A Salute to the Golden Age of American Popular Music

We salute the music from Broadway, Hollywood, New Orleans, Tin Pan Alley and the "melody makers;" i.e. the bands and singers that brought the music to us via the radio, recordings and live events in the period from the 1920's to the 1960's. This is the golden period of Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers, Larry Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Jimmy Van Heusen, Harold Arlen, Harry Warren, etc.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman: who was the better musician?

"Q. What are the differences between the styles of Artie Shaw and Benny Goodman?

A. This is a question from Yahoo's Answer section. Here is the answer they provided;
"I could not find any differences between the two, they were both accomplished clarinettist's and both were major soloists with their own bands blending commercialism with interesting musical values both being dedicated with unflinching values."

Artie Shaw had an answer when asked the same question. Artie repled "Benny Goodman plays clarinet, I play music."

Benny Goodman, of course, was a pioneer in big band swing who was one of the most important band leaders of the era. He was dubbed "The King of Swing' in 1936 (by Gene Krupa?). Artie, later was declared the "King" with the great success of his landmark recordings of "Stardust" and "Begin The Beguine."  Earlier, In response to Goodman's nickname, the "King of Swing", Shaw's fans dubbed him the "King of the Clarinet." Shaw, however, felt the titles were reversed. "Benny Goodman played clarinet, I played music," he said.


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