Birth of Swing (1935-1936)

Benny Goodman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 12, 1991)
• Original Release Date: November 12, 1991
• Number of Discs: 3
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002WGI
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,381 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Experience a musical phenomenon in this superb package!, April 7, 2004

By 

Claude Avary "West Coast Reader" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Birth of Swing (1935-1936) (Audio CD)

Benny Goodman didn't invent the jazz style known as `swing.' Bands such as McKinney's Cotton Pickers, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra, Bennie Moten's Kansas City Orchestra, and Fletcher Henderson and His Orchestra had been swinging hard since the late 1920s. Even an all-white swing band, The Casa Loma Orchestra, had already made an impression on young listeners. But the title of this 3-CD collection, "Benny Goodman: The Birth of Swing," is close to being dead on the money. During 1935 and 1936, the years covered in these studio recordings, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra turned swing into a national phenomenon, and jazz reached its peak of popularity in America (never again would jazz be the popular music of the country -- a rather sad realization). Maybe it wasn't the `birth' of swing, but it was the birth of the swing movement.

These CDs hold a treasure chest of American musical heritage, and every cut here, culled from studio sessions between April 1935 and November 1936, is a miniature gem of swing jazz. The Goodman band was hitting its stride in these years with a collection of great musicians (Gene Krupa on drums, Bunny Berigan on trumpet, Jess Stacy on piano, Helen Ward on vocals) and superb arrangers like Jimmy Mundy and Spud Murphy (who is still alive! I've met him!). But it was arranger Fletcher Henderson who gave the band the swinging Harlem style that made it so distinctive and made dancers' feet catch fire. After a popular stint on the radio show "Let's Dance," the band went on a cross-country tour that almost ended in disaster, until in August 1935 at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles they became a smash hit and proceeded to conqueror the rest of the country.

But these CDs show you how strong the band was before this major turning point, with pieces like "The Dixieland Band," "Get Rhythm in Your Feet," "Blue Skies," "Sometimes I'm Happy," and the piece that made the Palomar Ballroom explode, "King Porter Stomp." And after they found success, Goodman and Company kept throwing out hit after hit: "If I Could Be with You," "It's Been So Long," "Stompin' at the Savoy," "Christopher Columbus" (later integrated into "Sing, Sing, Sing"), "Swingtime in the Rockies," "Bugle Call Rag," and "Goody Goody."

The sound on these CDs is fantastic, with little noise or crackle, but also no sound-reduction techniques that mute or muffle the instruments. The clarity is all there. You can hear Bunny Berigan's stunning trumpet solos on the early recordings with such crispness that you'll understand why he could drive crowds mad. (Sadly, he only stayed a short while with the band.)

These CDs only cover a brief time, so some of Goodman's biggest hits recorded after 1936, including his most famous piece "Sing, Sing, Sing," aren't here. Also missing is legendary trumpet player Harry James, who joined the band in 1937. Nonetheless, there isn't a better set of Benny Goodman recordings available. Honestly, every piece here is terrific and has something interesting to say musically. Along with the hits are some wonderful rarities not often put on CD, such as an alternate recording of "Bugle Call Rag," unused takes of "St. Louis Blues" and "Love Me or Leave Me," Benny doing a rare turn as a singer on "Tain't No Use," and a beautiful version of Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood." Plus, you get performances with Ella Fitzgerald filling in the singer's spot!

The accompanying booklet is enormous, and contains detailed information on the personnel for each recording session. The liner notes give a detailed history of the band during this period and session-by-session descriptions of each of the pieces. Benny Goodman fans will all discover something new here, and first-time listeners will appreciate the music even more with this helpful guide.

If you want to know what this whole "swing thing" was all about, if you want to experience some of the most vibrant music in American history, or if you love Benny Goodman, this CD set is an absolute must. All right Benny, sing me a swing song and let me dance!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time machine on a disk, January 11, 2001

By 

RICHARD ARROYO (Zionsville, IN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birth of Swing (1935-1936) (Audio CD)

I have been checking out Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller records since I was 12 years old from the public library. I turn 25 and finally have money to burn and I buy the Complete Benny Goodman CD set and I am in heaven. I put the first CD in and out comes "Hunkadola" with a sweet albeit cheesy Latin beat. Most of the first CD follows this trend until I hear "Santa Claus came in the Spring" and the sweetness and cheesiness finally get to me and I let out a big toothy grin. That grin did not leave my face until the last song of the third CD when Ella Fitzgerald sings "Did you mean it?" and a small tear rolls down my cheek and I say "yes, sweet voice, I loved all this music" Benny Goodman has way of growling on his clarinet that makes you feel like the sound is reaching in a grabbing your innards and twisting them. Listen to "Pick yourself up" (the theme for the Astair-Rogers movie of the same name.) and "Here's Love in your eyes" and you feel the growl in the former and sweetness in the latter. Read the liner notes, and listen to the all the songs again, and with the help with a glass of wine, or better yet a clean Martini in a comfortable chair, you feel like you were there with Benny, Fletcher, Bunny Berigan, Martha, and sweet, sweet Ella.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL FOR ANY SERIOUS COLLECTOR OF SWING, April 28, 2000

By 

"scotsladdie" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Birth of Swing (1935-1936) (Audio CD)

This is an absolutely amazing collection which is actually Benny's complete discography from RCA, 1935-1937, takes and all. Many, and perhaps rightfully so, will consider some of records as curios but they are impressive nevertheless. Take "Hunkadola" for instance: you can hear how swing evolved while listening to this fascinating little instrumental. "Japanese Sandman" is an old 1920 standard which seemingly everyone in the '20's & early thirties recorded and it's interesting as are "Ballad in Blue" (Hoagy Carmichael) and the band's terrific version of "Always" (Berlin). Helen Ward has long been considered Goodman's premier vocalist and here's some proof in the pudding: "Restless" "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and "You're a Heavenly Thing" All in all a TRULY fascinating excursion into the past, these historical recordings are invaluable to any jazz, swing or big-band enthusiast!