Golden Years: 1938-42 [Box set, Import]

Glenn Miller | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 28, 2001)
• Original Release Date: 1938
• Number of Discs: 4
• Format: Box set, Import
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Proper Box UK
• ASIN: B00005K3N2
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,822 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #9 in Music > Indie Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz
  • #54 in Music > Imports > Jazz
  • #81 in Music > Jazz > Swing Jazz > Contemporary Big Band

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. King Porter Stomp

2. And The Angels Sing

3. Moonlight Serenade

4. The Lady's In Love With You

5. Wishing (Will Make It So)

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. In The Mood

2. My Isle Of Golden Dreams

3. My Prayer

4. Blue Moonlight

5. Bluebirds In The Moonlight

See all 25 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. The Nearness Of You

2. Mister Meadowlark

3. My Blue Heaven

4. When The Swallows Come Back To Capristrano

5. Blueberry Hill

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Disc: 4

1. Chattanooga Choo-Choo

2. The Booglie Wooglie Piggy

3. I Know Why (And So Do You)

4. You And I

5. Adios

See all 24 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

UK budget-priced 4 CD compilation for the big band legend. Featuring 98 tracks including all his most popular tunes of the period. Includes 44 page booklet with his story, discography, session details & many rare photos. The CDs are Moonlight Serenade, In The Mood, Blueberry Hill & Chattanooga Choo Choo. Standard jewel cases houdes in a slip-box. 2001 release.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

61 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Glenn Miller compilation, October 13, 2002

By 

Peter Durward Harris "Pete the music fan" (Leicester England) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Golden Years: 1938-42 (Audio CD)

This set of four CD's was released by Proper, who have released over thirty similar sets of some of the legends of the thirties and forties. There have been many compilations of Glenn's music - and will continue to be many more, but this is by far the best I've come across.

It contains all his big hits, all the other songs he is famous for and so much more besides. At the time I bought this, I didn't even realise his line-up included a female singer! Actually, if you buy a single-CD compilation of Glenn's music, chances are that you will get mostly (perhaps exclusively) instrumental tracks, with any vocals being by one of the male singers, usually Ray Eberle.

A four CD set allows you to hear a much broader range of music than you would get from a single CD. These include vocals from Marion Hutton and all the featured male singers, but ultimately it is the instrumental tracks (of which In the mood and Moonlight serenade are the most famous) which are what Glenn will be best remembered. He never attached great impotrance to singing, content to employ good singers who were not the absolute best. Some other bands had better singers but were less successful, so Glenn was right - it's the music that counts.

If you are thinking that four CD's is more than you need, compare the price of this to a double-CD. If you decide to buy this, you will find the extra variety - different voices on songs as well as instrumentals - will dispel any doubts. My opinion of Glenn's music (already favorable) increased considerably as a consequence of listening to this set. Four CD's is fully justified - enjoy them.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent sound quality and great selections, November 1, 2007

By 

Thucydides 1 (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Golden Years: 1938-42 (Audio CD)

I've only recently "discovered" that I like Big Band music. We Boomers grew up loving our rock 'n roll and mostly thought of the Glenn Miller Band and others like it as relics of our parents' days in the Depression and World War II. After rap came to the forefront of popular "music", I listened to Classical music exclusively and got very comfortable with the music of Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and many others.

Through a series of odd coincidences I tuned in several times to an AM radio station here in Colorado Springs that plays a lot of orchestral and band music from the 30's through the early 60's. To my surprise, I found myself listening to all this stuff from Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, and others.

Lo and behold, I was completely captivated by this delightful music. It's so, well, civilized! It's joyous, lovely, whole-hearted American music from a time when we were truly at our best as a nation. Moreover, it's masterfully constructed, and, in this collection, performed as well as I could have hoped for.

The search began for a good GM collection that "had it all", and I spent a lot of time here on Amazon browsing literally dozens of offerings, listening to samples for hours, and reading many fine, informative reviews. I knew that there was a great variance of opinion about the quality of the audio transfers, and not a few people were very upset about the noise of scratches, pops, and thin, "tinny" reproduction along with an overall loss of full fidelity.

This research by a complete neophyte in the subject material led me to the conclusion that I definitely wanted a collection that had the 18 songs I wanted most, including many of those the band is so well known for. This 4-CD set was the only one that had them, except for one much larger set that costs quite a lot. I got mine through MovieMars, one of the Amazon dealers, and everything was perfect.

This set is ideal in every way. It has superb audio quality with none of the distractions that evidently exist in some other collections. Here, the sound envelope is fully reproduced: you can hear the bass viols clearly without any "muddiness"; the reed instruments are sharp and bright without being shrill and tinny; the brass is clear and mellow, but also bold; the vocals are warm and round with the singers' resonance.

Well, that's the recommendation of an admitted newcomer to all this. Don't wait too long to decide on this collection because I've seen that the availabilities and prices for it fluctuate quite a lot.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Music Ever Made, January 30, 2006

By 

Kathryn's daughter "Kathryn's daughter" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Golden Years: 1938-42 (Audio CD)

Fabulous! This was a gift to my 87 year-old father whose face lit up when he opened it. This is the "best music that was ever made", and he becomes more youthful with a definite spring to his step whenever he's listening to it. He has assured me that Glenn Miller is the best of the big band era.