What was life on the road for a musician in the big band era?

Q. "What was life on the road for a musician in the 'big band era'?"

A. 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.

Artie Shaw

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 (Francis Albert Sinatra, of course).

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!

After the war (WW2) many musicians gave up the road life for a wife, house, children and a dog. And...the ballroom dancers of the pre-war era married and turned to the home as an entertainment center in the late 40's and early 50's. The centerpiece was the big box in the living room with the small black and white screen that became their 'window on the world.' Life was changed forever.