I am crazy about Patti Page. A few weeks ago, I bought a 45 recording of Old Cape Cod at an antique store, and listening it inspired me to revisit what I had in my record collection. As a result, I’ve been spending a lot of time recently gathering and inventorying all of my Patti Page material. It was scattered all over the place. The sheet music and the 78’s were the hardest to locate, but I think I’ve finally found it all. I started collecting her albums, cds, singles and other stuff in my twenties. I would love to play her music on my radio show, because I think her voice is magical, one that comes along once in a lifetime. It is so pure and sweet and clear. I’m sure it shocked a few people to hear PATTI PAGE on the CHICANO CONNECTION!, but oh well, too bad. I played what I wanted, and that’s what made it so much fun. The bulk of the material included here is from my personal collection. I’ve also added a bunch of tunes that are available on Youtube. I’m still purchasing her music, but it’s hard to find locally, so I rely on Ebay and other online vendors nowadays. I have recently acquired some more 45’s and cds, so this post is still under construction. Check back periodically, as I will be adding more new material in the coming weeks as well as biographical information and other fun stuff.
With My Eyes Wide Open was recorded in late 1949, and became Ms. Page’s first million selling single in 1950. The live performance is contrasted here with the one below, where she overdubs her voice several times, creating her signature sound.
Here are some of the 78’s I have in my collection.
This song amazes me. It was released as a single on the Mercury label in October, 1951. I don’t know if Ms. Page recorded any other tunes that required her to yodel, but wow, she’s fantastic at it.
Here are a few more 78’s
This is the recorded version of Tennessee Waltz. It’s another tune where she overdubbs her voice a few times. This song catapulted her to the top.
This is a live version of the Tennessee Waltz, and there are no overdubbs, just Patti’s beautiful, sweet voice. These are the earliest lp recordings that I have of Patti Page. She released so many albums, I’ll never be able to collect them all, but I’m very fortunate to have her very first one, as well as many others.
I’ll String Along with you…
Most of these were recorded in the 1950s. All are from my personal collection of Patti Page material.
This is the original recording of Doggie In the Window. It was a huge hit.
This live version of Doggie in The Window was recorded a few years after the song’s original release. Albums from the Sixties and Seventies from my collection.
Patti Page recorded over 1,000 songs and was the biggest selling singer of the 1950s. I have a lot of her 45 singles.
I have quite a few of Patti Page’s 45s. I’ve collected these over a long period of time.
Red Sails in the SunsetMore 45’s from my collection.
3 more 45’s, six songs…
Two 45 eps from my collection.
This is a 45 rpm 3 disc set that features six of the songs from the first Patti Page album.
This was one of at least three television shows that Ms. Page hosted in the 1950s. She didn’t know how to drive at the time, according to her autobiography. It would be many years before she finally learned how.
Two pieces of sheet music and Patti Page’s autobiography.
Patti Page paper dolls and a dvd of some of Patti’s songs that she recorded for her television show in the 1950s.
Here is more sheet music from my collection.
These are some of my Patti Page cds.
Here are a few more cds. The 1997 Live at Carnegie Hall recording garnered Ms. Page, age 70, her first Grammy award. She performed this concert in celebration of her 50th anniversary in the music business.
This was a huge hit for Ms. Page. Again it features her singing in harmony with herself. Each of these 3 cd sets contain music from eight previously released albums. That’s 24 altogether!
Some of her earliest recordings are my favorites. Her voice is so strong and clear.This is a photo of Patti and her vocal quintet. She always wore such beautiful dresses and gowns!
This is one of the few Patti Page songs I heard on the radio growing up. I have always loved it. The original lyrics are quite gruesome. I’m glad they were changed. The movie, starring Bette Davis and Olivia DeHaviland, is quite good. Agnes Moorehead is in it too.
Most of the material included here–record albums, photos, cds and magazine articles, etc.– comes from my personal archives. However, I’ve added a few videos, photos and graphics from other sources to help tell the story of my lifelong infatuation with the music of Tina Turner.
My earliest recollections of Tina Turner go back to when I was a 12-year old kid watching her on television performing Proud Mary with Ike Turner and the Ikettes back in the early 70s. She had long legs, wore mini-skirts and a long dark brown wig, and could dance and sing like nobody’s business. I can close my eyes and clearly see her and her girls dancing in unison like crazy, tossing their hair back and forth as they did a rolling motion with their arms, while Tina belted out the lyrics to Proud Mary. It was a wild thing to witness. The group must’ve appeared on several tv shows in the Sixties and Seventies. Their onstage energy was unmatched.
The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner / 1961
I must admit, I have not studied Ike and Tina Turner’s recording history much until just recently. Slowly but surely, I’m piecing things together. They first recorded together in 1960-61 and had a couple of hits that included “A Fool In Love” and “It’s Gonna work Out fine” which I remember hearing on some of the oldies anthologies that I had bought when I first started collecting albums in earnest while in college. I have a cd re-issue of their first album, shown above, titled “The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner”.
This version of A Fool In Love was recorded for the program, Shindig on November 25, 1964, not 1960 as the note on the video screen indicates.
This is from my music videos collection. Tina performs Ooh Poo Pah Doo.
I also have a video of Tina performing with Marvin Gaye on the tv show Shindig in the mid-60s. I think they sang the song Money and I’ll be Doggone. She also performed A Fool in Love and Ooh Poo Pah Doo on the program. I used to love to watch the show on television. Aretha Franklin also appeared on it a number of times. It was great. Lots of popular groups performed on it and other shows like Hullabaloo.
On this tape, also from my music videos collection, Tina performs A Fool In Love.
The medley includes the tunes, “Money”, “I’ll Be Doggone” and “That’ll Be The Day”. What a pair!
Here’s another TIna Turner performance on Shindig. It’s available on the following–“Shindig Presents Legends of Rock N’ Roll”:
1992 video compilation of Shindig programs from the Mid-1960s. From my collection of music videos..
Ike and Tina also performed on a television concert program called the “Big T.N.T. Show” in 1966. The songs they performed were: Shake, A Fool In Love, It’s Gonna Work Out Fine, Please, Please, Please, Goodbye, So Long and Tell The Truth. The above concert tape is from my music video collection.
Here’s more about the Big T.N.T. concert from Wikipedia : “The Big T.N.T. Show is a 1966 concert film. Directed by Larry Peerce and distributed by American International Pictures. It includes performances by numerous popular rock and roll and R&B musicians from the United States and the United Kingdom. A sequel to 1964’s The T.A.M.I. Show, and, like it, executive produced by Henry G. Saperstein, The Big T.N.T. Show was likewise shot on videotape and transferred to 35-millimeter film. Some footage from it was reused in the film That Was Rock, a.k.a. The T.A.M.I. / T.N.T. Show (1984).”
River Deep, Mountain High / released in the US in 1969.
Two of the first record albums I acquired when I was in college were the legendary recording, River Deep Mountain High, and a compilation album titled, The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner, which consisted of songs recorded in the mid-60s on the Kent record label. Phil Spector recorded Tina singing River Deep Mountain High in England. He paid Ike to stay away from the recording studio while he recorded Tina’s vocals. The song has that very unique “wall of sound” quality that Spector was so famous for, and it features Tina singing her heart out. It was released in both the US and England, where it was a big hit. It didn’t do well at all in the States, however, and it is said that Phil Spector closed down his record company and went into seclusion afterwards because he was so disappointed in how the song did in the U.S. The album, while recorded in 1966, was released in England in 1967. In the US, the A & M label issued it in 1969. My copy has a few snap, crackle and pops, but doesn’t skip.
The original release of The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner, released in 1966, is on the left , and the 1971 French re-issue which I have in my collection is on the right.
I have a 1971 French import issue of the album, “The Soul of Ike and Tina Turner” (not to be confused with their very first release from 1961, which has the same title), which consisted of songs Ike and Tina recorded in the mid-60s on the Modern and Kent labels. The album was released originally in 1966 on the Kent label. The recording I have is in pristine condition and sounds amazing.
Two additional albums that I have are of live performances recorded at the Skyliner Ballroom (Fort Worth, Texas) and the Lovall’s Ballroom (Dallas, Texas) in 1964.
The first recording was originally titled, “Live!: The Ike and Tina Turner Show” and was released in January 1965 on the Warner Bros. label (Catalog Number: W 1579). The version I have is titled “Somehing’s Got A Hold On Me”. It was released in 1971 on the Harmony Records label. Three of the songs on the original recording are omitted from this version.
The second recording of the 1964 live performances was originally titled, “The Ike and Tina Turner Show, Vol. 2”, and was released in January 1967 on the Loma label, (Catalog number: LS 5904). The version I have was released in 1969 on the Harmony Records label, and is titled Ooh Poo Pah Doo,
Because I had no idea of the details around the nearly 20 year recording history of Ike and Tina Turner, when I first started buying their records, I collected whatever I could find at the used record stores. There was no rhyme or reason to my collecting strategy, except that I liked finding records that cost under $5, and most of the ones I have averaged about $3 a disc.
The Hunter / 1969________________________The Best of Ike and Tina Turner / 1973
In the late sixties, the group recorded for the Blue Thumb label, and many of the songs on the albums from this period are blues numbers. I really love the album, The Hunter, which I gave away to my good friends Mike and Denice. In hindsight, sometimes I think it was dumb of me to do that, but they were leaving town and I had to give them a gift, something memorable, so I chose that recording plus a John Lee Hooker album and a Taj Mahal album, all of which I had a hard time finding later. I did manage to find some of the Blue Thumb recordings on compact disc later.
She sang the blues like nobody’s business, but I’ve read that she didn’t like singing those songs that much. Dang. She’s one of the best blues singers I’ve ever heard. That’s really too bad, but there’s probably too much association with Ike Turner and the pain she endured while with him. I don’t think she sang the blues in the eighties at all.
This is the only 45 I have of Ike and Tina Turner.
Ike and Tina Turner began performing Proud Mary in their live shows in 1969. In 1970, they recorded the song and it came out on their album, “Workin’ Together”. It became a huge hit in 1971. The performance that follows was recorded for the Ed Sullivan Show, where they appeared live on January 11, 1970. It also includes Bold Soul Sister.
Bold Soul Sister appears on this anthology of musical performances from the Ed Sullivan Show. From my personal collection of music videos.
I didn’t know this, but Ike and Tina were the first rock act to play at the brand new Tucson Community Center back in October, 1971. Here’s a brief announcement about the concert:
A lot of their recordings in the 70’s appeared on the United Artists label. Here are the ones I have in my collection:
Acid Queen / 1975 _______ Greatest Hits / 1976
Tina suffered severe abuse as Ike’s wife, but she finally broke free in July, 1976, and never looked back. Their divorce was finalized in 1978. All she got out of it were two cars and her name, which Ike had trademarked years ago. The ensuing years were difficult for her, but she persevered. Her Buddhist faith kept her strong and focused.
It took her a bit of time to get back on her feet and find her own way, but by the early 80’s she was once again performing and attracting attention as a great singer and performer, this time as a solo act. I hadn’t really known the details about what was going on with her, but in the early 80’s, I clipped and saved some Village Voice ads promoting her performances at the Ritz in New York in September and October of 1981. They appear below:
In the late 70s-early 80s Tina would make her entrance flapping these wings. It reminds me of the drag shows I used to see at Jeckyl and Hyde’s in Tucson back in the late 70s. This was a very popular costume!
Here are a couple of import cassettes that I found, both released in 1981. Both have the exact same song lists too. I can’t seem to find the original albums in which these songs first appeared.
I found a copy of the 12” single, “Let’s Stay Together” shortly after it was recorded in 1983 and released early in 1984. Al Green wrote the tune and it was a big hit for him in 1972. It was the first big record for her since she had left Ike, and it marked a major turning point in her career. She was especially big in England where the song went to the top of the charts.
Throughout her career, Tina has been on of the hardest working performers in show business. This concert is one of many examples of her amazing energy and talent. It’s from 1982, when she was performing on her own, a year before things started getting much better for her:
Here’s another amazing performance from around the same time:
Tina’s version of Let’s Stay Together, released in late 1983 in England and early 1984 in the US, rose to the top of the charts in England, and was the beginning of her rise to superstardom. Within a year, her breakthrough recording of Private Dancer would change things for her in a big, big way. She finally got the recognition she deserved as the world’s queen of rock and roll.
This version of Al Green’s classic went to the top of the charts in England.
Rolling Stone, October 11, 1984. This is one of three Rolling Stone magazine covers on which Tina appears. Details of the abuse she endured are revealed in this lengthy feature. People Magazine, however, back in 1981, was the first national publication to reveal why Tina left Ike.
Private Dancer was released shortly after this in May, 1984.
Here is a snippet from Wikipedia, that details the incredible success of this album:
“The album was released on May 29, 1984, and became an outstanding global commercial success.[20][21][22] The album peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 chart for ten consecutive weeks[23] and remained in the top ten for 39 weeks from August 1984 to May 1985. In the United States it was certified 5× platinum.[24] In Germany, the album went 5× gold becoming one of the best selling albums in history. It peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart, where it was certified 3× platinum, remaining on the charts for 150 total weeks. It was certified 7× platinum for the shipment of over 700,000 copies in Canada by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. The album has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.[25][26] At the 1985 Grammy Awards, Private Dancer won four of the six awards for which it was nominated.”
Her first big hit after her breakthrough album Private Dancer was released was “What’s Love Got To Do With It”. I liked the record a lot, but Tina has said she was reluctant to record it. She didn’t really care for it. I heard her say in an interview that “love has everything to do with it”, so I can understand why she didn’t care for the song. However, she also noted that the tune was catchy and that the public loved it. The video was quite popular, if I recall correctly.
The single, “Private Dancer” was also a big hit, but I didn’t like it much. I saw Joan Baez sing it in concert once with just her guitar. I thought it quite odd, but Joan loved Tina Turner, and there are several photos of them together, including the one below.
Joan Baez and Tina Turner
Tina sang on the We Are The World record, recorded on January 8, 1985. She was part of a huge superstar line-up that included Willie Nelson, Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Ritchie, Bruce Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Madonna and Bob Dylan.
I enjoyed seeing her on Live Aid on July 13, 1985. Her duet with Mick Jagger was quite memorable, especially the part where he rips off her skirt. I vaguely remember Patti Labelle and Tina getting into a bit of a tiff over one of them touching the other, and there being a bad reaction from one of them, because of the sweat that was pouring out. What the hell?
Just a few days after Live Aid, Tina appeared on the cover of People magazine. (This article and the US article are both in my personal collection of memorabilia). No mention is made of her life with Ike Turner and the abuse she endured during their marriage. She revealed all those details the following year in her autobiography.
Released on September 1, 1986. I read it at the time, but never had my own copy.
A week later, she appeared on the cover of US magazine. In this interview, she provides details about her relationship with Ike Turner. She had such a rough life with him, it’s incredible that she endured it for so long.
After Private Dancer, Tina appeared in the film, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. I never saw the movie, nor do I have any of the recordings from it, although the song, “We Don’t Need Another Hero” was a big hit. I never took to it for some reason.
The following year, Tina released the cd, Break Every Rule. I never bought it, but I do have a 45 of one of the songs from it. I also have just the cover of another song from that album. I have no idea where I acquired it.
I just love this song. Man oh man!
Tina appeared in concert in Tucson in early December, 1987. I was living in Ann Arbor at the time, but would have gone if I’d been here.
By 1988, Tina was an international super star She had millions of fans, and drew immense crowds to her concerts. Here are some items from my collection, including her live album (part 1 is on cd, part 2 is on cassette. I don’t know how that happened) and an ad for a HBO special of a concert she gave in South America.
Tina turned 50 in 1989. I clipped this article from the Ann Arbor news.
I also have the following two photos in my Tina Turner file. These are from 1990.
In 1991, Tina released the following greatest hits compilation, which I have in my collection.
She has said that her favorite song is “Simply the Best”. She noted that her record producers didn’t care for the tune, but that she fought hard to have it recorded. Thank goodness. It’s become her signature song, and every time I see her perform it, I’m amazed at her energy and joy.
Little did I know, but I had this in my movie collection all along!
In 1993, the movie, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” was released. Directed by Brian Gibson and written by Kate Lanier, it is based on Tina’s 1986 autobiography I, Tina, and stars Angela Bassett as Tina and Laurence Fishburne as her abusive husband Ike Turner. I’ve seen bits and pieces of the film, but not the entire thing. It’s something I plan to do soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIDq6xa3K7g
Jumping forward to 1999, Tina appeared in the VH1 Divas 1999 concert. She tore the place up with her songs, “The Best” and “Proud Mary” on which she shared the stage with Elton John and Cher. She arrived in a limousine, and walked right on to the stage to sing Simply the Best. It was a moment to behold.
Rounding out my collection of Ike and Tina Turner recordings are two cd compilations from the late 60s, both consisting of material recorded on the Blue Thumb label.
When I hosted my radio show, “The Chicano Connection” (1983-1986, 2005 to 2020), I would regularly feature the music of Ike and Tina Turner. Below is a quick bio sheet I wrote up for my segment on Tina Turner in celebration of her birthday one year. I’ve also included a sheet full of the songs by Ike and Tina Turner that I played over the years while on the air.
Aretha Franklin had her feathers ruffled in 2015 when Beyonce’ called Tina “the queen” at the Grammys 50th anniversary show. This only made Aretha look bad. She was always quite insecure about her status as one of the world’s greatest singers. Tina later noted that Aretha was the queen of soul and that she was the queen of rock and roll and said there’s room for more than one at the top. I heartily agree.
Those performances that Tina Turner did live on television with Ike and her dancers will be forever embedded in the collective memory of people from my generation. There’s no justification, however, for what Ike did to her over the years, but I believe that you can’t just erase what you don’t like about the past. You have to acknowledge it. It happened and that’s that. However, there are indeed other things one can focus on at present, so I would rather just do that rather than ever, ever glorify Ike Turner.
Tina didn’t let her fame go to her head. She was a devout Buddhist and remained so from the mid-70s to the very end. She chanted the same chant my cousin Tish chants. I still have the card Tish gave me with the words Nam Myoho Renge Kyo.
For a long time, my favorite songs were the blues tunes from the late 60s. 3 O’Clock in the Morning Blues, Dust My Broom, You’ve Got my Running, and Mean Old World are all very heartfelt and beautifully sung. Tina’s raspy, low voice is well suited to these kinds of songs. Too bad she didn’t care for the genre much. Oh well. At least we have the Blue Thumb records and cd compilations.
Lately, I’ve been enjoying discovering some of her newer work. I really like, “It’s Only Love”, the duet she sings with Bryan Adams, and I enjoy the song Steamy Windows a lot. I’m sure there are a lot more songs that I’ll enjoy as I continue to listen and learn.
What a wonderful recording legacy she left us. And it started in 1960, not 1983.
Here are two recent magazines featuring Tina Turner that I bought for my collection at Walgreens in early June, 2023.
My newest acquisition, People’s Tina Turner commemorative issue, published in June 2023.
I recently went on a shopping spree and found these cds–Greatest Hits Vol. 1 (1989); In The Beginning (1993); Break Every Rule (1986); Foreign Affair (1989); Wildest Dreams (1996); and Twenty-Four Seven (1999). The first two are Ike and Tina Turner compilations from the Sixties and Seventies, and the rest are from Ms. Turner’s solo career.
I couldn’t resist. My very own Tina Turner T-Shirt!
I borrowed this book from the University of Arizona Library and read it in just a few days. It was published in 2005. I finished in on 6/21/23. It was okay. Bego got a lot of the details of Turner’s life wrong and he’s very repetitive. A good editor would have helped clean it up a bit. Nevertheless it did have a lot of interesting information, especially about Tina’s relationship with Ike Turner.
My latest acquisition, received in the mail on 6/23/23, “What’s Love Got To Do With It?” released in conjunction with the movie by the same title in June 1993. This compilation includes versions of some of Tina’s earliest hits as well as her latest efforts.
I had no idea this duet existed until today, which is July 12, 2023. It’s amazing. The are great together. I’d never even heard of Jimmy Barnes until today, but he’s quite popular.
AN IKE AND TINA TURNER TIMELINE TO EARLY 1991 (borrowed from the book, “Rock Movers and Shakers” by Dafydd Rees).
Tina Turner left behind a lengthy, rich recorded legacy going all the way back to 1960. The following lists of Ike and Tina Turner and Tina Turner 45 rpm singles is borrowed from the book “Goldmine 45 RPM Records Price Guide, 8th edition“, by Dave Thompson.(Krause Publications, 2018).
My first eight years of schooling took place in the public schools. I started learning the cello in the 4th grade at Robison Elementary School, using an instrument provided by the school. I continued playing while at Mansfeld Junior High, and really came to love it. I even went to music summer camp one year at the University of Arizona, and was beginning to get better and better at playing, even though I never had private lessons.
All of my brothers and sisters attended Tucson High School, and I was expecting to do the same. Instead, however, I begged my parents to let me go to Salpointe, a private Catholic school with a great academic reputation, but no orchestra. Sadly, the move to Salpointe meant that I had to give up playing the cello, because my parents could not afford to buy me one of my own, and there was nowhere else to play the instrument. I hadn’t heard of Tucson Junior Strings, a local youth orchestra that I could have joined, but even if I had, I likely would not have been able to participate because of the costs involved. Going to Salpointe was going to stretch my parents’ budget beyond what they could afford as it was.
During orientation at Salpointe, the band director recruited me and encouraged me to try the saxophone. I really didn’t know much about the instrument, but I really liked the saxophone solos I had heard on the pop tunes of the late fifties and early sixties. Songs like Tequila, the Twist and the Mashed Potato featured saxophone solos that really helped make the tunes come alive. So I gave it a try.
At first, I played the tenor saxophone, and later the alto, using instruments provided by the school. The band director at one point bought a brand new alto and let me be the first to play it. I liked it a lot and took to it quickly. Before long, I had learned how to play the song “In the Mood”, made famous years ago by the Glenn Miller Orchestra. As I think back, this was really my first exposure to the music of the swing era. I didn’t really know any other songs from that time period, except for maybe Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by the Andrews Sisters. Everyone knew those tunes. Sometimes there would be commercials on tv advertising the music of the big band era, and while it sounded intriguing, I didn’t go crazy over it. This was the music of my parents, so it was considered old-fashioned.
I learned how to play this song in while in the high school band.
Once I started earning money my junior year of high school, I began to collect record albums, and expanded my musical interests in many directions. Around the time I started college, I began listening to jazz. I have been collecting jazz recordings and books for many years now. My love of the music of Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald, and my reading about their lives led me to the swing era, and I learned a little bit about all the great musicians of the time, and a few of the orchestras. I knew that the Chick Webb Orchestra, for example, was one of the best swing bands of the era, and that Ella Fitzgerald worked with him when she first started singing. I also knew that Billie Holiday worked with both the Count Basie band and the Artie Shaw orchestras, and had recorded with Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson at the start of her career. And, of course, I knew about Glenn Miller and “In the Mood”. However, I was never a fanatic about swing era music to the point where I collected everything I could find and knew the repertoire of all the great bands. It wasn’t until recently that I realized what an impact this music had on American culture. Swing was a real phenomenon. It was huge. The youth of America went crazy over it.
Benny Goodman was always one of those musicians in whom I was interested, and when I was collecting 78’s, I found a lot of his recordings. I didn’t know a whole lot about him or the details of his life and work, however, except that Peggy Lee worked with him in the early 1940s and that he was known as the “King of Swing”. On a whim, I recently decided to read a biography about him by James Lincoln Collier. The book was titled, “Benny Goodman and the Swing Era”. I found the book fascinating and especially liked reading about Chicago and New York in the 1920s and 1930s, how the Great Depression affected popular culture, and how popular music made a comeback in the mid-30s, in large part due to the popularity among American youth of Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. The musical analysis provided in the book was a bit beyond me, but I made it a point to listen to Goodman’s music along the way, and I watched a lot of videos of Goodman and his band. The most fascinating were the ones that included Gene Krupa, the famous drummer and bandleader. That guy was a bundle of energy. His playing on the tune “Sing, Sing, Sing” is just outrageous!
Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa. They were quite a pair!
Sing, Sing Sing is one of Goodman’s signature tunes, and this clip features Gene Krupa going crazy on the drums.
I’ve been intently listening to Goodman’s work for the past few months, and I must admit I like his early work (mid to late 30s) better than what he recorded in the latter part of the 40s. The trio and quartet material is great too, as are the tunes he recorded when Peggy Lee was his vocalist in the early 40s. As bebop became more popular in the 40s, Goodman tried to incorporate it, but it just doesn’t sound right to me. The high pitch of the clarinet and the band playing at full throttle on tunes that are more dissonant and experimental in nature, sounds awful to my ears. I know everyone has their own tastes and preferences, however. By the mid-40s, interest in swing had faded, and more attention was paid to individual performers, particularly singers. Goodman never stopped recording or performing, but he reached his peak as early as 1940, and was never able to get “back on top” again, so to speak.
I’ve put together some materials in my collection. I purchased most of the cds on Ebay while I was reading the biography, but I’ve had the albums for many years, and I have more 78s in storage that I need to find. I even have an extended play (these feature two songs on each side, rather than one) 45rpm record that I just dug out from my 45’s collection. I didn’t realize until I started looking, how many books about Benny Goodman and the swing era were already in my collection. I now have 5 Goodman biographies, after having purchased two on Ebay recently. I even have a glossy, 8 x 10, autographed portrait. I’m not sure the signature is real or if the portrait was published with the signature on it, but it doesn’t matter. I’ve put everything together and wow, I’ve got a very nice collection!
I was saddened to learn that many of his fellow musicians thought Goodman was such a jerk in real life. Collier alludes to this several times in his biography, but never really goes into any depth. However, toward the end of the book,he makes reference to a publication called “Jazzletter” and a very revealing four-part series about the Benny Goodman tour of the USSR in 1962, written by a member of the band. The story, which I found available online in Jazzletter, (see below), was quite revealing. Goodman’s band members thought he was a tightwad, aloof and bad-mannered, and that he always needed to be top dog, in the spotlight at all times.
I’ve since read other material about Goodman, and have learned that John Lincoln Collier’s biography leaves out a lot of interesting information, such as the fact that Goodman performed in concerts for various progressive causes, and that his role as a band leader with an integrated ensemble was groundbreaking and had an impact that was felt far and wide. It helped to bring down at least some of the racial barriers in place at the time in American entertainment. His defense of fellow musician Gene Krupa, who was busted and jailed for possession of marijuana also stands out as a noble act. He publicly stated after Krupa was released that he could play in his band any time. Goodman’s brother-in-law, John Hammond was immersed in the American left, and he undoubtedly influenced Goodman to take risks he may not have otherwise taken.
In the end, Goodman’s music has stood the test of time, and is absolutely wonderful.
I found some of my 78s. I think I have more…
Record albums in my collection, including a 10″ lp recording of Peggy Lee singing with the Benny Goodman Orchestra. “The Best of Benny Goodman: 30 years of his greatest Hits” is a four record anthology produced by Columbia House and issued in 1972. The rest are all standard 12″ single lps. Goodman recorded for Columbia, Decca, RCA and Capitol over the years. I’m sure there were others as well.
A mish mash of stuff in my collection, including a 7″ 45rpm e.p, a cassette, the soundtrack to the Benny Goodman Story, and an anthology of Goodman’s best music on red vinyl that is part of the legendary “Greatest Jazz Recordings of All Time” series produced by the Institute of Jazz Studies and the Franklin Mint back in the mid-1980s.
New acquisitions. I purchased these lps at Zia Records on October 12, 2022.
I picked these lps up on a recent trip to Phoenix and Prescott, Az. The first one is a two-record set.
Here are two more recent additions. The one on the left is a vintage lp, and the other is a cd. The lp is a bit beat up, but I’m glad I bought it anyway. It’s an original copy, released in September, 1954.
My latest acquisitions as of 12/18/22. All lps. Here is one more lp. Purchased on 1-16-2023 at the Goodwill for $1.49. It sounds pretty good!
CDs in my collection.
2 new cd acquisitions. Purchased October 12, 2022.
I purchased this 3 cd set in New Orleans in January, 2023. It was released in 2012.
Four recent acquisitions, all 10″ lps. Purchased on August 7, 2024.
Books in my collection. The one called “The Kingdom of Swing” is a small paperback called “An Armed Services Edition”, produced specifically for American soldiers during World War II. There are other books about Goodman, but this is what I have…so far.
Another recent acquisiton. Benny has his own postage stamp!
The Benny Goodman Quartet, including Lionel Hampton on vibes, Teddy Wilson on piano, Gene Krupa on drums and Benny Goodman on clarinet, performing “I Got a Heartful of Music” from the movie, Hollywood Hotel.
Original 1935 program advertising the Benny Goodman Orchestra at the Palomar Ballroom.
Goodman made national headlines back in late 1937. This article is from the Arizona Daily Star, Monday, December 20, 1937.
Two years later, Goodman appeared in Tucson. April 23, 1940. Az Daily Star.
Ad from the Arizona Daily Star, May 2, 1940. In addition to the show on May 3rd, Goodman and his band made a special appearance at the University of Arizona the following afternoon.
Why Don’t you Do Right? featuring Peggy Lee, early 1940s.
This compilation of tunes that Peggy Lee sang with the Benny Goodman orchestra in the early 1940s was originally released on lp in 1957. I have the cd version.
Goodman appeared in the 1944 movie, Sweet and Lowdown, with Linda Darnell.
Charlie Shavers was the featured trumpeter in this film clip from the Sid Caesar show in the mid-50s.
Released on February 2, 1956, this film loosely follows Benny Goodman’s real life up until his 1939 Carnegie Hall concert. The soundtrack is excellent.
Goodman visited Tucson again in 1960, appearing wiht the Tucson Synphony Orchestra.
China Boy and Sheik of Araby, Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson and Gene Krupa, 1961.
I’ve had the following article in my research files since 1986, when the article first appeared. It’s an obituary/tribute written for the Village Voice by writer Gary Giddens. It was published on July 8, 1986, shortly after Goodman died.
Benny Goodman materials in my collection
September 5, 2022, updated October 8, 2022
Cassettes
Let’s Dance 1999 compilation
Compact discs
The Hits of Benny Goodman Capitol 1989 cd
The Essence of Benny Goodman Columbia/Sony 1991 cd
The Original Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Sessions Vol. 1 After You’ve Gone RCA / Bluebird 1987 cd
Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall 1938 Complete Columbia 1999 cd
Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie Hall 40th Anniversary Concert 2 cd set. London 1978, 1986.
The Blue Room, cd. TIM no date.
Benny Goodman: The King of Swing 1998 Sugo Music cd
The Best of the Big Bands: Benny Goodman Madacy1994
Benny Goodman Yale Archives Vol. 6 Amerco/Musical Heritage Society 1991 cd
Benny Goodman Rarities 1940-1942
The Benny Goodman Sextet, featuring Charlie Christian (1939-1941)
Benny Goodman, Vol. III / All the Cats Join In 1986 cd
Benny Goodman Sextet 1988 cd
Benny Goodman, Vol 1 (Yale University Music Library Series)
Benny Goodman (Ken Burns Jazz) Sony 2000 cd
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra: Sing, Sing, Sing 1987 cd RCA/BMG
LPs
Benny Goodman, His Orchestra and Sextet, Vocals by Peggy Lee Columbia 10” lp CL 6033
Columbia Presents The Great Benny Goodman Columbia lp CL 820
Benny Goodman: Swing Into Spring Columbia XTV28995 Prepared expressly for Texaco
The New Benny Goodman Sextet Columbia lp CL 552
Together Again: The Benny Goodman Quartet RCA Victor LPM-2698 1964
The Benny Goodman Story Decca Records DXB 188 2 lp set. I only have one of the lps, however.
The Best of Benny Goodman: 30 Years of His greatest hits 4 record set Columbia House P4M 5678
Benny Goodman–Lionel Hampton/Jazz Milestones (The Greatest Jazz Recordings of All time, vols. 37-40)
Benny Goodman: Mostly Sextets Capitol T668
The King of Swing, Vol. 1 1937-38 Jazz Concert No 2 Columbia lp CL 817
Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Live 1937-38 Columbia Special Products/Aimez Vous le Jazz No. 7
Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Vol. II (1937-38) Columbia Special Products/Aimez Vous le Jazz No. 15
B.G from 1927-1934 Brunswick Records BL 54010
The Benny Goodman Trio Plays for the Fletcher Henderson Fund Columbia lp, GL 516
Benny Goodman 2 lp set (Time-Life Music: The Big Bands series STBB003)
The Complete Benny Goodman, Vol. III 1936 2 record set Bluebird AXM2-5532
BG: The Small Groups RCA Victor LPV-521 (RCA Victor Vintage Series)
Benny In Brussels, featuring Jimmy Rushing, Vol. 1 Columbia lp CL1247
The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert, Vol. 1 Columbia lp CL 814
7 inch 45 rpm EP’s
Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
78’s
My Blue Heaven / Put That Kiss Back Where You Found It
On the Alamo / Rattle and Roll
Don’t Be A Baby, Baby / All The Cats Join In
My Guy’s Come Back / Symphony
Six Flats Unfurnished / Why Don’t You Do Right?
Idaho / Take Me
The Way You Look Tonight / The Wang Wang Blues
Heaven In My Arms / That Lucky Fellow
Boy Meets Horn / Let’s Dance
Where or When / I Cried For You
A String of Pearls / Jersey Bounce
He Ain’t Got Rhythm / This Year’s Kisses
When It’s Sleepy Time Down South / Changes
Let’s Give Love A Chance / Somebody Nobody Loves
That Did It, Marie / Somebody Else Is Taking My Place
Books:
Benny Goodman and the Swing Era, by James Lincoln Collier. NY: Oxford, 1989.
Benny: King of Swing, a pictorial biography based on Benny Goodman’s own archives, with an introduction by Stanley Baron. NY: Morrow, 1979.
Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman, by Ross Firestone. NY: Norton, 1993.
Memorabilia and other stuff:
Signed autograph black and white 8 x 10 portrait of Benny Goodman
Ad: Benny Goodman Sextet Gammage Center, Sunday, February 20, 8pm. (Tempe, Az.)
“The Mirror of Swing, by Gary Giddens. Village Voice July 8, 1986.
“To Russia, Without Love: The Benny Goodman Tour of the USSR”, by Bill Crow. This is a 4 part story featured in Jazzletter (August, September, October November, 1962). Crow writes a critical review of the trip, and describes Goodman as a difficult bandleader and all around asshole. A very unflattering portrayal, to say the least.
Newspaper ad, Arizona Daily Star May 2, 1940. Benny Goodman in person at the Santa Rita Ballroom, Friday, May 3, 1940
Newspaper artcle, “Goodman Swings in City Tonight” Arizona Daily Star, May 3, 1940.
This is a 78 rpm anthology of Benny Goodman tunes that I have in my collection. These “albums” usually included 4 10″ discs with a song on each side.
Gene Lees’ Jazzletter includes four issues devoted to Benny Goodman’s 1962 trip to Moscow. It’s not a very flattering portrayal, but from what I understand, this is how Goodman behaved with his band mates throughout his career as a band leader. His music was great, but he was not a nice guy. You can read about the tour by looking up the August, September, October and November 1986 issues of the newsletter.
“Ellington, Goodman, Shaw” by John S. Wilson, in Liberty Magazine, Spring, 1973. (I’ve had this magazine in my personal collection for many years, and only recently realized that there was a very good article on these three jazzmen included in it.
I recently found this in my music research files. I had no idea I had this! Not sure if the signature is “original” or if it’s a print, but that’s okay.
Mike Carroll died today. He was Denise Shavers longtime partner. They have lived in New York for many years, but I first knew them when they lived here in Tucson downtown in an apartment on 9th street near my friend Richard back in the early 1980s. Mike was Irish, born in Massachusetts, but raised here. He loved beer.
Mike and Denise
My birthday party in 1983. Mike and Denise were there.
He was also an amazing artist. He gave me a painting he did once of Bob Dylan. It was a dual portrait. One was of Dylan before Highway 61 Revisited and the other was post Highway 61, kind of like what he looked like during Blonde on Blonde. I also have a hand-painted Christmas card he and Denise sent me, and a couple of photos of the two of them together. I treasure these things.
Dylan, then and then…
One day we had a big party at Richard’s house. This was in the early 80s. Everyone was drinking and smoking. We may have even been doing hallucinogenics at the time too. He he he. Someone put on The Basement Tapes by Dylan and the Band, and wow, there were moments when everyone was singing along. Only a few of us die hard Dylan fans knew all the lyrics, but it didn’t stop the rest of the gang from joining in. With Dylan’s songs, one can just mumble their way through the tune and nobody notices… Mike was in the middle of it all, singing his heart out along with Bob and the Band, his buddy Jimmy, and all our friends. We sure had fun right then. It was a magical moment, one I’ll never forget.
We sure had some great times back then. In mid-June, 1982, we all piled up in my brand new 1964 Galaxy 500, given to me by my mom as a college graduation gift a couple of months earlier, and drove up to Mesa to see the Clash perform. Denise had made some really cool silk screened t-shirts to sell at the concert. (I used to have one, but wore it out). On the way up to Phoenix on this particular trip, we were all partying in the car, and as luck would have it, a cop stopped us. It turns out I had expired plates. The cop could tell we were partying. Who wouldn’t have smelled the smoke? But he was kind that day and let us off the hook, and we ended up getting to the concert in plenty of time. It turned out to be a blast after all. The Clash were on the same bill as the English Beat, but they sucked.
One of the greatest rock bands ever.
A 1964 Galaxy 500, just like the one I used to own. Having six to eight people pile up in a car like this will turn it into a “low rider” for sure. No wonder the cop stopped us.
Another time, we all drove down, in my Galaxy 500 again, to Nogales to eat,drink and shop. It was also a fun trip. We sang songs along the way and had such fun. I was into listening to music of the civil rights era at the time, and had everyone singing along to tunes like “If you miss me at the back of the bus”.
We also sang “South Street”. Seems like Denise was the only other person in the world who knew the song!
My favorite girl singer of the early 60s!
In the summer of 1987, I traveled to San Francisco to meet my future boss from the University of Michigan Library. She wanted to check me out before deciding whether or not she wanted me to come to Ann Arbor for a job interview. The American Library Association conference was in progress, but I was there just to meet her. Once that was all over, I hooked up with Mike, who lived there with Denise in the Fillmore district at the time on Hayes Street. Denise was out of town so I got to hang out just with Mike. He took me out drinking all over the city to a number of Irish bars, and then we ended up at a party with a lot of his “artist” friends. It was the strangest scene, with artsy-fartsy gabachos everywhere, and I of course felt totally out of place. Mikey fit right in. He was an artist too, after all, and a gabacho, but a cool one! Wow.
Later that same night, I came up with new words to the song, “On Top of Spaghetti”, which I had been singing to the kids in Nogales at the time. They went something like this…On top of your chi chis, all covered with cheese, I lost my virginity, when you said please. We rolled on the table, then on to the floor, and when it was over, you wanted some more…” Wow. That’s Pulitzer prize material, for sure! Or at least National Poetry award stuff…Actually I was drunk as a skunk. The words just flowed out of me as easily as the alcohol had been flowing in the entire day…
On Top of Spaghetti. When I was a children’s librarian back in 1987, I would sing this to the kids during story hour. They loved it.
What I look like when I’m shit-faced…
Mike’s gifts were art and music. I don’t know if he ever had a “straight,” regular job. He leaned on Denise a lot.
A photo of Mike, Denise, RIchard, Emily and Luz, circa 1995.
I got a text message earlier today from Richard’s wife Emily that Mike had died this morning. Now Mikey and Richard are both up in heaven, probably partying and singing the same Dylan songs they sang together that day at Richard’s party almost 40 years ago. At least I like to think that.
I called Denise and we talked for a while. Mike died of melanoma. It had spread throughout his body and ended up in his brain. He wasn’t in any pain and he got to be at home when he passed. That’s probably all he wanted at the end, was to be at home with Denise. Denise has covid, but she sounded okay. After all she’s been through, the poor thing needs a rest. I hope she gets it. Mike will be cremated next week. And life will go on.
