Benny Goodman Featuring Peggy Lee

Best Of Big Bands (Series), Benny Goodman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 1, 1993)
• Original Release Date: June 1, 1993
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000028ZP
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,338 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When Peggy Lee replaced Helen Forrest with the Goodman band in 1941, there was some question as to whether she was ready for the challenge. The material here traces Lee's first four months with the King of Swing, which began inauspiciously with a previously unreleased version of "Elmer's Tune," on which Lee was so tense that producer John Hammond encouraged Goodman to fire her. That disaster aside, this is a creditable beginning, with Lee rapidly growing more assured and soon coming into her own with "Somebody Nobody Loves" and "How Long Has This Been Going On?" If there's a sense of unease about the material, it comes from more than Lee's inexperience. It goes to the heart of what was a growing big band dilemma--the need for popular records and the drive toward ever-more complex arrangements. By 1941, the Goodman band was becoming a showcase for Eddie Sauter's increasingly orchestral, harmonically challenging charts. With a larger brass section, including trumpeters Jimmy Maxwell and Cootie Williams, the group had a power surpassing earlier Goodman bands, with tremendous swing generated by sometimes drummer Sid Catlett. It clearly inspired Goodman, but might have proved daunting for even a singer with more experience than Lee. And although her first hit with Goodman--"Why Don't You Do Right?"--was still a ways off, this album is an interesting window on a fine band and a singer with a distinguished future. --Stuart Broomer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice and easy, October 16, 2006

By 

Nikica Gilic - See all my reviews

This review is from: Benny Goodman Featuring Peggy Lee (Audio CD)

This nice, easy swinging affair is of some historical significance since it shows the development of young Peggy Lee taking the place of BG's vocalist.

Arragements are OK, some solos are brilliant (although Benny himself has sounded more inspired elsewhere...) and Ms Lee is young and still developing as a singer.

All in all - not essential, but very pleasant music, particularly recomended to the fans of classical swing...