Collection context
Summary
- Creators:
- Mills, Billy, 1894-1971, Russell, Larry, 1913-1954, Hallenbeck, Ralph, Rose, David, 1910-1990, and Stulce, Fred
- Abstract:
- Billy Mills (1894-1971) was a musical composer and arranger throughout the twentieth century. The Billy Mills manuscripts consists of thousand of musical scores written or collected by Billy Mills from 1914-1971. Most of the scores are from his time as the lead orchestrator for the Fibber McGee and Molly show from 1940 - 1959. He worked on other radio shows such as Alec Templetom Time, Hap Hazard, The Great Gildersleeve, and The Victor Borge Show.
- Extent:
- 72 Linear Feet; (72 boxes: 51 cartons, 21 flat boxes)
- Language:
- English French Spanish; Castilian Italian German
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Billy Mills music manuscripts, PA Mss 280. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The Billy Mills music manuscripts consists of over 2000 music manuscripts made mostly of arrangements from his time as the orchestrator for the Fibber McGee and Molly show. Their also consists .5 linear feet of personal papers that contains correspondence, programs, brochures, photographs, scripts and notes.
- Biographical / historical:
-
William (Billy) Randolph Mills was born in Flint, Michigan on September 06, 1894. Known professionally as Billy Mills, he was a composer most notably for being the wisecracking leader of Billy Mills and the Orchestra on the Fibber McGee and Molly show. While most of his compositions are arrangements of then popular songs, he also established his own compositions such as "I'm in Love with the Sound Effects Man", "The Cocky Cuckoo" and "Wing to Wing", which became the theme song for the Fibber McGee and Molly show from 1940 until the series end. Mills was also associated with shows like Alec Templetom Time, Hap Hazard, The Great Gildersleeve, and The Victor Borge Show. Billy Mills died in Los Angeles on October 21, 1971.
- Custodial history:
-
This collection forms part of the American Radio Archives (ARA), which documents the early history of broadcasting, with an emphasis on California. The ARA was formerly housed at the Thousand Oaks Public Library and was owned and administered by the Thousand Oaks Library Foundation. It was transferred to the UCSB Library in 2021.
- Arrangement:
-
The materials in this collection are arranged in 3 series by type.
- Series 1, Musical scores
- Series 2, Oversized musical scores
- Series 3, Billy Mills papers
- Rules or conventions:
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Access and use
- Restrictions:
-
The collection is open for research.
- Terms of access:
-
Property rights to the collection and physical objects belong to the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at the UCSB Library. All applicable literary rights, including copyright to the collection and physical objects, are protected under Chapter 17 of the U.S. Copyright Code and are retained by the creator and the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns.
All requests to reproduce, quote from, or otherwise reuse collection materials must be submitted in writing to the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB at special@ucsb.edu. Consent is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California acting through the Department of Special Research Collections at UCSB as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission from the copyright owner. Such permission must be obtained from the copyright owner, heir(s), or assigns. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or their assigns for permission to publish where the UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
- Preferred citation:
-
[Identification of Item], Billy Mills music manuscripts, PA Mss 280. Department of Special Research Collections, UC Santa Barbara Library, University of California, Santa Barbara
- Location of this collection:
-
UC Santa Barbara LibrarySanta Barbara, CA 93106-9010, US
- Contact:
- (805) 893-3062