29 Facts About Irving Mills

Irving Mills often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose.

Irving Mills's father, Hyman Minsky, was a hatmaker who immigrated from Odessa to the United States with his wife Sofia.

Irving Mills married Beatrice Wilensky in 1911, and they subsequently moved to Philadelphia.

Irving Mills died in Palm Springs, California in 1985 at age 91.

In July 1919 Irving's older brother Jack Mills founded Jack Mills Music; mainly motivated to do so out of a desire to publish his own songs.

In 1964, Irving Mills had royalties of $1.3 million.

Irving Mills had 20 music publishing subsidiaries as well as publishing concerns in Britain, Brazil, Canada, France, West Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, and Spain.

Irving Mills discovered a number of songwriters, including Zez Confrey, Sammy Fain, Harry Barris, Gene Austin, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy McHugh, and Dorothy Fields.

In 1932, Irving Mills founded the Rhythmakers recording group as a vehicle to record and promote jazz singer Billy Banks.

One evening circa 1925, Irving Mills went to a small club on West 49th Street between 7th Avenue and Broadway called the Club Kentucky, often referred to as the Kentucky Club, formerly the Hollywood Club.

The owner had brought in a small band of six musicians from Washington, DC, and wanted to know what Irving Mills thought of them.

Irving Mills stayed the rest of the evening listening to the band, Duke Ellington and his Kentucky Club Orchestra.

Irving Mills pushed Ellington to record for Victor, Brunswick, Columbia, Banner, Romeo, Perfect, Melotone, Cameo, Lincoln, Hit of the Week Records, and others.

Irving Mills sometimes used a ghostwriter to complete his lyric ideas and sometimes built on their ideas.

Irving Mills was instrumental in Duke Ellington being hired by the Cotton Club.

Irving Mills was one of the first to record black and white musicians together, using twelve white musicians and the Duke Ellington Orchestra on a 12-inch 78 rpm record featuring the "St Louis Blues" on one side and a medley of songs called "Gems from Blackbirds of 1928" on the other, on which Irving Mills sang with the Ellington Orchestra.

Victor Records initially hesitated to release the record, but when Irving Mills threatened to take his artists off their roster, he won out.

Irving Mills formed the Irving Mills Blue Rhythm Band as a relief band at the Cotton Club.

Cab Calloway and his band brought a new song into the Cotton Club that Irving Mills co-wrote with Calloway and Clarence Gaskill called "Minnie the Moocher".

Irving Mills printed "small orchestrations," transcribed off the record, so that non-professional musicians could see how great solos were constructed.

Irving Mills added Hutton to her name and it became the popular Ina Ray Hutton and her Orchestra.

In 1934, Irving Mills Music began a publishing subsidiary, Exclusive Publications, Inc.

In late 1936, with involvement by Herbert Yates of the American Record Corporation, Irving Mills founded the Master and Variety labels, which were distributed by ARC through their Brunswick and Vocalion label sales staff.

Irving Mills tried to arrange to get his music issued in Europe, but was unsuccessful.

Irving Mills continued his M-100 recording series after the labels were taken over by ARC, and after cutting back recording to just the better-selling artists, new recordings made from January 1938 by Master were issued on Brunswick and Vocalion until May 7,1940.

Irving Mills became the head of the American Recording Company, which is Columbia Records.

At one point, Irving Mills was singing at six radio stations seven days a week.

Irving Mills produced one film, Stormy Weather, for 20th Century Fox in 1943, which starred Lena Horne, Cab Calloway, Zutty Singleton, Fats Waller, and dancers the Nicholas Brothers and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

Irving Mills had a contract to do other movies but found it "too slow," so he continued finding, recording, and plugging music.