“Sleepy Lagoon” by Harry James

At #1: June 20, 1942-July 11, 1942 (four weeks)
Still alive? No. Harry James died of lymphatic cancer on July 5, 1983

“Sleepy Lagoon” is supposed to be the version of “By the Sleepy Lagoon” with lyrics. According to Wikipedia, the song wasn’t initially written with lyrics. Jack Lawrence would end up adding words to “By the Sleepy Lagoon” but needed to get permission from Sir Eric Coates, the composer of the song.

In 1940, Lawrence wrote Coates for the permission to add lyrics to the tune. Coates didn’t mind; he thought Lawrence’s lyrics perfectly fit the song. According to Jack Lawrence, the song was a big hit during the period of the war when the Germans were blitzing London. Lawrence would finally meet Coates in 1946 and Coates would offer more music for Lawrence to add lyrics to – but according to Lawrence, none of them had the charms of “Sleepy Lagoon”.

It’s odd that Harry James would make a hit with “Sleepy Lagoon”. If he recorded a version with Lawrence’s lyrics, I can’t find it. Donald Clarke writes the following about Harry James:

his tone was clear and pretty and his technique absolutely secure; in Texas trumpet players were said to quake at the mention of his name, but more to the point he was a good leader, and although he could always swing he saw nothing wrong with sentimentality as long as it was honestly felt. As with many bands, the biggest hits were vocal numbers, and James used vocalists properly rather than as mascots, having arrangements written for them.

…and elsewhere from Clarke….

Harry James was a superb trumpet player, who began playing at the age of nine in his father's circus band, and was evidently one of the best-liked men in the business. His post-Goodman success was slow in coming, but he finally did well and continued to draw large audiences in places like Las Vegas until he died. His dance band music was not particularly jazz-oriented, though his first hit was a cover of 'One O'Clock Jump' (reissued in 1943 during a recording ban as 'Two O'Clock Jump'), and 'Strictly Instrumental' (written by Edgar Battle, among others) was an attractive chart from the Lunceford book. James's band was good enough in 1950 to be raided by Duke Ellington, and he later employed Buddy Rich on drums. His theme was 'Ciribiribin', in 3/4 time (published in Italy in 1898), and another hit was the trumpet virtuoso's 'Flight of the Bumble Bee'; his 'Sleepy Lagoon' was adapted from the 'valse serenade' of English composer Eric Coates.

Most of James's big hits were vocals. He hired the very young Frank Sinatra, who was soon stolen by Tommy Dorsey, and then Dick Haymes, a good singer in the same mould; Helen Ward and Helen Forrest recorded with James, and Kitty Kallen joined him around 1944. Forrest's hits were 'I Don't Want to Walk Without You' and 'I've Heard That Song Before'; James was listed as a co-writer on Duke Ellington's 'I'm Beginning to See the Light', which, sung by Kallen, was a number one hit in the white chart in 1945.

A ‘valse serenade’ is an orchestral waltz. When Clarke wrote that James drew large audiences until he died, he wasn’t kidding. He played his final professional performance in Los Angeles on June 26, 1983 and died of cancer just nine days later in Las Vegas.