"L E T ' S D A N C E !!!!!!!!"

August 21, 1935 - Los Angeles - The chances of Benny Goodman continuing at the Palomar Ballroom were minimal. After a set or two of stock dance scores, Benny turned to the Fletcher Henderson arrangements in his book, reasoning that if all was lost he might as well go down in a blaze of musical glory. To the amazement of both himself and his musicians, this was what the audience had been waiting for, and from this point in his career Goodman went on to become one of the most popular names and the catalyst of a new era in big band music.

If you remember (or can imagine) those swinging years from 1936 to 1946, then you'll remember the legendary Benny Goodman. Such selections as "Don't Be That Way", and "Jersey Bounce" are faithfully recreated here for your dancing and listening pleasure.

Goodman's big break came when he won a contract to appear as one of three regular bands on a coast to coast program sponsored by the National Biscuit Co., titled "Let's Dance".

In his autobiography "The Kingdom of Swing", Goodman unhesitatingly gives credit for his success to the arranging ability of Fletcher Henderson. In his early band leading years, Goodman did little arranging himself, leaving this to the brilliant Don Redman.

What in fact distinguishes the swing bands from the straight dance units of the immediately preceding era is the emergence of jazz as a major rather than a secondary element of their music.

Benny Goodman's earliest band might be considered the archetypical swing outfit, but in fact he was to undertake a personal stylistic evolution that resulted in a very different band in the early 40's, when his chief arranger was Eddie Sauter, and to a considerable extent set the pattern for such bands as those led by Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw.

When the public went to hear the Goodman band it expected soloists such as Harry James, Ziggy Elman and Jess Stacy to be well featured, and in due course many of these musicians formed their own bands.

Generally, the bands led by ex-sidemen of Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and so forth leaned heavily on their leaders' popularity and consequently the cult of the personality was further extended.During 1947 to 1949, Benny Goodman led what was to be his last regular band - after this, he formed bands for specific engagements or tours and called on the services of bop-influenced arrangers like Chico O'Farril and Tommy Todd to provide fresh material.

When his Victor contract ended in 1939 and numerous stars departed from his ranks, he refurbished his personnel and, while retaining Fletcher Henderson as one of his arrangers, introduced others of a more modern bent. One of these newcomers was Mel Powell, also the band pianist, and another, Eddie Sauter and between these two, molded the early 40's Goodman band, probably the finest he ever led.

The band's popularity was great among musicians who voted in 1940 to give it a 2 to 1 majority over the Glenn Miller band in the swing division, and a 3 to 2 edge over Miller in the "Favorite Band Of All" category.

SONG LIST

• BLUE SKIES
• I CAN'T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE
• DON'T BE THAT WAY - This tune was an ideal vehicle for the exuberant power of the Benny Goodman band, particularly in the final series of repeated phrases (riffs) which gradually fade and then, after a call to arms on drums, burst into a brilliant finale.

• THE MAN I LOVE
• MORE THAN YOU KNOW
• IT NEVER ENTERED MY MIND
• JERSEY BOUNCE
• KING PORTER STOMP
• STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY - Benny Goodman was just tasting the first sweet fruits of success when he recorded this Swing Era classic in January 1936. The band had settled down to an exhilarating winter in the Joseph Urban Room of the Congress Hotel in Chicago, but less than six months earlier it had been on a disastrous tour from the East to the West Cast. By the time the band reached Los Angeles to play the Palomar Ballroom in August 1935, Goodman was ready to throw in the towel. But that was the night when swing found its audience, as Goodman, who had been trying to placate ballroom managers and dancers from New York to Denver by playing sweet arrangements and waltzes, decided to go his own way with the arrangements that he and his band wanted to play. He threw his book of powerhouse swing arrangements at the Palomar audience and won an overwhelming response. "Stompin' at the Savoy" was one of the numbers.

• GOODY GOODY
• BEI MIR BIST DU SCHON
• AND THE ANGELS SING
• AIR MAIL SPECIAL
• ONE O'CLOCK JUMP
• DINAH
• AFTER YOU'RE GONE
• BODY AND SOUL
• WHO
• SOMEDAY SWEETHEART
• SOMETIMES I'M HAPPY
• MOON GLOW
• SING, SING, SING