1st Edition
The Big Band Reader Songs Favored by Swing Era Orchestras and Other Popular Ensembles
Take a walk down memory lane with The Big Band Reader!Benny Goodman, Cab Calloway, Count Basie, The Dorsey Brothers, Duke Ellington, and Glenn Miller were musical masters of their eras, enchanting and romancing audiences with their timeless classics. Relive these wonderful songs and memories through The Big Band Reader: Songs Favored by Swing Era Orchestras and Other Popular Ensembles, a unique and exciting collection of over 140 songs from over 70 bands that are categorized by themes, preferred numbers, and top songs! Paying tribute to better known swing bands, sweet bands (ensembles favoring softer, more sentimental numbers), and some unheralded bands (good ensembles that did not receive much attention or did not have a well-known leader), this book offers music enthusiasts up to four biographical essays relating to specific groups and their popular hits, giving you historical and informative facts about the songs and the people who performed them. Nostalgic and entertaining, The Big Band Reader is a one-of-a-kind book that provides you with specific details and research about your most cherished songs and their composers, such as:
- The Artie Shaw Orchestra, well-known for their classic hit “Begin the Beguine,” by composer and lyricist Cole Porter
- The Benny Goodman Orchestra and their crowd favorite “And the Angels Sing,” written and composed by Johnny Mercer
- The Billy Eckstine Orchestra's well-loved songs, including “Prisoner of Love,” written by Leo Robin and “A Cottage for Sale,” written by Larry Conley and composed by Willard Robison
- “Day in Day Out,” with words and music by Johnny Mercer and Rube Bloom, which was a favorite of three big bands orchestras, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, and Bob Crosby
- Cab Calloway of the Cab Calloway Orchestra, along with Jack Palmer, and their hit “Jumpin’Jive” Thorough and fascinating, The Big Band Reader includes an appendix of the big bands arranged by themes to help you find a desired song or group. This remarkable reference will enable you to walk down memory lane and reminisce about the unforgettable songs of swing and its composers.
- Preface
- The Better-Known Swing Bands
- Artie Shaw
- Begin the Beguine
- Frenesi
- Summit Ridge Drive
- Benny Goodman
- And the Angels Sing
- Let's Dance
- Moonglow
- Sing, Sing, Sing
- Billy Eckstine
- Prisoner of Love
- Without a Song
- Bob Crosby
- Day In--Day Out
- In a Little Gypsy Tea Room
- Bunny Berigan
- I Can't Get Started
- When Yuba Plays the Rumba on His Tuba
- Cab Calloway
- Jumpin' Jive
- Minnie the Moocher
- Charlie Barnet
- Cherokee
- Skyliner
- Charlie Spivak
- Linda
- My Devotion
- Chick Webb
- A-Tisket A-Tasket
- Stompin' at the Savoy
- Claude Thornhill
- Loch Lomond
- Snowfall
- Clyde McCoy
- Sugar Blues
- Count Basie
- Blue and Sentimental
- One O'Clock Jump
- Open the Door, Richard
- Sugar
- The Dorsey Brothers
- Chasing Shadows
- Lost in a Fog
- When I Take My Sugar to Tea
- Duke Ellington
- Don't Get Around Much Anymore
- It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing
- Satin Doll
- Take the “A” Train
- Erskine Hawkins
- Tuxedo Junction
- Frankie Carle
- Oh What It Seemed to Be
- Rumors Are Flying
- Gene Krupa
- Boogie Blues
- Let Me Off Uptown
- Glen Gray
- Blue Moon
- Smoke Rings
- Glenn Miller
- Chattanooga Choo Choo
- In the Mood
- Little Brown Jug
- Moonlight Serenade
- Harry James
- Ciribiribin
- I've Heard That Song Before
- Sleepy Lagoon
- You Made Me Love You
- Henry Busse
- Hot Lips
- Jan Savitt
- Make Believe Island
- 720 in the Books
- Jimmie Lunceford
- The Organ Grinder's Swing
- Rhythm Is Our Business
- Jimmy Dorsey
- Besame Mucho
- Contrasts
- So Rare
- John Kirby
- Bounce of the Sugar Plum Fairy
- Undecided
- Larry Clinton
- Deep Purple
- My Reverie
- Les Brown
- Joltin' Joe DiMaggio
- Sentimental Journey
- Lionel Hampton
- After You've Gone
- Flying Home
- Ray Anthony
- At Last
- The Bunny Hop
- Russ Morgan
- Pocketful of Dreams
- You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You
- Si Zentner
- Lazy River
- Stan Kenton
- Artistry in Rhythm
- City of Glass
- Tampico
- Ted Heath
- Listen to My Music
- That Lovely Weekend
- Ted Weems
- Heartaches
- Somebody Stole My Gal
- Teddy Wilson
- You Can't Stop Me from Dreaming
- Tommy Dorsey
- I'll Never Smile Again
- I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
- Marie
- Opus One
- Will Bradley
- Beat Me Daddy, Eight to the Bar
- High on a Windy Hill
- Woody Herman
- Caledonia
- Early Autumn
- Woodchopper's Ball
- The Sweet Bands
- Ben Bernie
- Au Revoir, Pleasant Dreams
- Sweet Georgia Brown
- Dick Jurgens
- Careless
- Eddy Duchin
- I Won't Dance
- My Twilight Dream
- Freddy Martin
- I've Got a Lovely Bunch of Cocoanuts
- Tonight We Love
- Guy Lombardo
- Boo-Hoo
- Coquette
- Hal Kemp
- Got a Date with an Angel
- Horace Heidt
- Deep in the Heart of Texas
- I'll Love You in My Dreams
- Isham Jones
- I'll See You in My Dreams
- Wabash Blues
- Jan Garber
- A Melody from the Sky
- You're Breaking My Heart
- Kay Kyser
- Three Little Fishes
- Lawrence Welk
- Don't Sweetheart Me
- Leo Reisman
- The Continental
- Paradise
- Paul Whiteman
- Whispering
- Wonderful One
- Sammy Kaye
- Daddy
- Harbor Lights
- Shep Fields
- Did I Remember?
- Wayne King
- Beautiful Love
- The Waltz You Saved for Me
- Xavier Cugat
- Brazil
- The Breeze and I
- Some Unheralded Bands
- Bennie Moten
- Moten Swing
- Benny Carter
- Kansas City Suite
- When the Lights Are Low
- Billy Strayhorn
- Lush Life
- Don Redman
- Chant of the Weed
- Cherry
- Fletcher Henderson
- Christopher Columbus
- Henderson Stomp
- Gus A
Biography
William E Studwell, Mark Baldwin
