Swing-Best of the Big Bands video

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.

Tommy Dorsey's On The Sunny Side Of The Street

Do you have a few minutes to relax and listen to one of the greatest big band recordings?

Here is Sy Oliver's swinging arrangement for Tommy Dorsey of "On the Sunny Side of the Street." (Please read the question of authorship at the bottom of this article)

The lyrics: (multiple versions!)

Grab your coat, don't forget your hat
But, leave your worries on the doorstep
Life can be so sweet, just direct your feet
To the sunny side of the street

Can’t you hear the pitter-pat
You know that happy tune is my step
Life can be complete
On the sunny side of the street
Used to walk in the shade with my blues on parade
But what a drag old man, gettin' stuck in the shade, Get hip, don't be afraid...move it on over, get yourself in the clover
If I never had a cent
I’d be rich as Rockefeller, can't be beat
Gold dust round my feet
On the sunny side of the street

Who wrote this classic tune? Jimmy McHugh is the published composer of “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” but there are  rumors that “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” and “If I Had You” were originally Fats Waller compositions that he sold the rights to for quick cash.  This is believed to be a not uncommon situation. For example, many question whether Irving Berlin actually composed all of the 1500 songs published in his name. Note: the Rutgers Jazz library has sheet music written in Waller's hand that seems to support the claim that Waller composed the music.

Here is the recording...vocals by the Clark Sisters. Enjoy.

Also read more about Sy Oliver: http://www.examiner.com/swing-and-big-band-in-national/frank-sinatra-fights-racial-discrimination

To buy this recording or more big band greats CLICK HERE

How many hits did Tommy Dorsey have?

Q. How many hits did Tommy Dorsey record? What was the most popular?

A.  The great Tommy Dorsey had seventeen number one hits with his orchestra in the 1930s and 1940s including: "On Treasure Island", "The Music Goes 'Round and Around", "You", "Marie" (by Irving Berlin), "Satan Takes a Holiday", "The Big Apple", "Once in a While", "The Dipsy Doodle", "Our Love", "All the Things You Are", "Indian Summer", and "Dolores".

He had two more number one hits in 1935 when he was a member of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra: "Lullaby of Broadway", number one for two weeks, and "Chasing Shadows", number one for three weeks.

His biggest hit was "I'll Never Smile Again", featuring Frank Sinatra on vocals, which was number one for twelve weeks on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1940. "In the Blue of Evening" was number 1 on the Billboard pop singles chart in 1943.

Tommy Dorsey "Opus No. One"

Frank Sinatra fights ’Jim Crow’ - National Frank Sinatra | Examiner.com

Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra

Frank Sinatra fights ’Jim Crow’ - National Frank Sinatra | Examiner.com

Tommy Dorsey's great recording of "Marie"

One of the biggest hits for Tommy Dorsey was the song "Marie". First in 1937 when it reached #2, and again a year later when it hit #16.  It  was a hit for The Four Tunes in 1953 (#13).  Words and music are from  Irving Berlin. Here are the lyrics;
 
Marie
Marie, the dawn is breaking
Marie, (ooh, Marie) you'll soon be waking
To find you heart is aching
And tears (and tears) will fall (will fall) as you recall
The moon in all its splendor
A kiss (ooh, a kiss) so very tender
The words, "Will you surrender
To me, (Marie), Marie, (Marie-ee)?"
Marie, you'll soon be waking
To find you heart is aching
And tears (and tears) will fall (will fall) as you recall
The moon in all its splendor
A kiss (ooh, a kiss) so very tender
The words, "Will you surrender
To me, (Marie), Marie, (Marie) Marie (Marie-ee-ee)?"

 HERE IS TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS BAND WITH "MARIE." (BOB EBERLY, JANET BLAIR). THIS IS A CLIP FROM THE MOVIE "THE FABULOUS DORSEYS" 

Best big band vocal group...The Pied Pipers?

PIED PIPERS - TOMMY DORSEY AND FRANK SINATRA

Q. Of all the big band vocal groups, which one is considered to have been the best?
A. Most big bands fans, at least at my lectures (presentations), pick Tommy Dorsey's vocal group "The Pied Pipers" as the very best.

Their path to success was far from easy. Originally consisting of eight members, seven men and one woman, the vocal group was formed in Los Angeles during the mid-1930s, an amalgamation of two groups, the Rhythm Kings and the Esquires, plus Jo Stafford. Their stylish harmonies proved appealing, and they began working at local radio stations and recording for Hollywood soundtracks. They soon attracted the attention of Dorsey arrangers Paul Weston and Axel Stordahl.

In 1938 Weston persuaded Dorsey to give the Pied Pipers a spot on the Raleigh-Kool Show, a popular radio program. All eight members piled into two cars and drove to New York, with no promise of work other than one shot on the radio. The show went well though, and they were signed to appear for ten weeks. Just as everything seemed to be going their way, however, disaster struck. During their second program the sponsor heard them for the first time, didn't like them, and promptly fired them. The Pipers remained in New York for seven more months, landing only one job the whole time from which they made $3.60 each, though they did record four sides for RCA Victor during their stay.
Returning to Los Angeles, the group lost four members to regular jobs on the way. The remaining members (Stafford, her then-husband John Huddleston, Billy Wilson and Chuck Lowry) struggled to make a living and were on the verge of calling it quits when, in 1939, they received an offer from Dorsey to join his orchestra. Shortly after Wilson was replaced by Clark Yocum, who had previously sang and played guitar for Mal Hallett's orchestra.

With Dorsey the Pipers finally found success. Jo Stafford was featured solo on several occasions, and the group backed up Frank Sinatra on many of his early numbers. The Pied Pipers remained with Dorsey until Thanksgiving Day 1942, when Dorsey exploded at one of the members, igniting an argument with the whole group, who promptly quit. They were immediately hired by three radio stations.
Huddleston left the group to join the service that same year. He was replaced by Hal Hopper, who had been one of the original eight members. In 1943 the Pipers were signed by Johnny Mercer to his newly-formed label Capitol Records. Stafford left the group in 1944 to pursue a solo career and was replaced by June Hutton, half-sister of bandleader Ina Ray Hutton and a former member of Charlie Spivak vocal group the Stardusters. The Pipers went on to record several hits during the remainder of the 1940s, including the famous ''Dream,'' their first million seller.

The groups' popularity began to wane in the 1950s, however, and the members drifted off into personal pursuits. Hutton recorded several solo albums for Capitol, backed by husband Alex Stordahl's orchestra. Hopper went on to play a regular role as Corporal Clark on the television series The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin. He also appeared in several films, including the classic Beau Geste and the Ann-Margret vehicle Kitten with a Whip. Hutton passed away in 1973, Hopper in 1970. Jo Stafford died in 2008 in California. A group bearing the Pied Pipers' name still tours today." (edited from Wiki)
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Frank Sinatra fights "Jim Crow"

We honor Frank Sinatra here with articles designed to keep alive his memory and contribution to popular music, but Frank's second greatest contribution to our culture/society was his lifelong and very successful fight against racial, religious and ethnic discrimination. Please read the following example;

Life on the road for the big bands was difficult at the best of times, but for the integrated bands travel, particularly in the South with the "Jim Crow" laws, could be overwhelmingly cruel. Black members were rarely permitted to stay in the same hotels or eat in the same restaurants as the white members.

One story concerns Frank Sinatra during his Dorsey years in the early 40's, and the band's arranger Sy Oliver, who was black. While the band was checking into a hotel, the clerk dispensed room keys to Sinatra and the other white members, but froze when he spotted the black arranger in the group. He refused to give him a key and indicated that he was not welcome in the hotel. Francis Albert Sinatra, no stranger to ethnic discrimination from his days in Hoboken, New Jersey, reportedly reached across the counter, grabbed the clerk by the tie, pulled him across the counter and simply said, "He stays". Sy Oliver stayed.
Second only to Frank's monumental contribution to popular music, he should be remembered (and honored) for his lifelong fight against racial, ethnic and religious discrimination.

Remember Tommy Dorsey's hit 'Marie' ?

 








One of the biggest hits for Tommy Dorsey was the song "Marie". First in 1937 when it reached #2, and again a year later when it hit #16.  It  was a hit for The Four Tunes in 1953 (#13).  Words and music are from  Irving Berlin. Here are the lyrics;

Marie, Marie, Marie
Marie, the dawn is breaking
Marie, (ooh, Marie) you'll soon be waking
To find you heart is aching
And tears (and tears) will fall (will fall) as you recall
The moon in all its splendor
A kiss (ooh, a kiss) so very tender
The words, "Will you surrender
To me, (Marie), Marie, (Marie-ee)?"

Marie, you'll soon be waking
To find you heart is aching
And tears (and tears) will fall (will fall) as you recall
The moon in all its splendor
A kiss (ooh, a kiss) so very tender
The words, "Will you surrender
To me, (Marie), Marie, (Marie) Marie (Marie-ee-ee)?"

 HERE IS TOMMY DORSEY AND HIS BAND WITH "MARIE." (BOB EBERLY, JANET BLAIR). THIS IS A CLIP FROM THE MOVIE "THE FABULOUS DORSEYS"  Review: "Big-band greats Tommy and Jimmy (along with fellow bandleader Whiteman and a full stage of top-drawer musicians) star in their own biopic. You could watch this with your eyes closed and not miss anything, but the sounds are so hep it's worth the time. The numbers include, "At Sundown," "Green Eyes," "Runnin' Wild," and many more."





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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

Sinatra fights discrimination on the road (On The Sunny Side of the Street)

Life on the road for the big bands was difficult at the best of times, but for the integrated bands travel, particularly in the South with the "Jim Crow" laws, could be overwhelmingly cruel. Black members were rarely  permitted to stay in the same hotels or eat in the same restaurants as the white members.

One story concerns Frank Sinatra during his Dorsey years in the early 40's, and the band's arranger Sy Oliver, who was black. While the band was checking into a hotel, the clerk dispensed room keys to Sinatra and the other white members, but froze when he spotted the black arranger in the group. He refused to give him a key and indicated that he was not welcome in the hotel. Francis Albert Sinatra, no stranger to ethnic discrimination from his days in Hoboken, New Jersey, reportedly reached across the counter, grabbed the clerk by the tie, pulled him across the counter and simply said, "He stays". Sy Oliver stayed.

 Second only to Frank's monumental  contribution to popular music, he should  be remembered (and honored) for his lifelong fight against racial, ethnic and religious discrimination.

 Listening suggestion: Oliver's's arrangement of "On the Sunny Side of the Street" was his biggest hit for Tommy Dorsey.