Larry Clinton (1909-1985) was a trumpet player (among other things) and a well-known bandleader.
Early in his career he was also an arranger for a number of dance orchestras including for bands led by Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Glen Gray, Louis Armstrong, and Bunny Berigan.
He first worked as a bandleader from 1937 to 1941, with a number of hits for Victor Records (notably in the period between Tommy Dorsey’s initial success and the rise of Glenn Miller).
Among Clinton’s hits were swing adaptions of classical compositions, including “My Reverie” with vocals by Bea Wain, which reached No. 1 in 1938.
As Dave Lewis at AllMusic writes:
Clinton’s specialty was “jazzing the classics,” transforming familiar classical melodies into dance hits; for example, Claude Debussy’s early piano piece Reverie became “My Reverie” and an enormous hit with a lovely Bea Wain vocal. Clinton also similarly transformed music by Tchaikovsky, Flotow, and the hoary anthem “I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls” into solid sensations — musicians’ scuttlebutt of the era in reference to Clinton eulogized such efforts as “it goes into one ear and flows out of his pen.” Purists cried “desecration,” but Clinton defended his work by stating that he was bringing quality music to the dancefloor.
In 1941, Clinton joined the military as a pilot and served with distinction as a flight instructor. After the war with big band music no longer popular he eventually got out of the business entirely to do other things, including write fiction.
Lewis states that Clinton’s work is “unfairly neglected and is often referred to as “Mickey Mouse” or as having ‘no jazz interest.’ However, it was highly intelligent, sophisticated, and extremely well-played music.” He goes on to say that “Bea Wain in particular was a major artist, a singer every bit as good as her competitors.”
Popularizers always have a tough go of it.