Thore Ehrling born 29 December 1912

Thore Olof Gottfrid Ehrling (born 29 December 1912 in Stockholm, died 21 October 1994 at Lidingo), was a band leader, musician, composer, arranger and the most successful of all Swedish band leaders during the 1940s and 1950s. He is the father of the composer Staffan Ehrling . 

Thore Ehrling formed a jazz band in school. There he played the trumpet, after changing from althorn, which he played in the ordinary school orchestra. From 1931 - 1935 he studied at the Conservatory of Music in Stockholm. Ehrling played trumpet with, among others, Hakan von Eichwald and Charles Redland in the 1920's and 1930's, and formed their own orchestra in 1938. Later it was extended to being a big band and became one of the leaders in the Swedish swing-era.

The band was on of the most loved bands in Sweden in the forties, in the winter Thore played at Bal palais and in the summer outside at Skansen. Still you can hear older people, speaking with a dreamy glow in their eyes, how they found their love dancing at Skansen glancing over the shoulder at beautiful and well singing vocalists like Sonia Sjöbeck or later Britt-Inger Dreilick. The band's signature tune "Let's dance" started many radio transmissions, eg from Skansen 1940 - 1956 .His band was high class and most of the Swedish top musicians where always to be found in his orchestra. 

 

 

 

Besides the big bands, he sometimes led small Dixieland-type groups. On a 1939 recording session, two of Thore's sidemen were Nat and Bruts Gonella. In addition to the signature tune he wrote several songs, including the most famous is "A moonlight walk", "Rain-laden clouds" and "Ole dole doff". He founded in 1941 music publisher Ehrling & Löfven Holm (from 1952 Thore Ehrling Music Ltd), which today also includes Nils-Georg's music publishing AB Edition Sylvain AB.  

Thore Ehrling disbanded his orchestra in 1957 and worked for a quarter of a century of Radio Service / Swedish Radio , where he led the Radiotjänst dance orchestra. In 1959 and 1960 he was conductor of the Swedish Eurovision Song Contest on TV. From 1932 to 1972 he recorded more than 1000 phonograph recordings. He died on October 21, 1994 in Lidingö, Stockholms län, Sweden and is buried in Lidingö cemetery.  

(Info edited from various sources mainly Wikipedia)
 

Thore Ehrling leader; Georg Björklund, Arne Domnerus, Curt Blomquist sax, Arnold Johansson, Gösta Nilsson, Arne Ryskog trumpet; Georg Vernon trombone; Sven Stigberg guitar; Stig Holm piano; Hasse Tellemar bass; Henry Wallin trummor Melodi: "Opus One" i arrangemang av Carl-Henrik Norin