Artie Shaw buys a bus!

The life of a big band musician, even in the top bands of the late 30's and early 40's, was anything but glamorous.

Food too often meant meals in greasy diners that announced via neon signs that they had "Good Eats" or many times simply sandwiches and beer back on the bus. The bus was the primary form of transportation, particularly due to the fact that very few bands were touring nationally. Most worked areas or regions such as New England, the Upper Midwest, California, etc.

When not sleeping on the bus during overnight journeys to the next play date or "gig" they would stay at hotels that were never of the "five star" variety.That was true for the white members of an intergrated band....non-white members often had to stay in private homes or boarding houses with three or four per room.

Pay, was also, a major problem. It was never generous (Benny Goodman was notoriously "tight with a buck"). With this type of nomadic life it is not surprising to find alcholism, and drugs all too common.

The quality and comfort of the band bus rose, naturally, with the commercial success of the band. My favorite bus story involves the early days of the Artie Shaw band. Money was tight and the bus leaked, but a savior appeared in the shape of Tommy Dorsey. Dorsey's band was getting national attention, particularly due to the popularity of the skinny boy vocalist that Tommy had hired away from Harry James (more about the boy later).

Flush with new found financial success, Tommy purchased a new bus. Artie Shaw jumped at the opportunity to buy Dorsey's bus. It took almost every penny he had....so much so that for many months after, the Artie Shaw band toured the North East in a bus that was still painted with the Tommy Dorsey name!

Listen to Artie Shaw's 1940 hit recording of Frenesi and view a list of the top song hits for that year by clicking http://memory-lane.org/TOPSONGSOF1940s.html