Big Bands - Glen Gray

After a terrific hour of lighting the memory fires by way of Public Television, I was inspired to visit Amazon to see if the same cuts are available on CDs. They are!So I bought a three-disc box and I'm lovin' every minute of it. Next month, I'llget another album. And on and on. (Since AIG executives are living high on the hog on my retirement funds, I have to buy stuff like great music, piecemeal. Food, Ibuy on a regular basis, hoping to survive long enough to enjoy The Big Bands.) Afootnote to all this: Many years ago, before the Middle World War, I played second trumpet in a road band owned of one of New York's biggies--Mickey Katz and His Kittens. I was one of the Kittens.Mickey is (was) the father of the great Joel Grey of Broadway fame. I played in thedance band on board the S.S. Goodtime, sailing daily between Cleveland and Cedar Point, Ohio.Hey, Amazon and PBS: Thanks for the memoories!Bob Montgomery

I am highly satisfied with my purchase. The Benny Goodman record arrived on time, and in tact. When played, the sound is high quality. This seller is easy to work with, and I will gladly purchase from them again in the future.

Thesound is great,,the theme song is original, this is the 1st of the BIG BANDS all should have one it is great

A Readers' Digest well sourced & mastered collection of tunes from the 40's & 50's (with some later recordings in stereo)Here is the track list (massaged & absconded from the discogs cassette listing)disc 1Moonlight Serenade / Swingin' On The Moon And The Stars1 Glenn Miller – Moonlight Serenade2 Tommy Dorsey With Jack Leonard – Blue Moon3 Claude Thornhill – Stars Fell On Alabama4 Tommy Dorsey – Shine On, Harvest Moon5 Stan Kenton – Moonlight Becomes You6 Charlie Spivak – Count Every Star7 Artie Shaw – Star Dust8 Les Brown And His Band Of Renown – How High The Moon9 Glenn Miller With Ray Eberle – Story Of A Starry Night10 Freddy Martin With Artie Wayne – Magic Is The Moonlight11 Claude Thornhill – Moonlight CocktailLove Is Here To Stay / Romance In Swingtime12 Artie Shaw – My Heart Stood Still13 Tommy Dorsey – You Do Something To Me14 Duke Ellington With Joya Sherill – I'm Beginning To See The Light15 Freddy Martin – People Will Say We're In Love16 Harry James – Somebody Loves Me17 Les Brown And His Band Of Renown – Love Is Here To Stay18 Kay Kyser With Ginny Simms And Harry Babbitt – Why Don't We Do This More Often19 Tommy Dorsey With Jack Leonard – Our Love20 Artie Shaw – I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me21 Sam Donahue – My Melancholy Baby22 Tommy Dorsey – Tea For Two23 Glenn Miller – My Blue Heavendisc 2My Reverie / Swingin' The Classics1 Glen Gray & The Casa Loma Orchestra – Let's Dance2 Tommy Dorsey – The Blue Danube3 Tommy Dorsey – Song Of India4 Glenn Miller With Ray Eberle – Moon Love5 Freddy Martin With Jack Fina – Bumble Boogie Sonata6 Glenn Miller – Moonlight Sonata7 Freddy Martin – Clair De Lune8 Glenn Miller With Ray Eberle – My Reverie9 Russ Morgan – Barcarolle10 Glenn Miller – Anvil Chours (Part II)I Got Rhythm / Broadway In Swingtime11 Ralph Flanagan – Some Enchanted Evening12 Tommy Dorsey And The Band With Frank Sinatra – Blue Skies13 Charlie Barnet – Night And Day14 Artie Shaw – Dancing In The Dark15 Tommy Dorsey – Just One Of Those Things16 Benny Goodman With Martha Tilton – This Can't Be Love17 Count Basie – Hello, Young Lovers18 Tommy Dorsey With Jack Leonard – All The Things You Are19 Jimmy Dorsey – I Got Rhythm20 Tommy Dorsey – I Get A Kick Out Of Youdisc 3:The Way You Look Tonight / Swingin' In Movieland1 Freddy Martin – The Way You Look Tonight2 Freddie Slack With Margaret Whiting – That Old Black Magic3 Freddy Martin – Cheek To Cheek4 Glenn Miller With Paula Kelly, Ray Eberle, Tex Beneke And The Modernaires – It Happened In Sun Valley5 Neal Hefti – Swinging On A Star6 Count Basie – In The Still Of The Night7 Billy Butterfield – They Can't Take That Away From Me8 Ray McKinley And The Glenn Miller Orchestra – Ac-cent-tchu-ate9 Benny Goodman With Helen Ward – You Turned The Tables On Me10 Les Brown And His Band Of Renown – In The Cool, Cool, Cool Of The EveningIt Might As Welll Be Spring / Swingin' The Season11 Count Basie – It Might As Welll Be Spring12 Ralph Flanagan With Harry Prime – Spring Will Be A Little Late This Year13 Tommy Dorsey With Sy Oliver –Come Rain Or Come Shine14 Charlie Barnet With Bob Carroll I'll Remember April15 Ralph Flanagan - June Is Bustin' Out All Over16 Charlie Barnet – Indian Summer17 Harry James – September Song18 Sam Donahue – September In The Rain19 Vaughn Monroe And The Norton Sisters - Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!disc 4Swanee River / Swingin' Folk1 Les Brown And His Band Of Renown - Red Wing2 Artie Shaw - The Foggy, Foggy Dew3 Tony Pastor - Dance With A Dolly (With A Hole In Her Stockin')4 Tommy Dorsey - Comin' Thru The Rye5 Ray McKinly And The Glenn Miller Orchestra - Greensleeves6 Benny Goodman With Martha Tilton - Loch Lomond7 Larry Clinton - Campton Races8 Tommy Dorsey - Swanee River9 Glenn Miller - Jeanie With The Light Brown Hair10 Tommy Dorsey - Annie Laurie11 Harry James - Streets Of LaredoMalaguena / Swingin' The Songs Loved The World Over12 Glenn Miller - Frenesi13 Artie Shaw - Villa14 Billy Butterfield - Malaguena15 Ralph Flanagan - La Vie En Rose16 Warren Covington And The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - Brazil17 Tony Pastor With Dorsey Anderson - Maria Elena18 Warren Covington And The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra - Skip To My Lou19 Tommy Dorsey - Hawaiian War Chant20 Glenn Miller - Danny Boy21 Alvino Ray - Cumana

This was part of the massive "mail order only" series from Time-Life back around 1991 which dealt in similar fashion with most of the notable big bands of the 1930s/1940s. Some had two or more volumes, and the great Benny Goodman was one of those with at least two that I know about - this one and another titled King Of Swing with another 21 great tracks.These were recorded from 1935 to 1939 and are presented here in amazingly good sound quality, along with 3 pages of background notes and two pages offering comments on each selection by Stanley Dance, noted jazz critic who passed away in 1999. There is also a discography of the contents showing the musicians involved with each recording, which I list hereunder showing year of recording and, where applicable, the vocalist, label number and chart performance (if there is no such information, it did not chart):1) Let's Dance - Oct 24, 1939 - Columbia 35301; 2) These Foolish Things Remind Me Of You - June 15, 1936 - vocal by Helen Ward - Victor 25351 - # 1 for 2 weeks July/Aug 1936; 3) Madhouse - Sept 27, 1935 - Victor 25268; 4) You Turned The Tables On Me - Aug 13, 1936 - vocal by Helen Ward - Victor 25391 - # 1 for 2 weeks Oct/Nov 1936); 5) Stompin' At The Savoy - Jan 24, 1936 - Victor 25247 - # 11 Aug 1936 (NOTE: in 1937 Benny re-recorded this and it was released on Victor 25521 and went to # 4 that March); 6) Life Goes To A Party - Dec 2, 1937 - Victor 25726; 7) The Dixieland Band - Feb 19, 1935 - vocal by Helen Ward - Victor 25009 - # 11 May 1935 (NOTE: Columbia also issued a different version of the same song, also involving Ward, recorded while the band was under contract there, and it too charted at # 10 in May on Columbia 3033); 8) Swingtime In The Rockies - June 15, 1936 - Victor 25355 - # 2 Aug 1936; 9) If Dreams Come True - Dec 3, 1937 - Victor 25726; 10) Get Rhythm In Your Feet - June 25, 1935 - vocal by Helen Ward (where you'll hear the line "... commence to rock and roll, get rhythm in your feet and music in your soul ...." long, long before Alan Freed allegedly coined the term) - Victor 25081 as the flip of Ballad In Blue; 11) Bach Goes To Town - Dec 15, 1938; 12) Don't Be That Way - Feb 16, 1938 - Victor 25792 - # 1 for 5 weeks April/May 1938; 13) Did You Mean It? - Nov 5, 1936 - vocal by Ella Fitzgerald - Victor 25469; 14) Swing Low, Sweet Chariot - Dec 9, 1936 - Victor 25492; 15) Can't Teach My Old Heart New Tricks - Oct 22, 1937 - vocal by Martha Tilton - Victor 25711 - # 14 Dec 1937; 16) Big John's Special - May 28, 1938 - Victor 25871; 17) When Buddah Smiles - Nov 22, 1935 - Victor 25258; 18) Changes - July 7, 1937 - Victor 25634; 19) Why'd Ja Make Me Fall In Love? - vocal by Martha Tilton - April 22, 1938 - Victor 25846 - # 12 June 1938; 20) Sing, Sing, Sing - July 6, 1937; 21) Good-Bye featuring Bunny Berigan on trumpet - Sept 27, 1935 - Victor 25215 - # 20 Feb 1936 - this became his closing theme.Just a wonderful compilation.