Monday, March 12, 2012

Big Bands Forever Vol. 2 Benny Goodman Let's Dance - 1977

This is the fourth and last installment of this Big bands Forever series. Solid record, but I wouldn't expect anything different from Benny Goodman. These aren't necessarily the big hits from Benny and the band, that first come to mind, but that doesn't matter. There are plenty of songs you may know from the era. I like this record a lot. The huge stand out for me is "It's Only A Paper Moon" which I sang for a full week after digitizing this record. I think I sang it every morning in the car taking my daughter school. I'm sure she was sick of it.

01 Taking A Chance On Love
02 Gotta Be This Or That
03 Jersey Bounce
04 Where Or When
05 Amapola
06 It's Only A Paper Moon
07 Let's Dance
08 Symphony
09 Why Don't You Do Right
10 One O'Clock Jump

Enjoy!

Benny Goodman Let's Dance

I apologize in advance that there is no active link at this point. I'm still trying to figure out how and if I will share links in the future.

Monday, March 5, 2012

Big Bands Forever Vol. 2 Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye - 1977

This is the third installment of the Big Bands Forever records. For my money this is the weakest of the four. It's not bad, but the other are just better. Tracks on this record are:

01 I Can't Give you Anything By Love.
02 As Time Goes By
03 It Isn't Fair
04 In The Mission Of St. Augustine
05 I'll Be Seeing You
06 Harbor Lights
07 Daddy
08 Please Don't Talk About Me When I'm Gone
09 Dream A Little Dream On Me
10 Let Me Call You Sweetheart

You can see from that list the record has a good share of classic song. My favorite on the record is Daddy. This was a number one hit for Sammy and his orchestra back in June of 1941. The song was written by Bobby Troup. This was one of his first hits. He later wrote the classic "Route 66". Then later in life he had a bit of an acting career. He played Dr. Joe Early on "Emergency!", which was a show I actually watched when I was very little. He played opposite his wife Julie London who you may also know as a singer. In fact before they wed he produced her hit song "Cry Me A River" in 1955. Okay, that's enough rambling about Bobby Troup. The song is good and the standout for me on the record.
Enjoy!

Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye