Musical Interlude: “Sing, Sing, Sing”

Benny Goodman and his clarinet. Public Domain image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

I’m in need of some good music this weekend.

Those of you who visit regularly might recall that I received the offer of a new teaching position for next school year, one which would require my family to move to Wisconsin. After a great deal of deliberation, of prayer and conversation, my husband and I agreed on a decision. I’ve accepted.

While we have several months before the move, the reality of just what it’s going to take to get our household of two adults, three children, three cats, three snakes, and a leopard gecko moved around 2,000 miles across country has hit hard this week. It doesn’t help that I’m not a fantastic housekeeper and the place isn’t exactly tidy to begin with. Friends, I have a lot of cleaning and sorting to do.

Which means, I NEED some good music in the background to maintain sanity.

Sorting through our CD collection, I came upon a disc of Benny Goodman’s greatest hits. While his heyday predates some of the other artists I’ve featured like Artie Shaw and Glenn Miller, he was another influential musician before and during the Second World War and was known for one of my favorite big band pieces, “Sing, Sing, Sing.”

About Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman was also known as “The King of Swing.” Born in Chicago in 1909 into a large family of Russian Jewish immigrants, he started studying music at a young age. He was a gifted clarinetist and joined Ben Pollack’s band in 1925. Within nine years he had released his own recordings and was leading his own band. Goodman and his band became a regular on the radio program “Let’s Dance,” and their 1935 performance at the Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles made such an impression, both on the audience there and nationwide via radio, that it’s considered the beginning of the swing era. In 1938, his band played at Carnagie Hall—the first time swing music was played in that concert hall rather than in a dance hall.

Music is always changing, and swing and big bands wouldn’t last forever. In fact, by the time the United States entered the war, Goodman’s band’s popularity had started to wane. After the war, he broke up his big band. However, he continued to be active as a musician, making recordings into the 1980s until his death in 1986.

Sing, Sing, Sing

While “Sing, Sing, Sing” is often associated with Benny Goodman, he didn’t create it. It was written by Louis Prima, who was a trumpeter and band leader in the jazz scene of the 30s. The song, as written by Prima, did originally include singing (which one might expect from the title.) In fact, I first got to know this piece when I sang it in highschool choir.

However, Goodman’s version of the song is the one I keep coming back to. It has no lyrics, but over the top of its driving rhythm, various instrumental solos “sing” with their unique voices. I especially love the big, brassy trumpet part.

What do you think? Do you prefer a vocals version or instrumental? How about that drum solo—too much, or just enough?