BOULDER, Colo.-
Recordings of seldom-heard radio broadcasts by Big Band legend Glenn Miller have been donated to the University of Colorado’s Miller archive, the school said Tuesday.
The recordings are part of a collection from the estate of British record producer Richard C. March, who died in November 2005. The collection also includes books, manuscripts, records, photos and posters.
March’s widow, Patricia March, donated the collection to CU’s Glenn Miller Archive on the Boulder campus.
“It is a magnificent collection,” said Alan Cass, founder and curator of the archive. “It is one of the finest personal, private collections in the world.”
The items filled two crates weighing 1,800 pounds each, the school said. Among the highlights are the recordings of Miller’s radio broadcasts.
“Miller recorded many of his radio broadcasts, and the collection contains some uncirculated material,” Cass said.
Miller spent part of his teen years in Fort Morgan, Colo., and attended CU in 1923-24. He did not graduate, but his wife, Helen Miller, was a CU alum.
After a string of hits with his civilian band, Miller volunteered for the military in World War II and directed a band for the Army. He was flying from England to France in December 1944 when his plane disappeared over the English Channel.
CU’s archive includes two of Miller’s trombones, all of his studio recordings and thousands of photographs, posters and letters.
The collection also includes material from other big bands including Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington, the Dorsey Brothers, Artie Shaw, Shep Fields, Count Basie and Harry James.
