Customer Reviews

Sing Sing Sing

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I would agree that this is a great one disc collection of Benny Goodman at his height. The sound quality is excellent for 1930s recordings, but make no mistake these are monaural -- your mind will have to fill in what your ears are missing. This does not affect my rating of the album, but if you are not accustomed to older recordings you will hear more hiss (occasionally) and lower fidelity than you would on even first-rate mono albums from the 1950s.

That said, I would strongly recommend this to anyone wanting an introduction to Goodman. The songs are well selected ('King Porter Stomp', 'Roll Em' and several others are Goodman staples, and 'Sing, Sing, Sing' qualifies as a Big Band Era anthem.) More importantly, the roster of musicians is like a Big Band hall of fame. Harry James (trumpet), Gene Krupa (drums), Ziggy Elman (trumpet), Zeke Zarchy (trumpet), Vido Musso (saxophone) and of course Goodman's clarinet -- James and Krupa went on to start their own bands, with some success. Vocalists? A very young Ella Fitzgerald and Jimmy Rushing, as well as Helen Ward, are pleasant surprises.

The music, if you can get past the low fidelity, is superb. Benny Goodman is credited with launching the Big Band Era by playing music that swung. While a lot of 1930s music has not aged well, the selections here sound great 60+ years later. Aside from the previously mentioned classics, there are standards such as 'Don't Be That Way', 'These Foolish Things Remind Me of You' and the Basie classic 'One O'Clock Jump'.

My advice: put away all of the modern techno-beat music for a day and play this CD. Focus on the remarkable solos and the way the ensemble just swings together and has a great time. Once your ears are accustomed to monaural, the rest is a a real treat.

Wow! What a gold mine of classic Benny music. If you are just beginning to sample Benny Goodman, this is a good place to begin. This set would serve as a worthy introduction to the King of Swing in his glory years.

What a marvelous collection this is, showcasing Benny Goodman's golden years, 1935-1937. All of his greatest swing classics are included on this compilation, including some non-hit songs like "Bugle Call Rag," one of the best-ever Goodman recordings. Listen to "Roll 'Em", one of Goodman's absolutely mesmerizing standards. The arrangement and instrumentation here are awesome. This is a song you can listen to 1,000 times and never weary of it. Benny's primary vocalist of these years was Liltin' Martha Tilton, and she sings her great hit Goody Goody. Her rendition of this classic should be the standard by which all others are judged.

Goodman fans will have all these songs on other compilations, but if you're just getting into Benny's band, this is an excellent first disc purchase. When you hear Benny, Gene, Teddy, Harry and the boys really kickin' it, you'll fall in love. A stellar album!

These are the classic late 30's sides. Most of this material has never sounded better. They have added no echo at all and the music has the power it's supposed to have. Some noise from the master discs is present, but that shows they didn't get carried away with the resoration.

The selection of songs is great, and this is, arguably, Goodman's finest period. However, in the 20 years since this CD was released, re-mastering techniques have VASTLY improved, and there's no reason to buy this disc. There's a reason it's out-of-print. A much better choice for the same music, in far superior sound would be "The Very Best Of Benny Goodman" on RCA. A generic search on Amazon for Benny Goodman will put it near the top. It has almost the same list of songs, and he sound is cleaner, clearer, and more full and vibrant.

Hardcore Goodman fans will always quibble about the song selection on a "greatest hits" package, but if you have to live with just one Goodman disc this is IT. Very good song selection showing from what was his best band. I know there are folks who have a very high opinion of his 40's band, but it just never had the snap and raw excitment of his 30's band.
There are no trio or quartet sides, but there are several good collections of those available and you need to get them anyways to have a reasonable big band collection.

Just good toe tapping music played by musicians that make it sound like the most fun ever!

As someone who didn't arrive on earth in time to hear the original big band era music, I really appreciate having the opportunity to hear it now, as it existed then. There are times our modern technology detracts, rather than compliments. This recording certainly illustrates that point. Absolutely terrific, all the way through, but worth the price just to hear Sing, Sing, Sing. What a collection of individual talents are presented here. WOW

Heard one song on an ad ("Sing,Sing, Sing") and new that I had to have it. Even my grandchildren love it!

Thanks so much for the CD. It is in great condition and was shipped quickly.

This was a gift for my father. He has this on cassette and played it so much he actually wore it out. So I bought it on CD for him. I did make sure it had the same songs on the CD version Including his favorite song Honeysuckle Rose. As I saw and listened to the samples it did include that song. When it arrived it had every song but.... That's right Honeysuckle Rose. Even though he enjoys his CD but needless to say he was very dissapointed about that song not being there. So.... I was too!!!!!!