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

[simmonssomer]

"April In Paris" was played over and over again in all the saloons near my 
college campus in the early 50's. (So they tell me.)

Al S.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Cary Ginell" <soundthink at live.com>
To: <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 10, 2010 11:59 PM
Subject: [78-L] 1950s big band (was Frosty)


>
> 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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