Considering how adeptly Chicago re-interpreted many of their other covers from the Great American Songbook for their 1995’s Night & Day: Big Band, it’s surprising how close they came to Glenn Miller’s original arrangement when they recorded “In the Mood.”
The jazz-rock outfit definitely made sure that some of their own personality was stamped into their rendition of the tune, but they clearly based their take on Miller’s famous version – even when it came time for the horn solos that were often less improvised than copied.
That said, Chicago strays from Miller’s familiar take in a couple of ways. Their record is looser (it even rocks at times), and I’m not sure Miller would approve even though modern listeners may prefer it to the late bandleader’s stiffer arrangement.
The other and more obvious difference is Chicago includes lyrics sung by a trio of Bill Champlin, Jason Scheff, and Robert Lamm. Although Miller’s recording was an instrumental, the song always had words. Oddly though, the verse and chorus sung by Chicago’s trio of vocalists are entirely different than those recorded by vocalists like the Andrew Sisters back in the day. Chicago’s liner notes don’t say where the new lyrics came from, nor do they advise us of any additional composing credits.
The same liner notes mistakenly indicate that Glenn Miller’s band recorded the song in 1940, but multiple sources indicate “In the Mood” was released on Sept. 15, 1939. The original became the biggest-selling swing instrumental of all time, and in 1999 NPR included it on their list of the 100 most important American musical works of the 20th century.
“In the Mood” is one of the few times that the later edition of Chicago sounded like they were truly enjoying themselves – and that is always a very good thing when making music.
