[78-L] 1950s big band (was Frosty)

[Cary Ginell]

Count Basie's "April in Paris" (with its infiinite false endings: "one more time" - "one more once") on Roulette was played a lot on middle-of-the-road radio stations from the 1950s through the 1980s, but it wasn't a big hit. It was a single though, in 1956.

Cary Ginell

> Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:57:44 -0500
> From: dlennick at sympatico.ca
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: Re: [78-L] Frosty the Snowman
> 
> And I never thought of "So Rare" as a big band record. The posthumous Tommy 
> Dorsey band's "Tea For Two Cha Cha" comes closer. Not much else though..
> 
> dl
> 
> Cary Ginell wrote:
> > Couldn't, because the CD was programmed for me and I was only to write about what was on it.
> > 
> > When I mention "The Big Band Era," I am referring to when big bands were the most popular genre of music favored by the general public. By the 1950s, that had gone bye-bye. Namby-pamby vocals by the Perry Comos of the industry ruled in the early 1950s, giving way to rock 'n' roll by the mid-50s. But big bands were long considered passe by the public by then and bands didn't monopolize the best-selling charts in the 1950s. I think the only big band hit of the 1950s was "So Rare" by Jimmy Dorsey. Of course there were great big bands in the '50s - I loved the Basie band that featured Neal Hefti compositions and arrangements. Terry Gibbs' Dream Band was probably the most exciting kick-ass band of them all, starting in 1959. And Quincy Jones continued with some great big band charts in the 1960s. But big band music had become niche programming by this time.
> > 
> > Cary Ginell
> > 
> >> Date: Sun, 10 Jan 2010 23:19:49 -0500
> >> From: dlennick at sympatico.ca
> >> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> >> Subject: Re: [78-L] Frosty the Snowman
> >>
> >> No need to duck, Cary..I was just rereading your great liner notes to the Naxos 
> >> "Birth of Rock and Roll" CD, although I don't think you credited Haley with 
> >> bringing Rocket 88 over at that time.
> >>
> >> And many big bands were still playing good music well into the fifties. Woody 
> >> Herman did some great stuff while his "Mars" label existed, the Sauter-Finegan 
> >> Orchestra proved big bands could have fun, Ellington and Basie could still draw 
> >> a crowd even though they were both treading water..
> >>
> >> dl
> >>
> >> Cary Ginell wrote:
> >>> The Big Band era did not end in 1942. It was still the dominant form of popular music until at least the late '40s. I would put the big bands' last gasp at the 1948 Petrillo ban, but Chuck Cecil's Swingin' Years takes it as far as "Rock Around the Clock," which really put the final kabosh on it. 
> >>>
> >>> As for "Sh-Boom," it's a common mistake to say that was a rock 'n' roll record. It was not. It helped usher in doo-wop as a major sub-genre since it was the first R&B song in that style that "crossed over" (i.e. having a white group - the Crewcuts - cover the original black version by the Chords). In my opinion, the first rock 'n' roll record had to be a white cover of a black record in the jump/R&B style that was prevalent then. I know that there are as many opinions on this as there are records, but for my money, it was Bill Haley's 1951 cover (Holiday) of Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" (Chess). Brenston's record is given credit as the first rock 'n' roll record by many pseudo-historians, but this was an R&B boogie record. It took a white hillbilly artist covering it that gave black music the credibility it needed to cross over. That's what Elvis became famous for 3 years later, but Haley was the first to do it. OK, I'll duck now while everyone chimes in.
> >>>
> >>> Cary Ginell
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>> Two fairly simple facts! First, after the c.1942 demise of the "big band
> >>>> era," the record industry had NO useful idea of what would be the next
> >>>> big thing! "Rock'n'roll" was just starting to emerge; beyond that, we
> >>>> were given innumerable attempts at "dialect" ("Oh, Mein Papa" et al)
> >>>> as well as meaningless attempts to create "standards" ("Tennessee
> >>>> Waltz," "Shrimp Boats," usw.!)
> >>>>
> >>>> Second, "Rudolph..." suggested there was a HUGE untapped market
> >>>> for Christmas/holiday tunes! The theoretical audience was the "under
> >>>> 6" group...or. more accurately, the parents thereof...?!
> >>>>
> >>>> Fortunately for almost ALL of us, 1954 and "Sh-Boom" suddenly
> >>>> brought in a whole NEW musical style...!
> >>>>
> >>>> Steven C. Barr
> >>>> __________________
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