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Thread ID: 54899	2005-02-25 06:33:00	HTOTM#30 Benny Goodman, "King of Swing"	Terry Porritt (14)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
328100	2005-02-25 06:33:00	HTOTM now means Hot Tunes Of The Month . Most of the music sites visited have the music files in Real Media format . In order to listen, either Real Player or, preferably Real Alternative ( . free-codecs . com/download/Real_Alternative . htm" target="_blank">www . free-codecs . com) is required . Some sites also use Media Player, especially for sound clips, and some use MP3 . TonyF mentioned Benny Goodman and the 1938 Carnegie Hall concert a few weeks ago, and that is the justification for this HTOTM . Now I'm not really into swing, not the sort of swing that came along as the thirties progressed and then turned into big band swing of the forties, but the dividing line between musical changes can be a bit vague . The Duke Ellington/Irving Mills number of 1932 called "It Don't Mean A Thing" ( . redhotjazz . com/songs/ellington/itdontmeanathing . ram" target="_blank">www . redhotjazz . com) (If It Ain't Got That Swing) gave the name to the swing era that followed . Really it should be Duke Ellington who was the King of Swing, he invented it! Like other talented musicians, Benny Goodman started out his career at a very young age . At the age of 12 he was heard by the band leader Ben Pollock playing on stage immitating the clarinetist, bandleader and entertainer, Ted Lewis, and soon thereafter at 14 was taken on as a member of the Pollack band . Here he is with Ben Pollack and his Californians at the age of 17 in 1926 playing 'Deed I Do ( . redhotjazz . com/Songs/pollack/deedido . ram" target="_blank">www . redhotjazz . com) (sound quality is poor), and then He's The Last word ( . redhotjazz . com/Songs/pollack/HestheLastWord . ram" target="_blank">www . redhotjazz . com) . The typical 1920s sounding female vocalists on the second side are the Williams Sisters . The cornet player on both is Jimmy McPartland, Bix Beiderbecke admirer, emulator and sound alike . That is not bad clarinet playing for a 17 year old . Let's move onto 1928, still with Ben Pollack and Singapore Sorrows ( . redhotjazz . com/Songs/pollack/SingaporeSorrows3 . ram" target="_blank">www . redhotjazz . com) . The cornet player may be Harry Greenberg . In 1928 at the age of 18 Goodman recorded under his own name with a band called Benny Goodman's Boys . Many white musicians at that time were strongly influenced by Bix Beiderbecke, jazz genius from Davenport, Benny Goodman was no exception, being a life long admirer of Bix, here he is in January 1928, playing Bixian phrases on clarinet, with Jimmy McPartland on Bixian cornet and Glen Miller on trombone,playing A Jazz Holiday ( . redhotjazz . com/songs/goodman/AJazzHoliday . ram" target="_blank">www . redhotjazz . com) . By 1931 Goodman was playing with Ted Lewis, along with Muggsy Spannier who may be remembered more from the "Jazz Revival" days of the latter 1940s . Ted Lewis was first and foremost an entertainer, and for that has been criticised by purists as being corny . Nevertheless, he was a popular band leader and had a long career reaching into the 60s . Let's hear Dip Your Brush in Sunshine ( . redhotjazz . com/songs/lewis/dip . ram" target="_blank">www . redhotjazz . com), and then One More Time ( . redhotjazz . com/songs/lewis/onemoretime . ram" target="_blank">www . redhotjazz . com), both having typical Lewis vocals :) . That's all for the music else we will be entering the Swing Era, and that is post Bix Beiderbecke :) However a few words about Benny Goodman in the later 1930s, the following quote is from the PBS website, biography ( . pbs . org/jazz/biography/artist_id_goodman_benny . htm" target="_blank">www . pbs . org) where more can be read about him . "In August 1936, the Benny Goodman Trio became a quartet with the addition of Lionel Hampton . The group made its first recording, Moonglow, on August 21 . In 1936-9, Goodman's band reached the peak of its success . It began with a series of CBS broadcasts, The Camel Caravan, which continued for more than three years . They made their first films, The Big Broadcast of 1937 and Hollywood Hotel, and on March 3, 1937 began a three-week engagement at the Paramount Theater in New York . The success of these performances, attended by a large, predominantly teenage audience, and the resultant publicity clearly demonstrated that Goodman was the "King of Swing" and a popular idol . On January 16, 1938, Goodman brought a new level of recognition to jazz with a concert in Carnegie Hall, presenting Harry James, Ziggy Elman, Jess Stacy, Hampton, Krupa, and Wilson from his own entourage, as well as guest soloists from the bands of Duke Ellington and Count Basie . " Fortunately for posterity, the Carnegie Hall concert was privately recorded by an Abert Marx using a single overhead microphone running to a nearby recording studio . One set of acetate 78rpm records were given to Benny Goodman who stashed them away and forgot about them . These records were discovered 12 years later in his apartment, transcribed to tape, and the first LPs were issued around 1950 . There are many different stories about these records and how many microphones were used etc, but in 1998 the original aluminium studio masters were re-discoved and were aquired by Sony Legacy in 1999 . (Information from Bixography Discussion Group) The other significant feature of the Goodman band at this time is that for the first time in history, there was a racially integrated line up of musicians, in his trio, quartet, and full orchestra . Here in Goodmans own words (also from the Bixography Discussion Group)is something he said about the concert: "I didn't have the idea of putting across a 'message' or anything like that . I was just satisfied to have the kids in the band do what they had always done, and the way they did it was certainly wonderful . We were playing for 'Bix' and the fellows on the riverboats, in the honkytonks and ginmills . " Now to finish here is a link to the Benny Goodman and swing era bands program in Robert Parkers' "Jazz Classics in Digital Stereo" series hosted on New Orleans Radio website . Superb stereo sound quality,even though it past my era of interest, it is worth listeng to . The Goodman section runs for 26 minutes, and the swing era bands for 30 minutes . Swing ( . neworleansradio . com/channels/RobertParkerRadio1256 . ram" target="_blank">www . neworleansradio . com) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Popular music has been a great force in breaking down racial black/white barriers, in the US in particular, and we have mentioned this in previous HTOTW articles . So next HTOTM we will take a look at earlier examples of black musicians recording with white bands, white musicians recording with black bands, and black and white bands appearing together, and also correct a great unintentional bloomer I made in HTOTW#15 .	Terry Porritt (14)
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