Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Nobody's Sweetheart
2. Tiger Rag
3. Nobody's Sweetheart
4. Tiger Rag
5. Gems from George White's Scandals, Pt. 2
6. You Rascal You
7. Baby, Won't You Please Come Home
8. Goodbye Blues
9. Dinah (with Bing Crosby)
10. Dinah (with Bing Crosby)
11. Shine (with Bing Crosby)
12. I Heard
13. How'm I Doin', Hey-Hey
14. Rockin' Chair
15. Goodbye Blues
16. O.K. America-Part 2: My Romance/The Old Man of the Mountain
17. Chinatown, My Chinatown
18. Sweet Sue, Just You
19. Loveless Love
20. St. Louis Blues
21. Tiger Rag

Disc 2:

1. Old Man of the Mountain
2. Bugle Call Rag
3. Old Man of the Mountain
4. It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got...)
5. Coney Island Washboard
6. Dirt Dishin' Daisy
7. Git Along
8. Diga Diga Doo (with Duke Ellington Orchestra)
9. I Can't Give You Anything But Love
10. Doin' the New Low Down (with Cab Calloway & Don Redman Orchestra)
11. Smoke Rings
12. Fiddlin' Joe
13. My Honey's Lovin' Arms (with Bing Crosby)
14. My Honey's Lovin' Arms (with Bing Crosby)
15. Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere
16. That's Georgia
17. I Heard
18. How'm I Doin'? (Hey, Hey!)
19. Dinah
20. Swing It, Sister
21. Money in My Pockets
22. Jungle Fever
23. I've Found a New Baby

Disc 3:

1. Put on Your Old Grey Bonnet
2. Sleepyhead
3. Lazybones
4. Nagasaki
5. Sweet Georgia Brown
6. Old Fashioned Love
7. Miss Otis Regrets
8. Sweeter Than Sugar
9. Ida, Sweet as Apple Cider
10. My Gal Sal
11. Some of These Days
12. I've Found a New Baby
13. Limehouse Blues
14. Rockin' Chair
15. Tiger Rag
16. There Goes My Headache
17. Out for No Good
18. Lulu's Back in Town
19. Sweet Lucy Brown
20. Don't Be Afraid to Tell Your Mother
21. Since We Fell out of Love
22. Moanin' for You
23. What's the Reason

Disc 4:

1. Lulu's Back in Town
2. Sweet and Slow
3. Old Fashioned Love
4. Lazybones
5. Rhythm Saved the World
6. Show Shine Boy
7. London Rhythm
8. Solitude
9. Swing Is the Thing
10. 'long About Midnight
11. When Lights Are Low
12. Found the Thrill Again
13. Big Boy Blue (with Ella Fitzgerald)
14. Swing for Sale
15. Pennies from Heaven
16. Dedicated to You
17. Love Bug Will Bite You
18. Rockin' Chair Swing
19. Carry Me Back to Old Virginny (with Louis Armstrong)
20. Darling Nellie Gray (with Louis Armstrong)
21. Shade of the Old Apple Tree (with Louis Armstrong)
22. Shade of the Old Apple Tree (with Louis Armstrong)
23. Old Folks at Home (with Louis Armstrong)

Disc 5:

1. Organ Grinder's Swing
2. Let Me Dream
3. Caravan
4. Little Old Lady
5. Song Is Ended
6. Caravan
7. Flat Foot Floogie (with Louis Armstrong)
8. The Song Is Ended (with Louis Armstrong)
9. My Walking Stick (with Louis Armstrong
10. Funiculi, Funicula
11. Asleep in the Deep
12. Flat Foot Floogie
13. Side Kick Joe
14. Julius Caesar
15. Sixty Seconds Got Together
16. Elder Eatmore's Sermon on Throwing Stones (with Louis Armstrong)
17. Elder Eatmore's Sermon on Generosity (with Louis Armstrong)
18. Just a Kid Named Joe
19. Yam
20. Lambeth Walk
21. Shuffle Your Feet/Bandanna Babies
22. My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua
23. Caravan
24. The Song Is Ended

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #134909 in Music
• Released on: 2000-07-11
• Number of discs: 5
• Format: Box set

Amazon.com
It's difficult to pinpoint the most phenomenal detail of the Mills Brothers' five-CD 1930s Recordings. Is it the audio? The unbelievable genius of the Mills family from Piqua, Ohio? The tune selection? Rest assured that you get gobs of genius from this set--in performance, in audio quality, in scope of music. In terms of sound, John R.T. Davies, whose work on the Louis Armstrong Hot Fives and Sevens JSP 4-CD set makes that set the premier Satchmo set, remastered these 116 tracks meticulously. In terms of music, the package's scope comprises virtually all the Mills Brothers' great early hits, from 1931's "Tiger Rag" and "Dinah" (a duet with Bing Crosby) to 1932's "Bugle Call Rag" and Duke Ellington's "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," and more than 100 other cuts recorded between 1931 and 1937.

The Mills Brothers were originally billed as "Four Boys and a Guitar," and their utterly unique sound shines under Davies's light, with the bass thump of oldest brother John resonating deeply beneath Harry (baritone), Herbert (tenor), and Donald (lead). They mimic horns beautifully, so much so that when real orchestras back them, it sounds richer but also more tricky--where does Cab Calloway's band kick in on 1932's "Doin' the New Low Down" and where do the mock horns end? Ditto for the mesmerizing mix of Louis Armstrong and the brothers on 1938's "My Walking Stick," where Herbert's trumpet squares up beautifully with Satchmo's. They were still unassailable even in the late 1930s, and the last volume here catches the Mills Brothers as their popularity was waning. Perhaps it was the advancing power of swing big bands as the Depression eased, or perhaps their material was becoming tiresome. Whatever the cause, the Millses' approach begins to sound more like standard pop-cultural fare on "My Little Grass Shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii," but they hadn't even come close to the height of their enormous fame--that would come with 1943's "Paper Doll," 1952's "Glow Worm," and an overall impression that the Mills Brothers were an institution. Here you get what came before, sometimes simple exuberant talent taking on silly little ditties, and sometimes inspired brilliance adorned only by a nice ditty and flabbergasting vocal chops. --Andrew Bartlett

Customer Reviews

A Ton of Music for Very Little Money
My reason for not giving this five stars is due to the large number of alternate recordings of duplicate songs, but this is really due to the utterly documentarian approach the folks that put this CD together followed. Every single recording from the Mills Brothers earliest years are here (in stunningly good sound), presented in chronological order, which means that the listener is subjected to multiple recordings of "Caravan" and others. If you are a Mills Brothers fanatic (as I am), this is an indispensable set to own. If you are a more casual fan, pick up one of the greatest hits CD's listed here.

Boyoboyoboyoboyoboyo!
JSP has done it again! I'm a big fan of their CD box sets--I've got the Jelly Roll Morton set, the Louis Armstrong set, and the Carter Family set. They're all excellent! This one is no exception. The remastering is by John R. T. Davies, so naturally, the sound is superb. From the earliest 1931 recordings through the 1938 sessions here, the recordings are crisp, clear, and rich-sounding. Each piece is a gem. The Mills Brothers voices blend so smoothly together, I could listen to their records for hours. And with this 5-disc box set I *can* listen for hours! Each disc is packed full, and I appreciate having the alternate takes. Occasioanlly on these discs, the Mills Brothers are joined by Louis Armstrong, Bing Crosby, Alice Faye, Cab Calloway, Ella Fitzgerald, Dick Powell, and a few others. The liner notes are good, and for five CD's, you can't beat the price. My only complaint--and it's a small one--is while the recording dates and master numbers for all selections are given, no indication is made of the original record labels or numbers.

Outstanding!
What a great collection of music! I knew very little about the Mills Brothers prior to buying this set, and pretty much found this item by accident (you know how it is on Amazon). But I have purchased JSP sets before, and was familiar with their high quality and value. So I took a chance on the Mills Brothers, and since getting these I've listened to the set over and over, I never seem to get tired of it. Yeah, a few of the songs are repeated now and then, but it's all good. I have to say that this is one of the best music purchases I've ever made. I'm just glad that CD's don't wear out.