Big Bands and Great Ballrooms: America Is Dancing...Again (Paperback)

by Jack Behrens (Author)
Key Phrases: music building, big band business, territorial bands, Glenn Miller, New York, Buckeye Lake (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Where did big bands and swing music go? They didn't leave. . . but many Americans actually believe they disappeared along with ballrooms, jukeboxes, bobby sox and zoot suits decades ago. Band leader Brooks Tegler, who has recreated the great music of World War II with his Army Air Corps Review Big Band, offers a good response. "In order for something to come back, it needs to have gone away. Big bands have wrongly been put in that category. They never went away." And that's the essence of the chapters of my book about America's big bands, ballrooms and dancing's past and present. And there's a good look at the future through the eyes of a number of young bandleaders from the east to west coast who carry on in the tradition of Guy Lombardo, Glenn Miller, Harry James, Woody Herman, Duke Ellington and a host of other music legends in their own distinctive way. The struggle to survive in the music business hasn't been without losses and a need for life support. It did when Miller, Benny Goodman, James and Ellington were in their heyday. It's a financially precarious business regardless of your talent. Inevitably, music and dancing evolved and matured. The reasons are numerous and linked to our heritage. But like marching bands on the 4th of July, imagine a country club new year's eve without live dance music and a big band. Think about the many community social events and high school and college proms let alone wedding receptions that still insist on having live bands to play the foxtrots and swing numbers people enjoy. My research shows that while there were approximately 800 big bands on the road during the swing era of the 1940s, today there are nearly 1,300 big bands, according to a Google search and a review of hundreds of territory bands. Consequently, neither the bands nor the music vanished. . . they scattered throughout the American countryside.

About the Author
"My big band days were spread over two decades (1940s, 1950s) but they were a special six years. I met bandleaders, musicians, singers and played ballrooms, clubs and dancing and drinking spots I never forgot. I met people I never forgot either," Jack Behrens told a radio audience in 2002 about his life "on the road" after the release of his 1st book about the big band era, "Big Band Days." (AuthorHouse/2003). A nationally known award-winning columnist, editor and writer and Reader's Digest Magazine professor, Jack Behrens has written more than 14,000 magazine articles, columns and essays in national and international periodicals including Harvard's Nieman Report, Mankind, Physicians Financial News, Writer's Digest, National Observer, Business Journal and hundreds of others. "Big Bands & Great Ballrooms: America Is Dancing. . . Again" is his 20th book. His 1976 book "Typewriter Guerrillas" (Nelson-Hall) was a best seller. Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded him the coveted Gold Key Award for his work with the student press.He's a 30 year member of America's writing elite, the American Society of Journalists & Authors. His music experience led him to become a writer. "I traveled with Bob Hope's USO Tour in the Far East while working for Pacific Stars & Stripes and once I heard Les Brown's great drummer, the late Jack Sperling, I knew I better polish my writing and put my drumsticks aside," he laughs.

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: AuthorHouse (November 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1425969771
• ISBN-13: 978-1425969776
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #911,616 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have book for music history buffs, November 17, 2008

By	Big Band Man "Big Band Man" (West Virginia) - See all my reviews

I grew up to the sound of big bands. I always wondered what it would be like to play in a big band. Even though the chance never came along, I lived vicariously on the bandstands with the likes of Goodman, Miller and many others. For me, Big Bands & Great Ballrooms is a must-have account of music history. Jack Behrens, himself a musician in his youth, brings us an inside look at bands and ballrooms during their heyday of the 30s and 40s. I like his interviews with band members and ball room owners and the insight he brings out from his with research in letters and musicans' archives. He give us an inside look at the challenges the performers and owners faced as they became the icons for a generation of Americans. But ballroom dancing and big bands are not entirely in the past tense, says Behrens. He lists ballrooms in several states where today's dancers go to enjoy the company of a companion and the sounds of great music. The book has an extensive list of websites and sources of music history. If you enjoy music history, you'll want to check out this book.