Goodman was regarded by some as a demanding taskmaster, by others an arrogant and eccentric martinet. Many musicians spoke of The Ray, Goodman's trademark glare that he bestowed on a musician who failed to perform to his demanding standards. Anita O'Day and Helen Forrest spoke bitterly of their experiences singing with Goodman. "The twenty or so months I spent with Benny felt like twenty years," said Forrest. "When I look back, they seem like a life sentence." He could also be incredibly self-absorbed; it is reported that when eating an egg onto which a ketchup bottle cap had fallen, Goodman simply ate around it. At the same time, there are reports that he privately funded several college educations and was sometimes very generous, though always secretly. When a friend asked him why one time, he reportedly said, "Well, if they knew about it, everyone would come to me with their hand out."
Some suggest that Elvis Presley had the same success with rock and roll that Goodman achieved with jazz and swing. Without Goodman there would not have been a swing era. It is true that many of Goodman's arrangements had been played for years before by Fletcher Henderson's orchestra. While Goodman publicly acknowledged his debt to Henderson, many young white swing fans had never heard Henderson's band. While most consider Goodman a jazz innovator, others maintain his main strength was his perfectionism and drive. Goodman was a non - pariel virtuoso clarinetist and -along with only Artie Shaw, amongst the most technically proficient jazz clarinetists of all time.
Goodman is also responsible for a significant step in racial integration in America. In the early 1930s, black and white jazz musicians could not play together in most clubs or concerts. In the Southern states, racial segregation was enforced by the Jim Crow laws. Benny Goodman broke with tradition by hiring Teddy Wilson to play with him ] in the Autumn of 1936. He then added Lionel Hampton on vibes in December, 1936, and in the early Summer of 1939 he augmented the famous "quartette" with pioneering jazz guitarist Charlie Christian to his band and small ensembles, who played with him until his untimely death from tuberculosis less than three years later. To give an understanding of American history at this time, Goodman's integration of popular music happened ten years before Jackie Robinson entered Major League Baseball. "[Goodman's] popularity was such that he could remain financially viable without touring the South, where he would have been subject to arrest for violating Jim Crow laws." By the mid- Summer of 1941, Benny had hired the incomparably rhythmic and show-man drummer, legendary "Big Sid" Catlett, the (later) famous John Simmons on bass, and still possessed the incomparable Charlie Christian on electric guitar -plus Cootie Williams was in the middle of his one-year contract... This amounted to virtually one-quarter of the orchestra of black heritage, but of course -following Jimmy Munday and Fletcher Henderson (who also joined the band as pianist for 6 months in July, 1939) it was really an orchestrated white extension of black big band jazz -only, curiously -better.
Stars Fell on Alabama
Benny Goodman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
All the world a dream come true
Did it really happen, was I really there, was I really there with you?
We lived our little drama, we kissed in a field of white
And stars fell on Alabama last night
I can't forget the glamor, your eyes held a tender light
And stars fell on Alabama last night
A fairy land where no one else could enter
And in the center just you and me, dear
My heart beat like a hammer, my arms wound around you tight
And stars fell on Alabama last night
We lived our little drama, we kissed in a field of white
And stars fell on Alabama last night
I can't forget the glamor, your eyes held a tender light
And stars fell on Alabama last night
I never planned in my imagination a situation so heavenly
A fairy land where no one else could enter
And in the center just you and me, dear
My heart beat like a hammer, my arms wound around you tight
The song "Stars Fell on Alabama" by Benny Goodman is a tender ode to a romantic experience set in Alabama under the stars. The opening lines conjure up an image of dreamy southern romance with "moonlight and magnolia, starlight in your hair". The singer then begins to question whether the experience was real or just a figment of their imagination. However, the tender memory of "kissing in a field of white" and your eyes "holding a tender light" make it impossible to forget this magical moment. The lyrics create a fairyland where the only two people who exist under the stars are the singer and their beloved. The metaphor of the "stars falling on Alabama" implies that the universe approved of their union and that it was a special moment.
Line by Line Meaning
Moonlight and magnolia, starlight in your hair
The scene was set in the south, with moonlight shining on the magnolia trees and stars reflecting in her hair
All the world a dream come true
The night felt like a perfect dream
Did it really happen, was I really there, was I really there with you?
The experience felt too good to be true, leaving him questioning if it was real or not
We lived our little drama, we kissed in a field of white
They had a romantic moment, kissing in a field covered in snow
And stars fell on Alabama last night
The stars were shining so bright that it felt as if they were falling from the sky
I can't forget the glamor, your eyes held a tender light
He was completely enamored with her, remembering the glamor in her eyes and the tenderness of the moment
I never planned in my imagination a situation so heavenly
He could never have dreamt up such a perfect moment with her
A fairy land where no one else could enter
It felt as if they were in their own enchanted world, where no one else could intrude
And in the center just you and me, dear
The focus of the moment was solely on the two of them and their connection
My heart beat like a hammer, my arms wound around you tight
He felt an intense rush of emotions, wrapping his arms tightly around her while his heart raced
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Frank Perkins, Frank S Perkins, Mitchell Parish
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Walter Gray
This song means so much to me. It brings to mind reminiscences of a love affair in the 1970s.
I love this version of it, and I thank you for sharing it.
Trombonology Erstwhile
With the Swing Era not yet officially underway, this newly-formed, cautious Goodman band was a far cry from what it would be only a short time later, with the addition of Bunny Berigan, and later, at its 1938 Carnegie Hall triumph, but still, in the instrumental section after the vocal, we hear in Benny's unmistakable clarinet the glimmerings of things to come. Mr. Sacco does a decent job on one of the the great standards, when it was brand new.
Thomas .Hennessey
At this point, Goodman is growing as a bandleader but he's still a ways from being the "King of Swing". This still sound like the sweet bands of the early 1930s. In 1934, Goodman gets a 4 month contract as leader at Billy Rose's Music Hall in NYC. The location gave BG a steady platform. That band records 4 sides under that name for Columbia in Aug.1934. It also records this and 3 other sides as shown above for ARC. Dec. 1,1934 the band started playing on NBC radio's late night Let's Dance program and BG gets more Fletcher Henderson arrangements and makes some personnel changes that show up on his last Columbia sides made in Jan.-Feb. 1935. Let's Dance ended May 25,1935 and BG and band started a bumpy cross country trip which would end in triumph with the young West Coast dancers at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles in Aug. 1935. By then the band would have Victor Records that would sell like hot cakes.
RatPfink66
it doesn't sound like early '30s sweet music to me because it is so streamlined. sweet bands were still indulging in overphrasing and gimmicks. BG was already different.
Alexander Sherwood
Cheers thanks for the little storybook!
RatPfink66
It was about the time of this date - Sept.-Oct., 1934 - that BG picked up a regular radio spot from Billy Rose's, where local WNEW had aired him on a strictly fill-in basis. It was after midnight, over indie 500 watter WMCA, but it put the name of Benny Goodman in the radio listings all that fall. The Columbia discs billing the Music Hall would have been out by October, too.
It was in October that the call came for orchestras to audition for McCann-Erickson ad agency, who were building the program that would become Let's Dance. That swing was "a thing" but not yet "the thing" was brought home when BG won the job by one vote - over a band who failed to show up for the audition! Putting it another way: Goodman just barely edged out "none of the above."
Thomas .Hennessey
Brian Rust, Jazz Records {1978 ed.} gives a personnel of Benny Goodman,cl-ldr; Russ Case, Jerry Neary, Sam Shapiro,t Red Ballard, Jack Lacey,trb; Hymie Schertzer ,Ben Kantor,as; Art Rollini,ts; Claude Thornhill,p; Tony Sacco,g-vcl; Harry Goodman,sb; Sammy Weiss,d. Note that some of the big names of the Victor Sides of mid 1935 and later like Bunny Berigan and Gene Krupa of mid 1935 and later aren't here yet.l
Jourwalis
Why was Benny Goodman called "Vincent Rose"?
RatPfink66
He was under contract to a different label.
Gennettor
@RatPfink66 Besides, pseudonyms were regularly used on many labels.