... that Benny Goodman taught the world to swing.
A tired, disappointed, and somewhat disheveled Goodman band rolled into Los Angeles, California on August 21, 1935. They were booked to play the Palomar Ballroom. And if the crowds at the Palomar weren't any better than they had been for the majority of the tour, Benny Goodman and his Orchestra were finished.
...
For the previous five years, Benny Goodman had been one of the hardest working freelance musicians in New York City. He had managed to record several good sides under his own name during this time, but they were usually spur-of-the-moment pickup dates utilizing fellow jazz men like Dick McDonough and Jack Teagarden. And none of them were hits.
Benny was given his first opportunity to start a steadily-working, permanent big band by music agent Billy Rose, who among other things owned Rose's Music Hall in New York. Benny had been listening to other big bands and was particularly impressed with the precision and showmanship of the Casa Loma Orchestra, and with the arrangements and jazz influence of Fletcher Henderson's band. Benny wanted to combine the best aspects of these groups into an orchestra that played a book of solid, innovative arrangements with precision and poise, and also featured some New York's best jazz soloists.
Goodman's orchestra opened at the Rose Music Hall on June 1, 1934, to mixed reviews. Musicians were thrilled with the band; audiences less so. But Rose extended Goodman's contract through the spring of 1935, and got Benny a contract with Columbia Records to put some of the new Goodman Orchestra's tunes on wax.
Benny's orchestra caught another break in the fall of 1934, when they auditioned for, and were eventually chosen, to be a part of a new NBC radio program entitled "Let's Dance." Benny, along with the bands of violinist Kel Murray, and Xavier Cugat, alternated sets on the program, which opened at 10:30PM EST and went off the air at 1:30AM the following morning. Benny's first "Let's Dance" broadcast aired on December 1, 1934.
The contracts for both Benny's Music Hall venue and "Let's Dance" broadcasts ran out in the spring of 1935. RCA Victor, impressed with the band's performances on radio, offered Benny a recording contract, and he made his first Victor records in April of 1935. His last "Let's Dance" broadcast aired at the end of the next month. Benny kept his band working though, including a series of dates at Harlem's famous Savoy Ballroom opposite the legendary orchestra of Chick Webb.
Benny's management decided that they needed to put the band on the road in order to truly give it nation-wide exposure. So the orchestra left New York at the end of July 1935 for a three month series of one-nighters and short engagements that included a number of dates in the Midwest, winding down through Colorado and then finally into California.
(Benny Goodman and his Orchestra in a publicity shot taken just before his disastrous appearance at Elitch's Ballroom in Denver, Colorado. Source: BG on the Record)
Unfortunately, the management did a poor job of finding suitable venues for the band. The patrons were polite, but unexcited about Benny's swing arrangements; the band made up for it by adding pop tunes and sweet arrangements of old favorites to its books in order to keep the dancers happy. But at Elitch's Ballroom in Denver, the crowds left the dance floor in droves and demanded their money back. Benny satisfied the panicked ballroom management by promising to play only sweet tunes and waltzes for the dancers.
When the band rolled into Oakland, California on August 17, they were surprised at the number of youths who had turned out to hear them. And they were even more surprised when they started requesting tunes like "King Porter Stomp" and "Honeysuckle Rose." The band didn't realize it, but their 10:30 PM to 1:30 AM broadcasts from New York reached California audiences two hours earlier, beginning at 8:30 PM. Youngsters were still out and still dancing at those hours, and they began listening in earnest to Goodman's broadcasts and eagerly buying his records. And they wanted swing, not the sweet stuff that Mom and Dad listened to. Their reception of the band boosted its spirits, but the real test would be at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles.
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When the band kicked off their first Palomar Ballroom set, Benny played it safe, calling pop tunes and a few milder swing arrangements. The audience was polite, but seemed unsatisfied. Benny didn't know what to do, so in a fit of frustration he leaned over to drummer Gene Krupa and told him that if the band was going out, they were at least going to go out in a blaze of glory. Benny kicked off "King Porter Stomp," the audience went wild, and the rest -- as they say -- was history. The press flocked to see the excitement for themselves, and the Palomar's radio wire broadcast the band and their screaming audiences back across the country. The Swing Era was born.
I've chosen to start the music with a selection from the Goodman Music Hall Orchestra's first recording session for Columbia Records, on August 16, 1934. This Dean Kincaide arrangement of "Bugle Call Rag" stayed in the Goodman band's arrangement book more or less permanently, and remained one of his most requested numbers.
Download benny_goodman_and_his_music_hall_orch_bugle_call_rag.mp3
The next two selections are from one of Benny's early "Let's Dance" broadcasts, from January 5, 1935. Even though the audio quality on these selections is very poor, the excitement level of the band comes through loud and clear. "Honeysuckle Rose," in the classic Fletcher Henderson arrangement, was another tune that stayed in the Goodman band's books, although it was not recorded until almost five years later. This broadcast version runs somewhat longer that its studio counterpart and features exciting trumpet work by Bunny Berigan. "Love Is Just Around The Corner" is a good example of one of the better pop tunes played by the band at this time. (I have two more versions of this song here.)
Download benny_goodman_aho_honeysuckle_roselove_is_just_around_the_corner_radio_broadcast.mp3
"Limehouse Blues," another Fletcher Henderson orchestra arrangement (actually penned by Benny Carter), is from the same broadcast. Again Berigan's trumpet steals the solo spotlight, but Benny, tenorist Art Rollini, and trombonist Red Ballard also contribute fine solos.
Download benny_goodman_aho_limehouse_blues_radio_broadcast.mp3
Finally, I've included Benny's landmark recording of Fletcher Henderson's brilliant arrangement of "King Porter Stomp," made for Victor in July of 1935. This became one of the hallmark recordings of the Swing Era, no doubt due to the marvelous performance of the band, the quality of the arrangement, and Bunny Berigan's exuberant trumpet work.
Download benny_goodman_aho_king_porter_stomp.mp3
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