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Tex Beneke - A brief biography

© Chris Mindel

Gordon Beneke was born in Fort Worth, Texas on February 12, 1914. Almost everyone in the world has heard him in one form or another. He rose to fame and popularity with the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He was one of the dueling saxophones in the immortal sax duet in "In the Mood" and a singer with the Modernaires (Glenn Miller's vocal ensemble). Yet few recognize him as Gordon Beneke - he will always be "Tex."

He picked up the nickname "Tex" (sometimes "Texas") in the Glenn Miller Orchestra. [Glenn Miller was fond of giving everyone names that fitted the image he wanted. He once tried to get singer Marion Hutton to change her name, but she refused.] But Tex's music career started much earlier. At the age of nine, Tex began playing the saxophone. He started on the Alto, and eventually moved to the Tenor, for which he was known. As a youth, Tex played in many local and regional bands throughout Texas and Oklahoma. In the early 1930's, he began playing with Ben Young's band. They played all over, but it was in Detroit that fortune and luck smiled on Tex.

For in Detroit, he was seen and (more importantly) heard by Sam Donahue. At this time, Sam Donahue was a saxophonist for legendary drummer Gene Krupa. Sam liked what he heard, and gave him the thumbs up to Gene Krupa. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), Gene Krupa wasn't hiring any new players. But Krupa did pass the word on to one of his friends. This friend also happened to be a bandleader - a bandleader to a newly formed (and, at the time, still forming) band - a bandleader with a passion for popularity and money, and one searching for his "special sound." This is how Tex Beneke met Glenn Miller.

Tex joined the orchestra in the spring of 1938. Then band struggled into the summer of 1939. Then, with a gig at the Glen Island Casino, and a series of radio performances, the popularity of the Glenn Miller Orchestra was cemented into musical history. Tex played lead tenor and sang (with the Modernaires) until 1942. This is when Miller split the band to join the Air Force. Beneke led a dance band from a Naval base in Oklahoma during the war (Tex had been drafted).

After the war, and Glenn Miller's disappearance, Tex took command of the reformed Glenn Miller Orchestra. They premiered in January of 1946, in New York at the Capitol Theater. An instant success, they had a string of hits for the next five years. This was one of the few orchestras of the time to include a strings section. The band was under the supervision of Glenn Miller's estate and widow, and so the music was confined to only those songs Miller had played. This constricted Tex's musical vision and expression, and he parted with the band in 1950.

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