1946 he revived his band and recorded albums for Columbia and Mercury until the 1950s . In 1948 he had his own radio show on CBS ; in the same year he married Miriam Davidson. Jurgens kept his formation together until 1956, when the swing style eventually became unpopular. He then moved to Colorado Springs and started an electronics business with his brother. Occasionally he played at Broadmoor Country Club in Colorado Springs, then he moved to California in 1965 , where he performed again. In the 1960s he put together a new band and performed until 1976. His final years he lived in Sacramento; he sold the naming rights of his ensemble in 1986 to Don Ring.

His music from the 1930s and 1940s appeared on Hindsight Records as part of The Uncollected series .

literature

• Simon, George T .: The Big Bands . With a foreword by Frank Sinatra. 3rd revised edition. New York City, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co and London: Collier Macmillan Publishers, 1974, pp. 280f

Web links

• Dick Jurgens in the All Music Guide