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.
Why Don't You Do Right
Benny Goodman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
You let other women make a fool of you
Why don't you do right
Like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too?
You're sitting down wondering what it's all about
Why don't you do right
Like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too?
If you had prepared twenty years ago
You wouldn't be a-wanderin' now from door to door
Why don't you do right
Like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too?
I fell for you jiving and I took you in
Now all you've got to offer me is a drink of gin
Why don't you do right
Like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too?
Why don't you do right
Like some other men do?
Like some other men do?
The lyrics of the song "Why Don't You Do Right" by Benny Goodman seem to be directed towards a man who has been wasting his money on other women and living a lifestyle beyond his means. The singer is fed up with this behavior and demands that he start doing right and making some money. She emphasizes the fact that if he had planned ahead and prepared properly, he wouldn't be in this position now. The singer's tone is assertive and uncompromising, as she realizes that the man has taken advantage of her and is not living up to his responsibilities.
Line by Line Meaning
You had a plenty money 1922
In the past, you had a significant amount of money in 1922.
You let other women make a fool of you
You allowed other women to take advantage of you and make you look foolish.
Why don't you do right
Why don't you start acting right and doing what you're supposed to do?
Like some other men do?
There are other men who behave correctly and handle their responsibilities.
Get out of here and get me some money too?
Leave and bring me some money back with you.
You're sitting down wondering what it's all about
You're wondering about the purpose of life while doing nothing productive.
You ain't got no money they will put you out
If you don't have any money, you'll be kicked out or put in trouble.
If you had prepared twenty years ago
If you had done something about your situation twenty years ago,
You wouldn't be a-wanderin' now from door to door
You wouldn't be moving from place to place, trying to find money or work.
I fell for your jiving and I took you in
I was deceived by your lies and gave you a chance to come into my life.
Now all you've got to offer me is a drink of gin
Now all you have to give me in return is a drink of gin.
Why don't you do right
Why don't you start acting right and doing what you're supposed to do?
Like some other men do?
There are other men who behave correctly and handle their responsibilities.
Get out of here and get me some money too?
Leave and bring me some money back with you.
Why don't you do right
Why don't you start acting right and doing what you're supposed to do?
Like some other men do?
There are other men who behave correctly and handle their responsibilities.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: LILLIAN GREEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kweejibodali3078
@SteveBowen that is fascinating and well put ; he is leaning so close to her that it can look like like either leering or cadging or grabbing limelight
But I can believe it that he was just so into the music
And was always studying others and therefore improving himself
And no one better than Peggy how she holds the attention
I really am here for her
❤
@miltonmoore8369
HOLY MOSES!
I AM 77 YEARS OLD, AND THIS WAS RECORDED THREE YEARS BEFORE I WAS BORN! SO THIS RECORDING IS 80 FREAKING YEARS OLD!😬😳😟
BORN NORMA DOLORES EGSTROM, THE SEVENTH OF EIGHT CHILDREN, IN 1920, OF SCANDINAVIAN IMMIGRANT PARENTS, IN THE TINY TOWN OF JAMESTOWN, NORTH DAKOTA, SHE MADE HER FIRST RECORDING IN 1941. SHE DIED AGED 81 IN 2002 FROM COMPLICATIONS OF DIABETES AND A HEART ATTACK.
WED FOUR TIMES,
SHE RECORDED OVER 1,100 MASTERS, AND WROTE 240 SONGS,
THE MOST WELL KNOWN BEING THE
LITTLE DITTY: "WE ARE SIAMESE IF YOU PLEASE" FOR THE WALT DISNEY
CLASSIC CARTOON FEATURE, "THE LADY AND THE TRAMP."
TRULY ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST LIGHTS AND MOST RESPECTED PERSONAGES IN THE HISTORY OF RECORDED MUSIC.
🌠Milton Moore🌠
@coppingtonfarnham7731
I went from 1943, listening to this recently..... to 2022 at a local gas station, where a car stereo was blasting what's not even sung, but popular/horrible now. Like my dad used to say, "I know all the words, but I don't use them."
Imagine what words they'd insert in this nowadays:
You had plenty money, 1922
You let other women make a fool of you
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
You're sittin' down and wonderin' what it's all about
You ain't got no money, they will put you out
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
If you had prepared twenty years ago
You wouldn't be a-wanderin' now from door to door
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
I fell for your jivin' and I took you in
Now all you got to offer me's a drink of gin
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Get out of here and get me some money too
Why don't you do right, like some other men do?
Like some other men do
@ClassyOldMusic
Thanks for introducing me to that Dave Barbour version. But It seemed like Peggy was getting as bored and sleepy as I was while struggling to get through it. You could see it, Especially in the shots where she's looking over toward Dave, looking like she couldn't wait for him to finish his anemic, lack-of-creative-spark solo bit. I always felt that music after '49 really began to go down the toilet.
By the way, before I forget, The camera work in this film was just above High School kid, amateur, and they mostly focused above her waist, or breast... and it seemed they only had limited movement or positioning of their equpment, or maybe because there wasn't anything worth filming... in fact, there was hardly any movement from Anybody! NO One Even Cracked a Smile, except for Peggy. Maybe because she knew she was getting paid for it anyway. There was no "Swing" or Life to any of this number at all. It's was more like some Bohemian bar scene than a Live Performance.
Look at this "Benny" number, Benny, Peggy, the Band, and the Audience are Swingin' Happy Cats! Any person with Any Life and/or Rhythm is going to have Fun with Benny's number... JUST Look at Benny! He IS the Quintessential Band Leader, Leading the whole Swinging Mess!
Maybe that's why Benny Goodman is known as The KING OF SWING! And, You can see in Peggy's body language and hear it in her voice, that she agrees and is adoring her Fun with Him too.
On a List of Top Ten Big Bands of All Time, where Votes came from Real Swing Loving, Band Knowing, People, Consistently, between the Top 2 Bands, The Benny Goodman Orchestra was #2 after Glenn Miller #1. Consistently.
The Dave Barbour Band isn't on Any List, about Anything, Anywhere.
Look at Dave in the Barbour version, jeeeze! he's not having any fun neither, and his sleepy one note picked off the simple scale guitar playing and solos are tired, droopy, weak, like he's annoyed with the whole project. That huge oversized guitar was way too much guitar for the work he was doing. Way, waaayyy too much tool for the simple job.
Everybody around him looks Grumpy! The Piano Player seemed like the only one with life in him but I felt like he was holding back from what he really wanted to paste onto them 88's. Peggy looks like she's just remembering she forgot to feed the dog before she left the house.
The Benny version, when played off my 78 RPM's lights up the room and the people in it, and makes 'em smile and laugh and say things like "they don't play 'em like that anymore"... I can play it over and over on my 1959 Telefunken Verdi Phonograph/Radio console (awesomely made in W. Germany) forever and people get a Kick out of it...
If I wanted to impress anybody with an old 78 RPM record, and try to Promote the Music of the Golden Era, (like I do!) and to keep it from dying, "Hands Down"! I'd play the Benny version, and No Way At All, for Any reason would I play that boring, Golden Era Killing, Dave Barbour lullabye.
"Get outta here, Give me some money too"
@cant144
"I knew I couldn't sing over them, so I decided to sing under them. The more noise they made the more softly I sang. When they discovered they couldn't hear me, they began to look at me. Then they began to listen. As I sang, I kept thinking, 'softly with feeling.' The noise dropped to a hum; the hum gave way to silence. I had learned how to reach and hold my audience -- softly, with feeling."Peggy Lee
@ruthiebelle1
A really smart girl to figure that out.
@upthedownescalator630
That's better than Hedy Lamarr who found out that "All a girl has to do to be glamours is just stand still and look stupid."
@williamheyman5439
And it was hard for her to look stupid, as she was a co-inventor of spread-spectrum radio, had a patent, and several inventions.
@RobCummings
Prettiest smack-down I ever saw.
@richardbenitez7803
Notice the super soft glance at here and there as if she singing just for you.... very brilliant. Perfect song forever
@kirkpatticalma7911
It almost shocks your ears to hear such a voice. So natural, so organic, and seemingly effortless.
@robertkemp8717
I know. I’ve already watched on repeat about six times. Breathtaking.
@gwynnielsen5081
If I had a choice, I would've been a singer in their era rather than ours. These people had such class.
@MJLeger-yj1ww
Peggy was only about 22 years of age here, and already a solid pro! One of my favorite female singers for all time.