Glenn Miller (1904-1944)
Filed under the name Glenn · March 24, 2026
Glenn Miller's swing recordings, 'In the Mood' especially, are the kind of music that still comes on the truck-stop jukebox some nights out on the road, decades after he made it, which tells you something about a song's staying power when it can survive that many changes in what America listens to. He was one of the best-selling, most beloved musicians of his whole era, and I think about that kind of reach a lot in this cab, since I've crossed more little towns that still play that stuff on the local AM station than I could name for you. There's a version of America out there — smaller towns, older stations — where Miller never really stopped being current, even while the coasts moved on decades ago. I've got mixed feelings about a lot of what counts as 'timeless' these days, mostly manufactured, but this one earned it honestly, note by note, one packed dance floor at a time, before most of the highways I drive were even paved.