My Reverie

Melody, Claude Debussy (1862–1918); lyrics, Larry Clinton (1909–1985)

Larry Clinton was a Brooklyn boy. He played both wind and reed. By his 20s he was writing charts that were used by Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, Louis Armstrong and Bunny Berigan. His breakthrough came when he gave Tommy Dorsey the charts to a song he had written, “The Dipsy Doodle”, which went on to be one of the biggest hits of the 30s. By his late 20s he formed his own band, and made “My Reverie” a number one hit, sung by enchanting but little remembered vocalist Bea Wain, one of the greatest singers of the era. The song was recorded by several other artists, who also scored high on the charts with it: Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, Glen Miller and Eddy Duchin. It introduced a fad for “Swinging the Classics”, which turned out to be mostly Debussy and Tchaikovsky, although he also “swung” Martha, an 1847 German opera tune composed by Freiherr von Flotow (1812-1883). You can watch both “Martha” and “My Reverie” sung by Bea Wain on YouTube under Larry Clinton Orchestra. His career was curtailed by the Second World War, and by his 30s he was an Air Corps Captain teaching bomber pilots in the Pacific Theater. After the war he formed a band, which played until 1950. He remained active in the music business for 10 years, and then he retired. 25 comfortable years remained. He had saved his pennies.