Customer Reviews

MusicHound Swing The Essential Album Guide

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Musichound Swing is a good guide for folks who are looking to expand their CD collections. I thought that I'd exhausted all of my possibilities, but it ends up that I'd barely scraped the surface. For the most part, the guide is right on with it's reviews. However, they are rather unkind to the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra, giving the 1st CD, 'Swing Fever' a 2 out 5 and the 2nd CD 'Calling All Jitterbugs' a 3 out of 5. It does refer to the band as 'Top Notch', but yet gives relatively low ratings. I hope that the book doesn't steer people away from the Bill Elliott Swing Orchestra, as they are a fine band, in the mold of the Dorceys & Benny Goodman. The book is, on the other hand, too kind to Lee Press-On & the Nails, giving it a 4 out of 5. I didn't think the band was particularly strong in it's CD. It's horn section seemed to be struggling with the material at times. The band is great live and has developed quite a bit. Time for a new CD? A nice feature in the book is that each bands' influences, as well as bands that they influenced are listed at the end of each entry. However, the book does point out a few bands that influenced the Big 6 (a great UK swing/rockabilly combo) and yet there is no listing for the band. They have 2 great CDs out and even had a song in the recent movie 'The Truman Show', so surely they deserve an entry!? All in all, this is a really decent book and one that deserves a spot on every Swing fan's bookshelf.

This is an ambitious volume, in that it attempts to cover the "old swing" bands of the thirties and forties and the neo-swing groups of today, as well as those who bridged the gap between them. It succeeds to a remarkable degree. Particularly if you haven't kept up with all of the neo-swing groups to appear in the last few years, this book serves as an excellent introduction. The same goes for those on the other side of the generational divide who want to explore the genesis of this style. Extra credit goes to the editors for remembering some of the often-overlooked swing artists of the past, like Helen Humes, Andy Kirk and Lucky Millinder. There are some questionable inclusions (such as Lawrence Welk, who wouldn't know swing if it clogged up his bubble machine, and Guy Lombardo[!]), as well as some glaring omissions (where is Big Time Operator? and if Will Bradley and Ray McKinley don't deserve separate listings, at least they should have a joint one), but generally the listings are right on, even if they don't initially seem to ring true. (Both Kay Kyser and Ozzie Nelson could swing more than most people recall.) If you can't find a particular artist, there is an index listing where he may appear in other volumes in this series. Which brings up a couple disagreements I have: Natalie Cole is in the R&B and Lounge volumes, but she has certainly shown on some tracks on her "Take a Look" and "Unforgettable" albums that she also deserves a place here. And who knows where Boyd Raeburn should go; I would put him in the jazz volume. But I'm beginning to quibble.

Since the ratings of the individual CDs are so subjective, it would be easy to quibble with any number of them. I agree with the earlier reviewer who took issue with the ratings give the Bill Elliott CDs, and I could point out others. On the average, however, the ratings do not differ too greatly with what most knowledgeable listeners would arrive at. Even those listeners with large collections and hardened pre-conceived ideas (that seems to describe me pretty well) can learn quite a bit. Out of the wealth of material available by Duke Ellington, I don't think I would have zeroed in on the All Star Road Band albums without this book pointing the way. The system of identifying what to buy first and next is a great benefit to the beginner (either to the swing genre or to a particular artist). I also appreciate the recommendations as to what hard-to-find items to seek out, even if they are on vinyl. (No, my full set of the Bluebird Charlie Barnet LP twofers mentioned is not for sale at any price.) However, it is these ratings, while the key to the book, are also its downfall. Inevitably, and sooner rather than later, this volume will be outdated as new groups form, new recordings are issued, and more old material is newly released. Too bad the publishers can't follow the lead of law book publishers and issue pocket parts when needed. Instead, we'll just have to buy the new edition when it comes out.

I should mention the CD included with the book. It contains a good variety of current lesser-known acts and is nice to have in its own right, but of the seven tracks, three of the artists are not listed in the text at all while the track by a fourth is from a CD not listed. All of these flaws are really minor, and more likely to provoke serious discussions than criticisms. One thing this volume does lack is a general definition of "swing". We all know that it don't mean a thing if it ain't got it, but what is it? I guess in the words of Louis Armstrong (who said this about jazz), "Man, if you have to ask, you'll never know."

Like all record guides, new editions are always necessary. With CDs getting remastered by the volume and several never released on CD now hitting the market, these books are dating quicker than ever. Don't hold this against the guide, though. It's good that the CD, DVD market is moving so quickly now(perhaps more due to DVDs than anything else). Just shop smart. You will find releases available on Amazon-or the more thorough music stores-that weren't even available at the time of this books pressing. So, use the guide in conjunction with these sources. There really is no perfect album guide, but Musichound does them well-and when it comes to swing, there really is little competition. The Jazz and Lounge guides are great compliments to this guide. The Jazz guide is more thorough due to it encompassing a larger area-though not as detailed on the swing movement-and the Lounge guide gets more in depth with the singers.

New for 1999, MusicHound's Swing! contains all the information that any swing fan, new or old, will need. Pages upon pages of what records to buy. Reviews of classic Big Bands, 21st Century Swing, and jump-blues artists. Each review contains a history of the artist, which records to pick up and which ones to avoid. You will save money by owning this bok. In addition MusicHound's Swing lists swing related books and websites. This is truly the last swing book that you will need to buy.