Hal McIntyre (born Harold William McIntyre; November 29, 1914, Cromwell, Connecticut – May 5, 1959 Los Angeles, California) was an American saxophonist, clarinetist, and bandleader. McIntyre played extensively as a teenager and led his own octet in 1935. Shortly thereafter, he was offered a temporary slot as an alto saxophonist behind

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader known as the "King of Swing". From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing big bands in the United States. His co ...

; this lasted only ten days, but

Glenn Miller Alton Glen Miller (March 1, 1904 – December 15, 1944) was an American big band founder, owner, conductor, composer, arranger, trombone player and recording artist before and during World War II, when he was an officer in the United States Arm ...

heard of his ability and drafted him as a founding member of the

Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popular and com ...

, where he played from 1937 to 1941. Miller encouraged McIntyre to start his own group again, and the McIntyre Orchestra first played in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

in 1941; the ensemble included vocalists Gloria Van, Ruth Gaylor, and

Al Nobel AL, Al, Ål or al may stand for: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Al (''Aladdin'') or Aladdin, the main character in Disney's ''Aladdin'' media * Al (''EastEnders''), a minor character in the British soap opera * Al (''Fullmetal ...

, bassist Eddie Safranski, and saxophonist Allen Eager. They played many major

ballroom A ballroom or ballhall is a large room inside a building, the primary purpose of which is holding large formal parties called balls. Traditionally, most balls were held in private residences; many mansions and palaces, especially historic ma ...

s throughout the United States, and played overseas for troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He toured extensively with songstress Sunny Gale until the summer of '51. He maintained the orchestra into the 1950s, backing

The Mills Brothers The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed the Four Mills Brothers, and originally known as the Four Kings of Harmony, were an American jazz and traditional pop vocal quartet who made more than 2,000 recordings that sold more than 50 million copies a ...

for their 1952 smash hit " Glow Worm". He co-wrote the song "Daisy Mae" with

Billy May Edward William May Jr. (November 10, 1916 – January 22, 2004) was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music for ''The Green Hornet'' (1966), '' The Mod Squad'' (1968), ''Batman'' (with ''Batgirl'' them ...

which was recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. McIntyre was critically injured in an apartment fire in 1959, and died at a hospital a few days later.

Radio

Beginning January 2, 1945, McIntyre and his orchestra had a weekly broadcast on the

Blue Network The Blue Network (previously known as the NBC Blue Network) was the on-air name of a now defunct American radio network, which broadcast from 1927 through 1945. Beginning as one of the two radio networks owned by the National Broadcasting Com ...

. One feature of the program was that on each program the orchestra would "play the theme song of one of America's college fraternities as a salute to some member of that fraternity who has distinguished himself in the war effort."

References

General references * Jason Ankeny, ''Hal McIntyre''

All Music Guide AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the datab ...

* George T. Simon (1912–2001), ''The Big Bands,'' revised edition,

Macmillan Publishing Co. Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

Collier Books Crowell-Collier Publishing Company was an American publisher that owned the popular magazines ''Collier's'', ''Woman's Home Companion'' and '' The American Magazine''. Crowell's subsidiary, P.F. Collier and Son, published ''Collier's Encyclopedia ...

(1974) * Charles Eugene Claghorn (12-12-1911 – Oct 30, 2005),
Biographical Dictionary of American Music, p. 290
'' Parker Publishing Co.,

West Nyack, New York West Nyack is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Blauvelt, east of Nanuet, southwest of Valley Cottage, southeast of Bardonia, and west of Central Nyac ...

(1973), * Charles Eugene Claghorn (12-12-1911 – Oct 30, 2005), ''Biographical Dictionary of Jazz'',

Prentice Hall Prentice Hall was an American major educational publisher owned by Savvas Learning Company. Prentice Hall publishes print and digital content for the 6–12 and higher-education market, and distributes its technical titles through the Safari B ...

Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey Englewood Cliffs is a borough in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, whose population at the 2010 United States census was 5,281.New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state of ...

(1974) *

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

(born 1949), ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music,'' Third edition. Eight volumes. MUZE, London (1998); Grove's Dictionaries, New York (1998) *

Barry Dean Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at ...

(born 1950), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz,'' First edition, Two volumes, Macmillan Press, London (1988) *

(born 1950), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz,'' St. Martin's Press, New York (1994) *

(born 1950), ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz,'' Second edition, Three volumes,

Macmillan Publishers Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publ ...

, London (2002) * Donald Clarke (born 1940), ''The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music,''

Viking Press Viking Press (formally Viking Penguin, also listed as Viking Books) is an American publishing company owned by Penguin Random House. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim and then acquir ...

, New York (1989) Inline citations {{DEFAULTSORT:McIntyre, Hal 1914 births 1959 deaths American jazz bandleaders American jazz saxophonists American male saxophonists American jazz clarinetists Big band bandleaders 20th-century American saxophonists People from Cromwell, Connecticut Jazz musicians from Connecticut 20th-century American male musicians American male jazz musicians Glenn Miller Orchestra members