Today I was listening to a number of Duke Ellington CDs. I noticed Irving Mills has several writing credits on a number Ellington tunes. I highly doubt Mills had a hand in writing these pieces; after all he was Duke's manager and publisher. Is this just another case, similar to a band leader putting his name on a tune someone in the band wrote, or something else? With Ellington such a major force in the music business, why did he allow it? He could have gone to almost any other publisher, or even started his own publishing company.
Anyone have some insight to this?