Customer Reviews

Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way--A Biography

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I thoroughly enjoyed this well researched and well written book, as I did the two previous efforts by this writer on Harry James and Nelson Riddle. It is a fascinating account of the life and times of the big touring bands in the swing era. I found it very hard to put down but sorry when I finished it. A very fine piece of work in my opinion.

Few musicians evoke the Big Band era more than Tommy Dorsey. With his soaring trombone playing and hit tunes, he left an indelible mark on American culture, yet few know that off stage, Dorsey's personal life was as fascinating as the music he created on stage. A man driven by his passion for women and drink as much as for music, Dorsey was a perfectionist who lived on overload. Peter Levinson's bio, drawn on exhaustive new research and scores of interviews with those who knew Dorsey best, takes us center stage and behind the scenes, toppling the swing era's icon sweet and mellow image and replacing it with a more truthful, multi-faceted portrait of a man of extreme excess. All the high and low notes Dorsey achieved are here. Play on!

Peter Levinson's book is a fun, entertaining and well researched portrait of one of the swing era's great artists and bandleaders. Levinson takes the reader on a journey into the life and work of the multi-faceted personality of Dorsey, who worked relentlessly to lead his orchestra to become one of the biggest successes of its era. Dorsey who had a significant influence on the music scene of his time was also the mentor of what would become one of the most successful entertainers of all time - Frank Sinatra.

Guided by Levinson, the reader gets insights from behind the scenes about Dorsey and Band, largely hidden from the public eye. Spiked with anecdotes of colleagues and other contemporaries, written with wit and an underlying satirical humor by a publicist who has worked with some jazz giants, this book is a page turner for anyone interested in this era, be it amateurs or professionals.

One can have grown up loving Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra without having any idea of what was going on behind the scenes, what the fabled bandleader was really like. In Peter J. Levinson's illuminating and well-sourced book, "Tommy Dorsey: Livin' in a Great Big Way," the subject emerges as a man both with and ahead of his time: an American idol, he was a musical Martha Stewart-like perfectionist who out-Trumped Donald when it came to firing people. Some of the greatest names in jazz and popular music were hired, fired and later re-hired by Dorsey. Levinson does full justice to him, covering his music (danceable was the goal), his movies (MGM quality). his marriages (several, sometimes stormy), and his moods (subject to change without notice) There would be frequent eruptions, most often with his brother, rival and sometimes co-bandleader Jimmy Dorsey, and most significantly with his singing discovery Frank Sinatra. It was Dorsey's amazing breath control as a trombonist that Sinatra modeled his vocal technique after; it was Dorsey's character that he, knowingly or not, emulated. "Livin' in a Great Big Way" tells an engaging, well-rounded story of a complex figure who played beautifully, nurtured careers and largely influenced pop culture for two decades.

Although an icon of the big band era, there hasn't been an updated biography of Tommy Dorsey written in many years. It is based largely on some 180 interviews conducted mostly in the coal country where Dorsey grew up. This is excellent timing, as the people who knew and worked with Dorsey are all now becoming aged. Writers in the future will have to work from sources more distant.

Mr. Levinson has been in the entertainment business as an agent, freelance, writer, personal manager, publicist and more. This is his third book, with the first two being biographies of Harry James and Nelson Riddle. He is an accomplished biographer.

Tommy Dorsey, like many big name entertainers was a tower of strength, developing new forms of music that changed the way people lived. He worked with the big name entertainers of the time including Sinatra, Elvis, and of course his brother Jimmy. At the same time he had serious problems with drinking, drugs, and women which led him to death at the very early age of 51.

Mr. Levinson has done an excellent job of presenting both aspects of Dorsey's life.

Celebrating the centennial of Dorsey's birth is Tommy Dorsey: Livin' In A Great Big Way, a biography reaching through the hype to provide a definitive account of the jazz icon. New research and interviews with fellow musicians provides depth and insights into the musician's eccentric lifestyle and destructive behavior. His volatile personality often led to both career launches and career crises, and this is the first biography in more than thirty years, providing insights into the Big Band era's most notable star.

Two kids from the hard coal mining area of Pennsylvania become famous band leaders. The brothers Dorsey, Tommy & Jimmy,elevate sibling rivalry to new heights. Brother Tommy is dominant; his record sales are surpassed only by Elvis Presley. How this tough taskmaster became King on the Hill is a fascinating read,
peppered with the names of big band-dom's key players.

I read all nine reviews, & I totally agree that this was the most fascinating book I've ever read about the wonderful days of the "big bands". It seems interesting to learn that most of the successful big band leaders were not the easiest people to get along with. Perhaps being a strict disciplinarian with a short fuse just came with the territory. I read all nine reviews, & no one noticed the bit about Art Linkletter. On page 151, Levinson relates an incident involving Art, something that happened in 1942, saying that Art was a "very active" 93 year old at the time. When I saw & talked to Art at a dinner banquet in 1976, that would make him 127. I believe Art is still alive, though I'm not sure about this, & if so he's still lecturing about how to stay happy & fit as a senior citizen. Nonetheless, I loved this book. Jim O'Neil

I have read this book three times. Tommy Dorsey was a great musician and a remarkable man.

This is a good book, well written and with excellent content. As an enthusiast of the Swing Era I appreciated the factual content, which gave me far more information than any other source I've read,providing a hitherto unavailable cross-reference to what has been published before.

As a presenter and author, I enjoyed the insights into the man, his music and the period in general, knowing they would enliven and enrich audience participation. I am too young to have been there 'first time around,' or even to have had the good fortune to see most of the performers, even those who enjoyed career longevity. Having facts avaulable from more than one source is therefore crucial to me, and this book does a great job in providing a primary source and information resource.

Finally, I must take issue with one of the comments made in an earlier review, that the R&B and Rock and Roll era passed Tommy Dorsey by. Au contraire, we have 'TD' to thank for first introducing Elvis Presley to the nation on TV, in the Jackie Gleason sponsored 'Stage Show', and weeks before Ed Sullivan apparently 'discovered' Mr. Presley.

When you add to that Dorsey's promotion and nurturing of Frank Sinatra, he was responsible for bringing to the nation's attention two out of four of the most influential singers of the last century. (The other two being Al Jolson and Bing Crosby.)

When you add to this the roster of other great singers (Connie Haines, Jo Stafford, Dick Haymes for example), arrangers (Nelson Riddle, Sy Oliver) and musicians(just too many to list here!!) who passed through the ranks of his Orchestra, the title of 'Talent Spotter Extraordinaire' seems highly appropriate.

Drew. Drew Savage is a lifelong big band enthusiast and the author of The Deceivers

Definitive Dorsey! Some of my personal favorites - happily you can still find a number of his recordings.

This Is Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Vol. 1
The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing: Centennial Collection
This Is Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Vol. 2
The Complete Standard Transcriptions
The Carnegie Hall V-Disc Session (April 1944)