Sing, Sing, Sing

Benny Goodman

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Original Release Date: July 1, 1935
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: RCA
• ASIN: B000002W8S
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #72,190 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great collection; Hall of fame band, October 30, 2000

By	Jon Warshawsky "Sinatra Guru" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In my opinion, this is the best single CD of BG's stuff., February 1, 1999

By A Customer

It is much better than the Columbia selections... you get "Bugle Call Rag" and "Sing, Sing Sing" and many other excellent tracks. Moreover these are particularly good takes, great sound quality too.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Benny's Apex, June 6, 2004

By	Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

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!