The Post War Years

Returning to the states, the Brothers were anxious for a hit. They recorded I'll be Around. Donald Mills chose Paper Doll as the B-side of the record. I'll Be Around became a popular hit, then a disk jockey turned the record over. Paper Doll, recorded in just fifteen minutes, sold six million copies and became the group's biggest hit.

The rise of rock and roll in the early fifties did little to decrease the Mills Brothers popularity. Glow Worm jumped to number one on the pop charts in 1952. Opus One, an updated version to the Tommy Dorsey hit, was soon on the charts as well, followed by You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You, Yellow Bird, Standing on the Corner, and If I had My Way.

In 1957, John Sr. reluctantly stopped touring with the group. He was seventy-five, but his retirement did not stop the Brothers. As a trio, the Mills Brothers recorded for Dot Records and were frequent guests on The Jack Benny Show, The Perry Como Show, The Tonight Show and The Hollywood Palace. They played theatres and clubs, touring up to forty weeks a year.

A move from Decca to Dot Records brought a moderate 1958 hit, a cover of the Silhouettes' Get a Job that made explicit the considerable influence on doo-wop that the early Mills Brothers records had exerted.

Cab Driver, recorded in 1968, was their last great hit. It was written by songwriter C. Carson Parks.