Glenn Miller was neither a great player nor great composer. Miller was, however, a tainted a manager, a brilliant bandleader, and especially a genius as an arranger. For example, Joseph C. Garland, the saxophone player of the Edgar Hayes orchestra, had written an eight-minute song called "In the Mood" built on the riff from Fletcher Henderson's Hot and Anxious. Hayes recorded a truncated version Garland's song in February 1938, but put it on the B-side of a single. The Artie Shaw Orchestra picked up of Garland's song by December 1938, but never recorded it because at six minutes, it was far too long to fit on one side of a 78. Six months later, Glenn Miller heard "In the Mood" and immediately recognized its potential. Miller arranged the song so that it fit his band's trademark sound of a clarinet on top of four saxophones and edited it so that it would fit on one side of a single. Released in August 1939, Miller's recording of "In the Mood" was a number-one hit for the band, surpassing even "Tuxedo Junction" in sales. Garland's rhythm was instantly memorable, Miller's arrangement instantly identifiable, and "In the Mood" became the theme song of the big band era. With words by Andrew Razaf, the Andrew Sisters' recording of "In the Mood" became a popular hit in 1943.

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