The Board of Directors: Count Basie & The Mills Brothers
And mostly here’s a toast to you and me
1968 would have to be considered a come-back year for the legendary vocal group the Mills Brothers. After a near decade-long drought in which they did not record a single hit, the Mills Brothers reached number 23 on the Billboard 100 list with their single “Cab Driver,” which would finish at #84 on Billboard’s Hot 100 for the year. In that same year, they reached the weekly Billboard 100 on two other occasions. First, with the song “My Shy Violet” from The Mills Brothers: The Anthology (1931–1968), which stayed on the list for seven weeks and reached #73 at its peak; and also with the single “The Ol’ Race Track,” which peaked at #83 after two weeks on the chart. Not bad for a vocal group, that thrived in the 30s-50s, in the age of Rock & Roll.
With such a solid body of work produced in that year, the Mills Brothers’ collaboration with Count Basie is often overlooked and, perhaps, was under-appreciated during that time.
The Board of Directors, the 1968 collaboration between Basie and the Mills Brothers, is a record worth buying for the cover alone. However, the good news is, the music is even better.
The title of the album is derived from Basie’s 1959 album Chairman of the Board, which featured a handful of wonderful songs, including “Blues in Hoss’ Flat,” a tune immortalized by Jerry Lewis in his 1961 film “The Errand Boy.”
Basie’s orchestra featured a phenomenal group of artists at that time. On The Board of Directors you can hear: Erik Dixon and Frank Foster on tenor sax; Bobby Plater and Marshal Royal on alto sax; Charles Fowlkes on baritone sax; trumpeters Nat Pavone, Snookie Young , Al Aarons, Gene Goe and Ernie Royal; Bill Hughes, Grover Mitchell, Dick Boone, and Harlen Floyd on trombone; Freddie Green and Norman Brown on guitar; Norman Keenan on bass; Sol Gubin on drums and, of course, Basie on piano.
For a group that rose to fame without a big band, the Mills Brothers blend seamlessly with Basie and his orchestra. In my mind the album’s best songs include “The Whiffennpoof Song,” “I May Be Wrong But I Think You’re Wonderful,” and “I Dig Rock and Roll Music.”
My favorite is an absolutely chilling rendition of “Tiny Bubbles,” notably when the brothers croon the lyric: “So here’s to the golden moon, And here’s to the silver sea, And mostly here’s a toast, To you and me.” It gets me every time.
The album closes with a beautiful performance of one of Basie’s signature songs: “April in Paris.” The Basie rendition, combined with master vocalists like the Mills Brothers makes for a gripping and under-appreciated tune.
Later that same year, Basie and the Mills Brother would collaborate again, this time on an album appropriately titled The Board of Directors Annual Report.
Some of the album’s better songs include “Gentle on My Mind,” “Cherry,” and “Every Day.” I urge you to listen to all three albums, linked below.
Spotify:
The Board of Directors (1968)
