Worked With Three Brothers, Father : Herbert Mills of Vocal Group Dies at 77

Herbert Mills, who with his three brothers and then later his father became part of one of the most elegant and marvelously modulated vocal groups in popular music, died Wednesday in a Las Vegas hospital of viral meningitis, it was reported Thursday.

Mills, who had been with the Mills Brothers vocal group since he was a boy of 10, was 77.

Called by bandleader Artie Shaw “one of the most spontaneous-sounding groups of all time,” the Mills Brothers began singing together in 1922 in their hometown of Piqua, Ohio. They came from a musical home where their mother and father were opera buffs. John, Herbert, Harry and Donald sang in the church choir with their three sisters.

Trademark Harmony

John became the impetus for the formation of the singing group when he learned to play the guitar. The brothers began their own arrangements of popular music of the day with John as their lone accompanist. Their carefully measured three- and four-part harmonics with his strumming in the background became a signature that was heard over the years on such songs as “Up a Lazy River,” “Paper Doll” (No. 1 on the Hit Parade for 12 consecutive weeks in 1943-44), “Till Then,” “You Always Hurt the One You Love,” “The Glow Worm,” and “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You.”

All were rendered with a sweet sincereness that made the arranger Sy Oliver comment: “They are the kind of guys who tip their hats when they meet a lady.”

Eventually the young brothers were signed by William Paley himself for his CBS radio network and then began making records on the Brunswick and Decca labels. From 1925 to 1975 they estimated they had recorded 2,490 songs, sharing recording dates with Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Cab Calloway.

The Mills Brothers were among the very earliest of black vocal groups to realize both commercial success and a national following. “Paper Doll” alone sold 6.5 million copies.

John Mills, the bass, died in 1936 and was replaced by the father, John Sr., who stayed until 1956 when he retired. Then Herbert, first tenor and considered the quiet one of the group, Donald, second tenor, and Harry, baritone, continued to perform as a trio, most recently in Las Vegas or at Disneyland.

Duo Continued

Harry died in 1982 and the original group quit performing, although Donald and his son continued as a duo using the Mills Brothers name.

George T. Simon in his anthology, “The Best of the Music Makers,” interviewed the brothers in the mid-1970s and recalled how an admiring Johnny Carson had asked the brothers after an appearance on “The Tonight Show” how much longer they planned to stay around.

“As long as people want us,” Harry Mills replied. “At our age we have nothing better to do.”