[78-L] [78-l] 25 Years Ago Today

[David Lewis]

Mitzi Scott told me that the Goodmans invited the Scotts over for dinner
 sometime in the late 1960s. They were gracious hosts, and the Scotts 
had a wonderful time; Benny had played some of Raymond's music in the 
1930s. And then there was a time in the early 1940s when Artie Shaw had 
lunch with Benny Goodman. Shaw was disappointed, as all Benny wanted to 
talk about was clarinet reeds, an fixation with BG -- always looking for
 the perfect reed. 



Benny seldom bought his own reeds when he had a band; he would just nick
 them from his saxophone players. Zoot Sims told a story whereby Benny 
got the last clarinet reed in the house from Zoot during rehearsal. 
Finally they came to something in the book that required four clarinets.
 "What's the matter with you?" Goodman barked at the empty-handed Zoot; 
"No reed" said he. "Just fake it," was Goodman's response.



BG was generally charismatic and nice in social situations, and could be
 a devoted friend even if couldn't remember your name. But working for 
him was for some reason a different matter, and there are far too many 
stories for that to be mere myth. The final rift with Teddy Wilson -- 
and their relationship was always somewhat tense -- came on the Moscow 
tour in 1962 when Goodman got a room in the Hermitage, whereas Teddy and
 the rest of the band got to stay in a hotel where entire floors shared a
 common bathroom.