Page generated on Nov 29, 2021
Scope And Contents
This page documents Peggy Lee's collaborations with The Benny Goodman Orchestra outside of the recording studio -- specifically, her appearances with the band at concert dates and radio broadcasts. Close attention is naturally paid to the 76 vocals that are extant. All but two of these vocals fall within the 1941-1943 period, when Lee was under Goodman's hire. (The exceptions stem from a 1946 reunion, aimed at radio transmission.)I. CHICAGO: AT THE HOTEL SHERMAN'S PANTHER ROOM
The Engagement's Schedule & Preservation
Benny Goodman And His Orchestra performed in Chicago's Sherman House Hotel from July 25 to August 28, 1941. Over a dozen Goodman airchecks, all dated with this five-week period, are extant. (For commentary on the above-shown photos, scroll down to the end of this section.)Preservation Of The Music: An Explanatory Note For The Uninitiated
Back in the 1930s ands 1940s, the national radio networks routinarily broadcasted the concert engagements of name bands. Naturally, such engagements ran for hours, of which only portions were captured over the airwaves. (In other words, the radio networks were contracted to keep their lines open intermittently, for just short periods of time. Hence airchecks captured only segments of the full engagements.)Preservation Of This Sherman Hotel Engagement
The earliest aircheck to have been preserved from this 1941 Goodman engagement bears a July 31 date. The last concert preserved on aircheck appears to date from the final evening, on August the 28th. (Or, perhaps more factually, August the 29th: club engagements could run or even start past midnight.)Attendance Numbers
Published on the September 6, 1941 issue of Billboard, a short article titled Goodman Shatters Chi Sherman Record made the following statements: "Benny Goodman broke the attendance record at the Sherman Hotel's Panther Room during his five-week stay Thursday (28), by rolling up an estimated total of 35,000 patrons. He played a six-day week, in accordance with the FM regulation, and most nights averaged 1,200 jitterbugs." For its part, Variety reported the total amount of patrons for each of these weeks: 5700 (first week), 5800 (second week), 5900 (third week, when Lee might have joined), 6100 (fourth week by which time Lee was definitely performing) and about 3800 (five-day week, with no weekend performing).Peggy Lee: The Hiring
At the start of the engagement, Helen Forrest was the band's canary. The very popular Forrest had joined the orchestra back in December of 1939. She gave Goodman notice of departure either at the outset of the Sherman engagement or some time within its first two weeks. (The most commonly cited date is August the 1st.)Peggy Lee: An Attempt At Pinpointing The Date Of Her Sherman Debut
"I started singing with the Goodman band in the middle of their College Inn engagement in Chicago," asserts Peggy Lee in her own autobiography. She must have thus joined the orchestra in mid-August 1941. The exact day is unknown, though educated guesses can be made. An extant broadcast proves that Forrest was still serving as Goodman's singer at the Panther Room on Sunday, August 10, 1941. Five days later, on Friday, August 15, 1941, Lee did her first studio session with the band. Hence Lee's live debut with the orchestra could have taken place between Monday, August 11 and Thursday, August 14, 1941.Peggy Lee: An Assessment Of Her Dates At The Sherman
Reminiscing about the events that transpired right after she was hired by Benny Goodman on the phone, Peggy Lee's autobiographical account proceeds as follows: "I wasn't even to have a rehearsal with Benny. All he said was, Come to work and wear something pretty ... I arrived at work [in] a nice dress, as requested, and there was, indeed, no rehearsal. [Pianist] Mel Powell was there, and, God bless him, he was such a help to me. Someone told me the songs I would be singing, and, luckily, I knew them all. Mel would give me four bars and I would count and listen hard for where I was supposed to come in -- jumping in at the last moment and hoping for the best."A Short History Of The Venue
The Sherman Hotel traced its beginnings all the way back to 1837, when it was simply known as the City Hotel. Owned back then by Francis Cornwall Sherman (1805-1870), a brick manufacturer who would go on to serve as mayor of Chicago for three terms, the establishment was renamed the Sherman House Hotel in 1844 and rebuilt for the first time in 1861. The Sherman had to be rebuilt once more, after the Great Fire destroyed it (1871), and for yet a third time in 1911, by which time neglect had turned the once luxurious premises into a mere shadow of their former self. Under the ownership of Prague-born magnate Joseph Beifield, numerous improvements or physical additions were made during the first decades of the twentieth century (e.g., the erection of more floors, from six in the 1900s to twelve in the 1910s and twenty-three in the mid-1920s, when the total of rooms amounted to 1,700). Following the death of Beifield in 1926 and the new management by his son Ernie Byfield, in partnership with Frank Bering, the hotel's claims to fame went beyond its opulence. One such claim pertained to the Sherman's restaurant, the College Inn, where Chef Joe Colton's plates attracted many celebrities and wealthy patrons. The secret ingredient behind the chef's celebrated Chicken ala King was the broth that he made, and which remains one of the Sherman's surviving relics: since 1923, College Inn's broth has been manufactured for sale in cans -- initially accessible only by mail, and later at local stores. Nowadays, it is widely available in most American markets.Date: August 24, 1941; Broadcast On The NBC Radio Network
Location: College Inn's Panther Room, Hotel Sherman, City Hall Square (Northwest Corner Of Randolph & Clark), Chicago, Illinois
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), John Simmons (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Daddy(Bobby Troup) |
unissued |
Performances
1. Preservation
Unfortunately, this performance of "Daddy" was not preserved in its entirety.
2. Performances By Other Acts
Also heard during this radio broadcast were two instrumentals by the orchestra ("Flying Home," "A S-m-o-o-t-h One") and a vocal by the band's male crooner, Tommy Taylor ("From One Love To Another"). The instrumentals were broadcast in full, and have been preserved. Taylor's vocal suffered, on the other hand, the same fate as Lee's "Daddy": both are incomplete.
As a more general note, please note that I have no plans to incorporated comments about non-Lee performances to the present page. Exceptions have been made only for a few entries, including the present one (see previous paragraph) and also the last entry (March 20, 1943). Commentary about non-Lee material can also be found in the notes under the entries dated November 7 and 14, 1941; July 15, 1942; and August 10, 1942. The details in question are outside the purview of this Peggy Lee-centered work, but I have still wanted to selectively include them, as a concession to fans of Goodman and the swing era.
II. THE CANADIAN NATIONAL EXHIBITION AND OTHER ONE-NIGHTERS
Itinerary
Immediately after the conclusion of their month-long engagement at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago, The Benny Goodman Orchestra traveled out of the country. "We went on to Toronto for some kind of exposition," Peggy Lee reminisced in her autobiography. Indeed, the orchestra performed at the Canadian National Exhibition on August 30, 1941. (The closing of the Chicago engagement is variously listed as August 28 or August 29. Most likely, its last performance was on the evening of the 28th, running past midnight.) Unfortunately, no broadcasts of the band's show are known to exist.The Toronto Event
The Canadian National Exhibition is an annual fair set up at a district known as Exhibition Place, by the shoreline of Lake Ontario in Toronto. Dating all the way back to 1879, the fair has customarily highlighted advances in agriculture and technology while providing plenty of entertainment, food, contests, sports events, and touristic attractions. It is usually scheduled from mid-August through Labor Day (September 2), for a total of 18 days.The One-Nighter Life (A Mostly Anecdotal Account)
Drawing from an unspecified source, author Peter Richmond offers various specifics about the band's trip up North. A bus was boarded in Syracuse, with Toronto as its destination. The band members rode in it; their bandleader did not. The King of Swing left by car instead -- as he and other traveling bandleaders had long been accustomed to do. On this particular occasion, Goodman extended the courtesy to his canary: Peggy Lee rode with her boss and his other company. Unfortunately, Richmond explains, "the car broke down. Efforts to charter a plane proved futile, and Benny ended up hiring a private sleeping car to attach to a train." A very happy Lee was assigned a separate, exclusive berth. Hence the young singer's traveling experience ended up being an exceptionally comfortable one. It was her very first trek outside of the United States, and very possibly her first road trip as the band's vocalist, too. Ensuing trips would prove far less comfortable.III. NEW JERSEY: AT FRANK DAILEY'S MEADOWBROOK
Schedule
Benny Goodman's next engagement took him and his orchestra to Newark, New Jersey. Therein, they took residence at Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook for three weeks, from September 11 to October 8, 1941. About 20 resulting broadcasts are extant; collectively, they offer a total of 10 Peggy Lee vocals. (Incidentally, September the 11th is the correct date. After prematurely announcing that the opening would take place on September 15, Variety later amended the day to the 11th.)Preservation
About 20 broadcasts from this Goodman visit to New Jersey's Cedar Grove have been preserved. Unlike those from the Sherman Hotel, this batch often offers more than five performances per broadcast. Peggy Lee is served well, with a total of 10 performances in the batch. Those are itemized below, following my general comments about the engagement and the venue.Attendance Numbers
At the Meadowbook, "Goodman drew about 1,000 opening night (Thursday) and a few short of 1,700 Saturday (13)," Variety reported on its September 17, 1941 issue. Up until that time, that last figure ranked as "the highest number of patrons that ever has been packed into the spot," added the magazine. (The previous records had been set by Sammy Kaye a few months earlier. Kaye had in turn bested the records held in earlier years by Glen Miller and The Dorseys.)The Venue
Located about 10 miles from New York, The Meadowbrook was a nationally famous hot spot for the big bands of the swing era. Back in the 1920s, the 10 acres of property that the Meadowbrook would eventually occupy had been turned into a a supper club called The Castle Terrace. The club closed and subsequently reopened as the Royal Pavilion, a Chinese restaurant, only to close again. In 1931, the premises were purchased by various members of The Meadowbrook Syncopators, a regional band that had grown tired of traveling. For any music enthusiast, the appeal of the physical property would have stemmed from the one hundred by forty feet of dance floor, capable of accommodating up to fourteen hundred dancers -- not to say anything of the additional outdoor facilities. Once it came into the possession of The Meadowbrook Syncopators, the property was promptly re-named after the group, whose leader was Frank Dailey, and it continued to serve as both restaurant and ballroom. Around 1935, Dailey bought out the other partners, proceeded to remodel the place, and pointedly altered the venue's name to Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook.Date: September 11, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Marty Blitz (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | When The Sun Comes Out - 3:56(Ted Koehler, Harold Arlen) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Vintage Jazz Classics Collectors' Label CDVjc 1032 — [Benny Goodman] "Roll 'Em!" (1991)
Honeysuckle Rose Collectors' Label LPHr 5004/5005 — [Benny Goodman] Benny And Sid "Roll 'Em"
|
Performance
1. "When The Sun Comes Out"
"When The Sun Comes Out" had been recorded by The Benny Goodman Orchestra on June 4, 1941 -- two months before Peggy Lee joined the ensemble. At that earlier time, the vocal had been sung by Helen Forrest, with an arrangement that Eddie Sauter had tailored for her. Four months later, Peggy Lee had to face the expectations of her boss and the band's audience: she learned and sang the number in Forrest's key.
Date: September 13, 1941; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Marty Blitz (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | It's So Peaceful In The Country(Alec Wilder) |
unissued |
Audio Source
1. Matinee At The Meadowbrook
This performance of "It's So Peaceful In The Country" survives as part of an hour-long CBS radio show called Matinee At The Meadowbrook. The show was broadcast on Saturdays, live from the titular country club venue. From its inception in January 18, 1941 until March 22 of the same year, Matinee At The Meadowbrook aired at 4:00 p.m. It moved to 5:00 p.m. during its second installment, which began on May 24 and concluded on December 1, 1941. (It was back to 4:00 p.m. in 1942.) The Meadowbrook was a very popular hangout, and probably no more so than on Saturdays, when dance audiences reaching 2,000 individuals are estimated to have attended.
This Saturday, September 13, 1941 date marked the first appearance of The Benny Goodman Orchestra on Matinee At The Meadowbrook. (For another number that Peggy Lee might have performed on the same date, see next entry.) According to Benny Goodman bio-discographer Russ Connor, the shows included comedy (Eddie Mayhoff, among others), sports (Mel Allen, others) and, of course, the band then in residence. (As time went by, solo-billed vocalists became main attractions, too.) During the May through December 1941 period, John Tillman served as the main host and Art Carney as the in-house comedian.
After 1942, Matinee At The Meadowbrook seems to have had a more sporadic broadcasting history, coming and going off the air repeatedly. The full history of the show is not fully clear to me; some sources point to episodes broadcast as late as 1946. In the early 1950s, an attempt at a TV edition did not prove long-lasting.
Date: September 13 or 20, 1941; Possibly Broadcast By CBS
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Marty Blitz (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire(Bennie Benjamin, Eddie Durham, Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus) |
unissued |
Dating And Audio Source
1. Matinee At The Meadowbrook
2. September 11 Or September 20, 1941
Along with other Goodman performances that do not feature Lee, this Goodman-Lee version of "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" has been preserved on lacquers that reportedly list the date as September 13/20, 1941. Both listed days fall on Saturdays, when CBS radio aired its Matinee At The Meadowbrook show. Hence the lacquers are tentatively presumed to feature numbers recorded off that show, some perhaps on September 13, others on September 20. Goodman discographer Russ Connor actually leans toward September the 13th as the likelier date for all them, although he does not discard the possibility that some could be from the other date, or even from days in-between the two Saturdays. (The latter would mean that Matinee At The Meadowbrook was not the source for such numbers).
In addition to this nebulously dated batch containing "I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire" and several non-Lee numbers, note that there are other batches of Meadobrook performances about which the date and source (Matinee At The Meadowbrook) are more certain. One is a September 13 batch that includes the previously listed "It's So Peaceful In The Country," alongside various instrumentals. Another is a September 20 batch, containing a different performance of "It's So Peaceful In The Country," to be listed below, as well as one Tommy Taylor vocal and various instrumentals.
Date: September 16, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Marty Blitz (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - 3:52(Otto Harbach, Jerome Kern) / arr: Eddie Sauter
Honeysuckle Rose Collectors' Label LPHr 5004/5005 — [Benny Goodman] Benny And Sid "Roll 'Em"
|
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Let's Do It(Cole Porter) / arr: Mel Powell
unissued
|
Performances
1. Preservation
This date's version of "Let's Do It" was not preserved in its entirety.
Date: September 17, 1941; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Marty Blitz (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I See A Million People(Una Mae Carlisle, Robert Sour) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
unissued |
Date: September 20, 1941; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Marty Blitz (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | It's So Peaceful In The Country(Alec Wilder) |
Joyce Record Club Collectors' Label LP1097 — [Benny Goodman] One Night Stand With Benny Goodman At The Meadowbrook (1982)
Joyce Record Club Collectors' Label LP1056 — [Benny Goodman] One Night Stand With Benny Goodman
|
Audio Sources
1. Matinee At The Meadowbrook
This performance of "It's So Peaceful In The Country" was preserved as part of a Matinee At The Meadowbook radio broadcast. For general commentary about the show, see notes under the entry dated September 13, 1941. See also notes under the entry dated September 13 or 20, 1941.
Date: September 27, 1941; Partially Broadcast On CBS Radio Network
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Morty Stuhlmaker (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | That's The Way It Goes(Sid Robin, Alec Wilder) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good(Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Both titles unissued. |
Audio Source
1. Matinee At The Meadowbrook
2. Sustaining Broadcast
Although Peggy Lee sang this entry's two numbers on the same day and the same venue, each has survived on a separate broadcast. This performance of "That's The Way It Goes" was preserved as part of a Matinee At The Meadowbook episode on CBS. The performance of "I Got It Bad" is extant as part of a sustaining broadcast; it is not known which network aired it.
Performances
1. Preservation
Unfortunately, this date's version of "That's The Way It Goes" was not preserved in its entirety.
Date: September 28, 1941
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Performances
1. "I Got It Bad"
2. Preservation
From this Sunday the 28th, various Goodman instrumentals have survived. No vocals, though. A few bars from a performance of "I Got It Bad" have survived as well. Had more than those instrumental bars survived, a vocal by Peggy Lee would have probably been heard.
Date: October 4, 1941; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook, 1050 Pompton Avenue, Cedar Grove, New Jersey, Cedar Grove, New Jersey
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Morty Stuhlmaker (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Soft As Spring(Alec Wilder) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Sunbeam Collectors' Label LPSb 158 — [Benny Goodman] Benny Goodman And His Orchestra, 1941-42 (1984)
Acrobat Public Domain CD(United Kingdom) Addcd 3216 — Peggy Lee With The Benny Goodman Orchestra, 1941-47 (2017)
|
Audio Sources
1. Matinee At The Meadowbook
This performance of "Soft As Spring" was preserved as part of a broadcast of the radio show Matinee At The Meadowbook.
IV. NEW YORK: AT THE NEW YORKER'S TERRACE ROOM
Schedule (Part I)
With their three-week engagement at Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook over on October 8, 1941, The Benny Goodman Orchestra moved on to their next set of appearances, scheduled to start the very next day (the 9th) at the New Yorker Hotel in the Big Apple. On its October 15, 1941 issue, a Variety review announced the engagement and its personnel as follows: "Terrace Room, N. Y. (Hotel New Yorker) Benny Goodman Orch. with Pegqy Lee, Tommy Taylor; Ice Show with Adele Inge, Bill & Betty Wade, Ronny Roberts, Ice Ballet (6), Bob Russell: 75c cover weekdays, $1 weekends." Later Variety issues included notices listing essentially the same participants: "Hotel New Yorker. Benny Goodman O. Cottie Williams. Peggy Lee. Tommy Taylor. Adele Inge. B & B Wade. Ronny Roberts. Ice Ballet" (November 5, 1941 issue).Historical Relevance (In The Annals Of Goodman's And Lee's Careers)
According to biographer Ross Firestone, "the Hotel New Yorker was an especially important engagement for Benny ... [T]his was his first extended appearance in New York since he had re-formed the band exactly one year earlier. Though he had done well at the Sherman in Chicago and the Meadowbrook in New Jersey, the real test of his current drawing power would be what happened when he returned to Manhattan. The prospects were not all that encouraging. Swing bands were not normally booked into the hotel's Terrace Room. Its patrons were more accustomed to straight commercial dance orchestras ..."Schedule (Part II)
Having established themselves as a bona fide success with the venue's clientele, Goodman and company wounded up playing at the mid-town Manhattan hotel for a fairly long period: five months (from October 9, 1941 to March 12, 1942). The original arrangement between Goodman and The New Yorker had actually consisted of about a dozen weeks (closing on January 2, 1942), but the engagement's success had compelled the hotel to negotiate a two month-long extension -- not counting the first half of January.Preservation (Extant Airchecks)
A relatively large number of broadcasts from this engagement has survived: well over 50, with a total of 34 Peggy Lee performances amidst them. Actually, Peggy Lee's own full output of extant performances from the New Yorker is higher than 34 -- closer to 50. The source of her other 15 or so extant performances is the band's return engagement ar the venue, in October of 1943. (That engagement will be eventually discussed later in this chronologically organized page.)The Venue
This hotel was barely a decade old when Peggy Lee performed at its Terrace Room. After its opening in 1930, the New Yorker claimed the crown as Manhattan's tallest and most prestigious hotel. It remained a prestigious location from the 1930s though part of the 1950s, frequented or inhabited as it was not only by the resident bands and singers of note but also by a wide variety of personalities, from Muhammad Ali and Joan Crawford to Joe DiMaggio and Fidel Castro.Date: October 22, 1941; Broadcast On The NBC Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I See A Million People(Una Mae Carlisle, Robert Sour) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire(Bennie Benjamin, Eddie Durham, Eddie Seiler, Sol Marcus) |
Both titles on: | Jazz Heritage Society/Amerco CD5262997 — [Benny Goodman] NBC Broadcast Recordings, 1936-1943 (The Yale University Music Library Series, Volumes 11 & 12) (2007)
Nimbus Collectors' Label CD(United Kingdom) 2734/2735 — [Benny Goodman] NBC Broadcast Recordings, 1936-1943 (Yale University Archives, Volume 5) (2010)
|
Photos
Three pictures of Peggy Lee, all of them dating from 1941. The second is actually a photocopy from a newspaper published on December 26, 1941. It advertises the Goodman Orchestra's ongoing engagement at the New Yorker.
Date: October 26, 1941; Broadcast On The NBC Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | The Shrine Of St. Cecilia(Carroll Loveday, Nils Johan Perne aka Jokern) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Sunbeam Collectors' Label LPSb 158 — [Benny Goodman] Benny Goodman And His Orchestra, 1941-42 (1984)
Acrobat Public Domain CD(United Kingdom) Addcd 3216 — Peggy Lee With The Benny Goodman Orchestra, 1941-47 (2017)
|
Audio Sources
1. Fitch Bandwagon
This performance of "The Shrine of St. Cecilia" was preserved as part of an episode of Fitch Bandwagon. Airing on NBC every Sunday at 7:30 p.m., that radio show had the advantage of being sandwiched between programs by the immensely popular Jack Benny and the also popular Ed Bergen. Fitch Bandwagon was primarily a musical variety show, though with an emphasis on the big bands. During its last four years, however, comedy sketches became as prevalent as the music, and the musical guests were no longer orchestras exclusively, but also, and often, solo singers. Fitch Bandwagon aired for ten years (1938 to 1948).
Date: October 27, 1941; Broadcast On Radio, Network Unknown
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | The Man I Love(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good(Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Both titles unissued. |
Date: November 1, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | That Did It, Marie(Irene Higginbotham, Fred Meadows) / arr: Mel Powell |
Sunbeam Collectors' Label LPSb 158 — [Benny Goodman] Benny Goodman And His Orchestra, 1941-42 (1984)
Acrobat Public Domain CD(United Kingdom) Addcd 3216 — Peggy Lee With The Benny Goodman Orchestra, 1941-47 (2017)
|
Date: November 7, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | More Than You Know(Billy Rose, Edward Eliscu, Vincent Youmans) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Why Don't We Do This More Often?(Charles Newman, Allie Wrubel) |
Both titles unissued. |
Performances
1. Preservation: "Why Don't We Do This More Often?"
Unfortunately, Peggy Lee's only extant rendition of this slightly suggestive number has not survived in its entirety.
2. Extant Repertoire By The Orchestra
Curious readers might want to know more about the selections heard in the remotes under scrutiny. From this date's extant broadcast, the surviving set of performances runs as follows:
"More That You Know" - vocal by Peggy Lee
"If I Had You" - instrumental by the Goodman Sextet
"Sing, Sing, Sing" - instrumental by the Goodman Orchestra
"Why Don't You Do This More Often?" - vocal by Peggy Lee
"A S-m-o-o-t-h One" - instrumental by the Goodman Orchestra
Date: November 13, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Somebody Else Is Taking My Place(Bob Ellsworth, Dick Howard, Russ Morgan) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Crossreferences
1. Recording Session
On this day (November 13, 1941), the Benny Goodman not only performed at the Terrace Room but also went into Liederkranz Hall (at 58th street) to do a full session of Peggy Lee vocals. The songs recorded in the studio were "That Did It, Marie," "How Long Has This Been Going On?," "Somebody Nobody Loves," and their soon-to-be top hit "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place," which is also extant in its version from this broadcast.
Date: November 14, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Let's Do It(Cole Porter) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Sources
1. Spotlight Bands
A radio show sponsored by Coca Cola, Spotlight Bands made its debut on November 3, 1941. It was more formally known as The Victory Parade Of Spotlight Bands. "Tonight and every night, Monday through Saturday," the show's announcer would often declare in his opening bid, "the Coca Cola company sends America's favorite bands to our fighters and workers all over the country. Every night we play for the men and women who work and fight for victory every day -- the men and women who speed victory on its way." Each show lasted 15 minutes, except for the Saturday editions, during which 30 minutes were spent on the so-called Band of the Week. Reputed to have been the most popular big band music program ever, Spotlight Bands had a five-year run and was re-broadcast by the Armed Forces Radio.
Every single episode was exclusively dedicated to one band. According to discographer Russ Connor, the show cast its spotlight on Benny Goodman And His Orchestra 24 times. Their first appearance, on November 14, 1941, aired merely 11 days after the program's debut date, and included the above-entered Peggy Lee vocal on "Let's Do It," which was heard right after the band's opening theme ("Let's Dance"). The other numbers played by the band were "One O'Clock Jump" and Goodman's closing theme ("Goodbye").
Date: November 22, 1941; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee, Art London aka Art Lund (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Winter Weather(Ted Shapiro) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Photos
Images of The Benny Goodman Orchestra, performing at a venue which, though unidentified in my sources, corresponds with the stage of the New Yorker Hotel's Terrace Room. The same photo is actually seen in both images. The second image has been cropped to highlight the presence of vocalists Peggy Lee and Art London, blissfully sitting in front of Mel Powell's piano. The other two gentlemen seen in the cropped version may be the master of ceremonies and/or the CBS engineer(s) who were in charge of the radio broadcast.
The back of this photograph bears the date December 1, 1942. Judging from the personnel on sight, the photo's actual date is likelier to fall between November 16 and November 26. For one, there is Art London, sitting, as already indicated, next to Lee. According to discographer Russ Connor, "[p]recisely when Art London joined the band is not known, but program logs prior to the 16th do not include him, and [an extant November 16] broadcast ... may mark his very first day." My November 26 cut date relies on the presence of both Billy Butterfield (second of the three trumpet players) and Julie Schwartz (fourth of the sax players) and the absence of Sol Kane. Saxophonist Kane's first known appearance with the band was on Goodman's November 27 recording session. As for Butterfield and Schwartz, they had been present for the orchestra's October sessions, and might be presumed to have been around until mid-November. But neither is listed in the aforementioned November 27 date, nor in subsequent (December, January) recording sessions.
Date: November 29, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, Joe Ferrante, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Ev'rything I Love(Cole Porter) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
unissued |
Date: December 2, 1941; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, Joe Ferrante, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | How Long Has This Been Going On?(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Performances
1. Preservation
2. "I See A Million People"
A few bars from "I See A Million People" were also picked up at the outset of this sustaining broadcast.
Date: December 5, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, Joe Ferrante, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Ev'rything I Love(Cole Porter) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
unissued |
Audio Sources
1. Spotlight Bands
As with the above-listed performance from November 14, 1941, this version of "Ev'rything I Love" has survived thanks to its broadcasting in an episode of Spotlight Bands, on the Mutual network. Unfortunately, the performance was not preserved in its entirety.
Date: December 6, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, Joe Ferrante, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Ev'rything I Love(Cole Porter) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
unissued |
Photos
Peggy Lee and Benny Goodman, in photographs from a periodical published in 1941. There is no identification of the venue(s) at which they are performing, but in the accompanying article Lee makes a reference to being in New York. The Hotel New Yorker is thus among the likeliest candidates.
Performances
1. "Ev'rything I Love"
This date's version of "Ev'rtything I Love" was not preserved in its entirety.
Historical Notes: World War II
1. December 7, 1941
In her autobiography, Peggy Lee writes the following: "We were sitting in a cafe in Passaic, New Jersey, on Sunday, December 7. Well, you all know what we heard from President Roosevelt. We are at war. A shudder went through everyone, and it was really hard to go back to the theather and carry on as though everything were normal." This recollection conveys the highly charged atmosphere that such grave news elicited. For the specific purposes of this discography, the recollection also happens to add to the list of reported concert dates. On December 7, The Benny Goodman Orchestra and Peggy Lee must have been playing at a town theater in New Jersey (perhaps Passaic's Center Theatre, where they would come back to perform on April 2, 1942).
2. War Bond Shows And Benefits
Lee's autobiography also makes reference to bond shows whose exact dates remain unknown, but which obviously dated from no earlier than December 1941: "We did begin doing bond show after bond show - mostly in Times Square between regular shows, and things became more and more hectic." In a March 4, 1942 letter sent to a friend (quoted by Peggy Lee biographer Peter Richmond), she also writes about "lots of benefits and concerts, in addition to our regular shows." Presumably, the so-called regular shows were the ones done at the Hotel New Yorker. Lee also makes passing mention of performances at hospitals during this wartime period.
Date: December 9, 1941; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, Joe Ferrante, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Somebody Else Is Taking My Place(Bob Ellsworth, Dick Howard, Russ Morgan) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Date: Possibly December 1941; Broadcast On Two Networks
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra, The Benny Goodman Sextet (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee, Art London aka Art Lund (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Winter Weather(Ted Shapiro) / arr: Mel Powell |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | On The Sunny Side Of The Street(Dorothy Fields, Jimmy McHugh, possibly Andy Razaf, possibly Thomas 'Fats' Waller) / arr: Mel Powell |
Both titles unissued. |
Audio Source
1. Airing Networks
"Winter Weather" is part of a batch of performances that were broadcast by the CBS radio network. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" is, on the other hand, from a batch which was broadcast by the Mutual network. (Naturally, these batches' other numbers are instrumentals, or otherwise vocals by the band's crooner, Art London.)
Dating
Although Goodman discographer Russ Connor gives a collective November/December 1941 to the performances under discussion, in the case of "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" it could be tentatively assumed that it dates from late December, because Lee and the band made a studio recording on December 24, 1941. "Winter Weather" (recorded on November 27, 1941) might date from December as well.
Personnel
1. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street"
"On The Sunny Side Of The Street" was performed as a sextet number, probably featuring clarinet, piano, bass, drum, guitar, trombone, and vocal. Along with a November 7 instrumental version of "It Had To Be You," this is one of the earliest surviving sextet numbers from these concert dates at the New Yorker. According to both discographer Russ Connor and biographer Ross Firestone, audiences at this venue were more accustomed to the playing of dance bands, a preference that might have led Goodman to forego of sextet features until the holiday period. Pianist Mel Powell told Firestone that "Benny did form a new sextet in October, but I think he used the group primarily for recordings." Indeed, the earliest sextet recording session from this period bears an October 28, 1941 date.
2. "Where On When"
Two sextet versions of "Where Or When" from these November/December 1941 broadcasts are also extant and listed by Connor in his bio-discography, but they seem to have been performed as instrumentals. (In other words, Connor's work does not give any indication that a vocal was part of these renditions.)
3. Bernie Privin
4. Joe Ferrante
The presence of Bernie Privin on trumpet should be deemed tentative. Knowing the exact date of these performances could make the identification less tentative. By December 10, Privin had replaced Joe Ferrante in the trumpet section.
5. Art London
Male vocalist Art London duets with Peggy Lee on "Winter Weather" only.
Date: January 1, 1942; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: New York, Venue Unknown
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Lou McGarity (tb, v), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Blues In The Night(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Sunbeam Collectors' Label LPSb 158 — [Benny Goodman] Benny Goodman And His Orchestra, 1941-42 (1984)
Acrobat Public Domain CD(United Kingdom) Addcd 3216 — Peggy Lee With The Benny Goodman Orchestra, 1941-47 (2017)
|
Personnel
1. Lou McGarity
The vocal for which trombonist Lou McGarity is co-credited consists, in his case, of yodeling only.
An Interlude
After this date, Goodman set out to do a solo concert tour that lasted until at least January 12. There is a small chance that the orchestra and the vocalists enjoyed some days off. If so, their vacation was short-lived (by no means lasting two weeks). The concert to be discussed next proves that they were present on at least one of the tour dates (January 6). Then, on January 15, the band went to the recording studio. By January 17, they were back to performing live at the New Yorker.
Date: January 6, 1942
Location: Syria Mosque, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Lou McGarity (tb, v), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
Occasion
As mentioned in the preceding notes, and further elaborated by premier bio-discographer Russ Connor, "Benny went on a solo tour the first two weeks of the new year, appearing as guest clarinetist with municipal symphony orchestras in cities in the eastern United States. He began in Cleveland, Ohio, on January 4, 1942, with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, Arthur Rodzinski conducting. Following were Pittsburgh, Pa. (6th), Youngstown, Ohio (7th), Toledo, Ohio (8th), Cincinnati, Ohio (9th), Washington (10th), and Dayton, Ohio (January 11, 1942). Goodman then returned to New York to resume his interrupted engagement in the Hotel New Yorker.
Photos
Brochure of the January 6th concert, said to be in benefit of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, and held at the orchestra's regular home venue, the Syria Mosque As can be seen, the first half consisted of classical pieces performed by the symphony orchestra with Goodman as soloist. The second half featured Goodman's regular repertoire of swing and ballads, performed by the clarinetist with his own orchestra. I am not aware of any extant audio.
Personnel
I do not have full personnel for this Pittsburgh date. The names that are mentioned in the extant data (a trade review) are Benny Goodman, Peggy Lee, Mel Powell, and Cootie Williams. The rest of the personnel I listed should be deemed tentative, since I have merely transferred it from the preceding January 1, 1942 date."
Also, note that Cootie Williams is not listed as participating in any other Goodman concert date from early 1942. His presence on this Pittsburgh date is postulated by a Billboard reviewer, who claims that the trumpet man played "Concert For Cootie" and "Deep River."
In his bio-discography Benny Goodman: Listen To His Legacy, Russ Connor states that Cootie Williams' year-long contract with Goodman had expired on October 31, 1941. Between November 1942 and January 1943, Connor's book does not list Williams on any of of Goodman's own concert dates & record sessions. Of course, Williams could have still been present, unbeknownst to Connor, especially if he was sitting in or playing on just a few days. It is equally possible the reviewer misidentified Williams, though his above-mentioned pinpointing of numbers played by Williams suggests otherwise to me.
Cootie Williams is listed as part of the two contemporaneous Metronome All-Star sessions on which Goodman took part (December 31, 1941, January 16, 1942). We can thus establish close proximity between the band leader and the trumpet player within the month in question. Their close proximity allows in turn for the possibility that Goodman or his manager asked and successfully recruited Williams to participate on some of Goodman's road dates.
Songs
In the words of the aforementioned Billboard reviewer: "Peggy Lee's singing, altho considered by some of the $3.30 customers as a breathing period for the band, revealed a chantress with audience understanding and a smile worth a fortune. Her Where Or When was plaintive, huskily dramatic. She managed to make innuendo suitable for both fraternity row and family-type houses with her version of Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love."
Note that the above-pictured brochure lists the songs scheduled to be performed at the date. In addition to "Let's Do It," Lee was probably expected to sing on "Blues In The Night" as well. Since the program makes no mention of "Where Or When," perhaps that number tackled as an encore, or perhaps the plan to perform "Blues In The Night" was not carried out..
Date: January 20, 1942; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Lou McGarity (tb, v), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Blues In The Night(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | How Do You Do Without Me?(Joe Bushkin, John De Vries) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Both titles unissued. |
Personnel
1. Lou McGarity
Trombonist Lou McGarity's vocal contribution to the band's arrangement of "Blues In The Night" is circumscribed to an extended, memorable yodel, heard in the middle of the number.
Date: January 24, 1942; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Lou McGarity (tb, v), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Blues In The Night(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
unissued |
Personnel
1. Lou McGarity
The vocal for which trombonist Lou McGarity is co-credited consists, in his case, of yodeling only.
Date: February 3, 1942; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Somebody Nobody Loves(Seymour Miller) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
unissued |
Photo
Peggy Lee at the piano in the Hotel New Yorker, probably in late 1941 or early 1942.
Date: February 6, 1942; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | My Little Cousin(Eli Basse, Sam Braverman, Cy Coben, Happy Lewis) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Date: February 14, 1942; Broadcast On Two Radio Networks
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Lou McGarity (tb, v), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Blues In The Night(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | How Long Has This Been Going On?(George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) / arr: Mel Powell |
Both titles unissued. |
Audio Source
1. Airing Networks
Along with the instrumental "Sing, Sing, Sing," this date's vocal for "Blues In The Night" was heard during a sustaining broadcast on the CBS radio network. A sustaining broadcast over the Mutual network is, on the other hand, the extant source of "How Long Has This Going On" (as well as various instrumentals).
Personnel
1. Lou McGarity
The vocal for which trombonist Lou McGarity is co-credited consists, in his case, of yodeling only.
Date: February 17, 1942; Broadcasting Network Unknown
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Skylark(Hoagy Carmichael, Johnny Mercer) |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Ev'rything I Love(Cole Porter) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Both titles unissued. |
Audio Source
1. Spotlight Bands?
In his bio-discographical book Benny Goodman: Listen To His Legacy, Russ Connor expressed some hesitation as to the broadcasting source for this date's extant performances (two instrumentals and the two vocals mentioned above). The "overall ambience," as heard on the preserved lacquer disc, led him to believe that the radio source was a sustaining broadcast. (Connor's access and consultation of Goodman's personal records had alerted him to the fact that Goodman had broadcast for Coca Cola on February 17, 1942. Hence, if not a sustaining broadcast, the alternative source for this date's performances would have been an episode of the Coca Cola-sponsored show Spotlight Bands.)
Songs
1. "Skylark"
In her autobiography, Peggy Lee tells a long, amusing anecdote about a botched attempt at singing this tune. "We were playing at a theatre in Bridgeport, Connecticut," Lee offers as a manner of introduction, "and I was to meet Frank (my fiancé, by now) in New York the next day." The rendezvous did not happen: Frank, a pilot, calls Lee to let her know that he has to leave right away on a war-related mission. A distressed Lee drinks a bottle of gin that a bandmember hands her ... with disastrous -- yet hilarious -- consequences for her next appearance onstage. The full anecdote can be read on page 17 of the autobiography's hardback edition, published by Donald I. Fine. (The exact date of the Connecticut date is unclear, but the mention of Rushton circumscribes the story to no earlier than December of 1942.)
Date: March 2, 1942; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | We'll Meet Again(Ross Parker Clarke, Hugh Charles) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Photo
Peggy Lee and The Benny Goodman Orchestra, further details unknown. Benny Goodman experts are inclined to circumscribe the qualifying dating to the period between mid-May and July 1942. It might also be worth noting that the band appears to be collectively dressed in white, which could (or could not) be a clue to a special occasion. In her autobiography, Lee casually mentions that during war time the band played at bond rallies and hospitals. Perhaps one of such occasions prompted the band to wear white, thereby letting go of their usually dark attire. (Of further note in the same regard is a concert appearance known to have happened at the Seamen's Church Institute, in Brooklyn, NY, on December 25, 1942. In his book Benny Goodman: A Discographical Supplement, David Jessup refers to the "very enthusiastic sailor audience" that is heard during an extant segment of that concert, which was broadcast as part of a swing band marathon called Uncle Sam's Christmas Tree. Peggy Lee is presumed to have been present and active at the Brooklyn institute, although she not featured in the extant segment.)
Audio Sources
1. Spotlight Bands
As with two other entries listed above (November 14, 1941; December 5, 1941), this date's performance of "We'll Meet Again" has survived thanks to its broadcasting in an episode of the show Spotlight Bands, on the Mutual network.
Date: March 5, 1942; Broadcasting Network Unknown
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | My Little Cousin(Eli Basse, Sam Braverman, Cy Coben, Happy Lewis) / arr: Mel Powell |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | The Lamp Of Memory (Incertidumbre)(Gonzalo Curiel, Al Stillman) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
Both titles unissued. |
Performances
1. Preservation
Unfortunately, neither of the Peggy Lee vocals from this date has been preserved in its entirety.
2. "Mandy Is Two" (March 5, 1942)
In the book Benny Goodman: Listen To His Legacy, Donald Russell Connor lists this date's performance of "Mandy Is Two" as sung by Peggy Lee. The attribution is erroneous: Art London is the singer. The error has been corrected both by Connor himself (on his tape detail sheets, which are now in the possession of Institute of Jazz Studies, at Rutgers University) and by David Jessup in his book Benny Goodman: A Discographical Supplement.
Date: Between January 1 and March 12, 1942
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Al Davis, James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Lou McGarity (tb, v), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Blues In The Night(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Not Mine(Johnny Mercer, Victor Schertzinger) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
c. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Somebody Nobody Loves(Seymour Miller) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
d. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | That Did It, Marie(Irene Higginbotham, Fred Meadows) / arr: Mel Powell |
All titles unissued. |
Performances
1. Preservation
None of the performances listed under this entry has been preserved in tis entirety. They may all be from the same broadcast. (If so, the order in which these songs were performed remains unclear as well. I have listed them in alphabetical order -- just as Russ Connor does in his Goodman bio-discography.)
Personnel
1. Because the exact date of these performances is unknown, the listed personnel should be considered approximate rather than exact. I am offering above the names of the men who were members of the band as of February 5, 1942. A fair share of personnel changes seem to have taken place in March, most likely after the conclusion of the New Yorker dates.
2. Lou McGarity
Trombonist Lou McGarity's vocal contribution to the band's arrangement of "Blues In The Night" is circumscribed to an extended, memorable yodel, heard in the middle of the number.
Interlude
Following the closing of the New Yorker Hotel engagement on March 12, the band had a two-week vacation, as explained in more detail below.
V. THE THEATER TOUR: ATLANTIC CITY, CAMDEN, PHILADELPHIA, BOSTON, CHICAGO, BUFFALO, BROOKLYN AND MANHATTAN (PARAMOUNT)
Basic 1942 Timeline
The Benny Goodman Orchestra's engagement at the New Yorker's Terrace Room ended on Thursday, March 12, 1942. Following the conclusion of their five-month-long commitment to that hotel venue, a three-week vacation was granted to the band's members, including the vocalists. Peggy Lee spent the balance of her vacation time back in North Dakota, her birth state. She stayed with her siblings.City Tour Itinerary
1. Starting April 2, 1942, for a week: New Jersey (at the Center Theater in Passaic)Concert Data
Information about the above-listed tour dates can be furnished from contemporary local newspapers and national trade periodicals, such as Variety. Some of the band's gigs were also reviewed on Billboard magazine. Below I have gathered most of the data which I have culled from such sources.Date: April 24, 1942; Broadcast On The Mutual Radio Network
Location: 20th Century Theatre, Buffalo, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Bud Shiffman (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), James "Jimmy" Maxwell, John Napton, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee, Art London aka Art Lund (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | If You Build A Better Mousetrap(Victor Schertzinger, Johnny Mercer) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Somebody Else Is Taking My Place(Bob Ellsworth, Dick Howard, Russ Morgan) / arr: Mel Powell |
Both titles unissued. |
Audio Sources
1. Spotlight Bands
As is also the case with three previously listed entries (November 14, 1941; December 5, 1941; March 2, 1942), this date's performances have survived in the form of an episode from the Mutual network show Spotlight Bands.
Performances & Performers
1. Preservation
Unfortunately, this date's version of "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" was not preserved in its entirety.
2. Secondary Acts
In addition to The Benny Goodman Orchestra, this bill featured a couple of minor acts, one identified as The Ambassadorettes (a trio of female acrobats), the other as Shea and Raymond (a duo of dancing comedians). These same acts are listed on an earlier bill (Earle Theater, Philadelphia, April 10 onwards). They could have all been touring together, as part of a touring circuit, or it might have simply been a matter of coincidence. (They do not seem to have been local acts; the Earle review points out that this was "their third appearance here in a little more than a year.") While Raymond and Shea, are not listed in the bills that followed this one from Buffalo, The Ambasadorettes were still appearing with Goodman several months later.
Review
This date was reviewed on both the April 29, 1942 issue of Variety and the May 2, 1942 issue of Billboard. The band is described as having consisted of two trombones, five trumpets, five saxophones, and a four-person rhythm section. If so, one trumpet player is missing from the personnel listed above. (Bear in mind the aforementioned case of Cootie Williams, not listed in my primary sources but claimed to be present at an earlier concert date.) Goodman, Mel Powell, Ginny [sic; Jimmy] Maxwell, Red McGarrity [sic?; Lou McGarity] are the singled out players.
The Billboard reviewer seems to favor the "mellow baritone" with which Art London sings ballads. Of the other singer, he says: "Miss Lee, an attractive blonde, has a good set of pipes and does okay on Somebody Else Is Taking My Place, Skylark, My Little Cousin and Let's Do It, displaying plenty of versatility with these selections. She clicked handily." Note that "If You Build A Better Mousetrap" is not mentioned.
The Variety reviewer ("Burton") also singled out the singers. He is more even-handed on its bestowal of praise: "[i]n its vocalists, as in every other department, the outfit registers by means of those added ingredients of personality and talent as always." He further tells us that "[h]usky-voiced Peggy Lee laid 'em low with Sky Lark [sic], Somebody Else [Is Taking My Place] and encored with Let's Fall In Love and a unique reading of My Little Cousin. As for London, the "[c]ombo of [his] potent physique and smooth baritone made for a sock reception" of his vocals.
The Billboard reviewer rated the Buffalo date as "solid" overall, pointing out just one adverse flaw: "[c]ontinuity and running of show was impaired on night caught, however, because of a Spotlight Band broadcast for Coca-Cola, which scrambled the act line-up." The appraisal of the Variety reviewer was more expansively enthusiastic: "Goodman outfits looks and sounds equal to any assemblage which the maestro has shown here, and on current performance it more than justifies a top-rung rating which s universally accorded. It is sleek and slick, with plenty of eye and ear appeal, and its impeccable rhythmic delivery marks it outstandingly."
Sales Figures
According to the sales reports collected by Variety, Goodman had a good evening at this theatrical venue, which at the time held 3,000 seats and charged from 35 to 55 cents per customer. A "lush," "outstanding" $17,000 total was estimated. (The previous week's act had made $12,000.) The movie running at the time was Sleepytime Gal, which Variety rated "on the soggy side," giving full credits for the returns to Goodman et al instead.
Date: May 11, 1942; Broadcasting Network Unknown
Location: Unknown (Possibly Central Park?)
Label: Nonesuch
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Bud Shiffman (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), James "Jimmy" Maxwell, John Napton, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | We'll Meet Again(Ross Parker Clarke, Hugh Charles) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Photos
The Benny Goodman Orchestra, with Peggy Lee on the microphone, performing at an unidentified outdoor location. Online, an April 10, 1942 has been attached to one of these photos, but Goodman bio-discographer Russ Connor gives a May 1942 date to another shot taken at this public date. "Benny aided the war effort by touring military bases and selling bonds. The latter seems to have been the promotional effort behind this date, as Connor's photo reveals a sign, on one side of the state, with the words "Sign your pledge for victory. May 19th-22nd. War saving bonds, stamps."
Performances
1. Preservation
This date's version of "We'll Meet Again" was not preserved in its entirety.
Date: July 15, 1942, 8:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Location: Park Shell, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, New York
Photos
Benny Goodman And His Orchestra, photographed while performing at the Shell in Brooklyn's Prospect Park (New York) on July 15, 1942. Also, Dick Haymes and Peggy Lee, the bandleader's boy and girl singers during that same summer of 1942, posing for a publicity shot.
Extant Data
Although no performances from Goodman's 1942 Prospect Park concerts survive, Peggy Lee's worthwhile comments about them have compelled me to open this special entry. Writes Lee, in her autobiography: "We were playing in Prospect Park in Brooklyn, surrounded by metal bars because the crowds would push up and practically impale themselves. Benny and I had a huge recording at the time, Somebody Else Is Taking My Place, and the crowd sort of went wild when I sang it. It, of course, was right in the mood of the war, and people could especially identify with its theme. They loved hearing Benny do Clarinet Ala King and became even more demonstrative when we performed [numbers] such as The Way You Look Tonight, Don't Get Around Much Anymore and Where Or When. After one show, my gown was ripped off, as Dick Haymes, the male vocalist, and I ran to escape in the subway. A Navy pilot helped us get away, I'm convinced we never would have made it without him." It is assumed though not fully clear that Prospect Park was the location of the specific anecdote involving Dick Haymes. Haymes was with the band only during June and July of 1942.
According to The Brooklyn Daily Eagle's report of the July 15 concert, "[a]pproximately 40,000 jitterbugs and hep cats jumped and jived to the swing tempo of Benny Goodman's Orchestra ... to set a record in the history of the city parks. Though the dancing was scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m., there were about 7,000 in the shell at 8 o'clock and the attendance hit its peak by 9. A short time later the dancing was stopped as a precautionary measure due to the size of the crowd but the band played until 10 p.m. Park Department officials said that the largest previous dance attendance at the park was 12,000 ... The program was given under the auspices of the Department of Parks and the consolidated Edison Company." In addition to the aforementioned numbers, Don't Be That Way and One O'clock Jump were also among the songs that Goodman played.
According to Variety, this one-night stand was "one of 54 park dance programs sponsored by Consolidated Edison in collaboration with the city for civilian morale."
Date: August 10, 1942; Broadcast On Radio Station WGN
Location: Northwest Corner Of Michigan Avenue And Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Leonard Sims, Jon Walton (ts), Robert "Bob" Poland (bar), Tony Faso (aka Joseph Fasulo), James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Lawrence Stearns, aka Alfred Sculco (t), Charlie Castaldo, Lou McGarity (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), Bill Clifton (p), Howard "Hud" Davies (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | These Foolish Things(Harry Link, Eric Maschwitz aka Holt Marvell, Jack Strachey) |
Aircheck Collectors' Label LP16 — [Benny Goodman] Benny Goodman And His Orchestra; The King Of Swing "On The Air"
|
Personnel
Recent additions to the band's personnel included, as already mentioned, Dave Barbour and Jon Walton, both hired in late June. More recent hires (ca. early August) included bass player Cliff Hill, drummer Hud Davies, and two saxophonists, Bob Poland and Lenny Simms. Recently departed were a rarely credited Goodman arranger who would go on to much greater fame (Henry Mancini) and Dick Haymes. (As for Mancini, he was only 18 years old at the time. Goodman had recruited him after the youngster had been commended by his music tutor Max Adkins, and the bandleader had liked well enough some of his arrangements, one of which he did use. However, and in Mancini's own words, "it didn't take long for both Benny and me to find out I wasn't ready for such an ambitious assignment." The press reported that Mancini was leaving to join Vaughn Monroe's ensemble at this time. At some point this year, he had or would enroll at Julliard, only to be drafted not long afterwards.)
By this date, Haymes' replacement Buzz Aston was supposed to be already in place. However, a September 29, 1942 article in Variety states that "at last minute [he] decided to pass up ... to remain in Pittsburgh," where he had just been signed for a radio show.
Audio Source, Issues And Venue
1. Bond Wagon Drive
2. The King Of Swing "On The Air" [LP]
3. Chicago Theatre
This date's vocal version of "These Foolish Things" survived as part of an episode of the wartime radio show Bond Wagon Drive, broadcast on the Chicago station WGN. Ditto for four of the date's instrumentals: "Idaho," "After You've Gone," "Jersey Bounce," and the band's theme, "Let's Dance." (During the broadcast, equivocal wording used by the master of ceremonies leads to the impression that Goodman plays in the show's rendition of "Jersey Bounce." Not so. Only a trio called The Coast Guard Cutters is heard.)
In addition to the Lee vocal, the above-listed LP The King Of Swing "On The Air" also includes each of the aforementioned Goodman instrumentals, except for his theme.
Moreover, the LP gives the location as the Chicago Theatre; discographer Russ Connor disagrees, however. In the discographer's own words: "[t]he band was playing in the Chicago Theater, but this War Bonds program was broadcast from outdoors." Having recently listened to the actual broadcast as archived by Chicago-based broadcaster Chuck Schaden in his website, I can not only corroborate that the location was outdoors, but can also pinpoint a specific address. WGN radio personality and master of ceremonies Bill Anson announces that they are broadcasting from "the northwest corner of Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive." The occasion was the induction of about 60 men into the Coast Guard service.
VI. BACK TO MANHATTAN: AT THE PARAMOUNT AND THE NEW YORKER HOTEL, ONCE MORE
Schedule
Next, Benny Goodman And His Orchestra left Hollywood for another extended residence at the New Yorker Hotel. This return engagement started on October 9, 1942 and continued until around January 2, 1943. (That was the projected final date, as given by Variety, a month in advance. There is a small chance that the band stayed a bit longer -- anywhere between one day and a week. As will be explained shortly, the New Yorker's band bookings were in a bit of a flux at the time.)The Venues
A historical overview of the New Yorker Hotel has already been presented (section IV above). My brief commentary will thus concentrate on the other venue of interprets: Times Square's Paramount theater. Located on 43rd Street and Broadway, it was nine blocks away from the hotel.Critical Reception
Published on the October 14, 1942 issue, a Variety review of the opening night at the New Yorker praised the band for its "solid" playing and greater flexibility, in comparison to their previous engagement at the hotel. In the reviewer's estimation, Goodman was offering, at last, "softer projections" which were "true to what the public expect[ed]." The only band members who were not yet meeting such expectations were those in the trumpet section. As for the band's vocalists, he pointed out that "Peggy Lee, after several throat operations, is also in improved voice" and that new acquisition Gary McRae was let go after just two days. The reference to throat operations would seem to suggest that Lee had undergone surgery in September (presumably after the ca. September filming of her singing scene in the Hollywood movie The Powers Girl) or in early October (which could mean that the procedure was done in New York rather than California).Box Office Draw
As expected, Goodman and company did good business at the New Yorker's 400-seat Terrace Room. Just three days into their engagement, the cover charge number were at $1525. Here is how they measured up against competing Manhattan hotels.Preservation
Sixteen of Peggy Lee's vocals from her second residence at the New Yorker are extant. Comprehensive in their reach, the 16-vocal batch happens to include entries from each month of the engagement -- i.e., October, November, and December of 1942, plus January of 1943. As for broadcasts from the month-long engagement at the Paramount, none seem to have survived, regrettably.Date: Early October 1942; Broadcasting Network Unknown
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Jon Walton (ts), Robert "Bob" Poland (bar), Tony Faso (aka Joseph Fasulo), James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Lawrence Stearns, aka Alfred Sculco (t), Charlie Castaldo (tb), Lou McGarity (tb, v), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Blues In The Night(Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) / arr: Eddie Sauter |
unissued |
Photos
The Benny Goodman Orchestra and their canary Peggy Lee perform for the dancing patrons at the Hotel New Yorker, probably in 1942. In the first image, the band's guitarist, Dave Barbour, is partially visible behind Lee.
Personnel
1. Lou McGarity
Trombonist Lou McGarity's vocal contribution to the band's arrangement of "Blues In The Night" is circumscribed to an extended, memorable yodel, heard in the middle of the number.
Date: Mid-October 1942; Broadcasting Network Unknown
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Conrad Gozzo, Jon Walton (ts), Robert "Bob" Poland (bar), Tony Faso (aka Joseph Fasulo), James "Jimmy" Maxwell, Lawrence Stearns, aka Alfred Sculco (t), Charlie Castaldo, Earl LeFave (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles (p), Louis Bellson, Howard "Hud" Davies (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Cow Cow Boogie(Benny Carter, Gene DePaul, Don Raye) |
unissued |
Personnel
1. Conrad Gozzo
2. Earl LeFave
Due to the lack of a precise date, the presence of both Conrad Gozzo on trumpet and Earl Lefave on trombone should be deemed likely, but by no means certain. If they were not present, then their predecessors (Lawrence Stearns, Lou McGarity) are likely to have occupied the chairs in question.
Date: October 19, 1942; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Jon Walton (ts), Robert "Bob" Poland (bar), Tony Faso (aka Joseph Fasulo), Conrad Gozzo, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Charlie Castaldo, Earl LeFave (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Cow Cow Boogie(Benny Carter, Gene DePaul, Don Raye) |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition(Frank Loesser)
Acrobat Public Domain CD(United Kingdom) Addcd 3216 — Peggy Lee With The Benny Goodman Orchestra, 1941-47 (2017)
|
Both titles on: | Jazz Society Collectors' Label LP(Sweden) Aa 510 — [Benny Goodman] The War Years
|
Photo
Benny Goodman plays his clarinet while a smiling Peggy Lee remains safely ensconced near her own instrument, the microphone. In one image, the band's drums can be seen, too, amidst the background's darkness. Dates and locations unknown.
Date: November 12, 1942; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Jon Walton (ts), Robert "Bob" Poland (bar), Tony Faso (aka Joseph Fasulo), Conrad Gozzo, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Charlie Castaldo, Earl LeFave (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Mister Five By Five - 3:32(Don Raye, Gene DePaul)
Acrobat Public Domain CD(United Kingdom) Addcd 3216 — Peggy Lee With The Benny Goodman Orchestra, 1941-47 (2017)
Jazz Society Collectors' Label LP(Sweden) Aa 510 — [Benny Goodman] The War Years
Musicdisc Collectors' Label LP(France) 30 Ja 5226 — [Benny Goodman] The War Years 1943/1944/1945
|
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Had The Craziest Dream(Mack Gordon, Harry Warren)
unissued
|
Date: November 16, 1942, 11:15 Eastern; Probably Voice Of America
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Jon Walton (ts), Robert "Bob" Poland (bar), Tony Faso (aka Joseph Fasulo), Conrad Gozzo, James "Jimmy" Maxwell (t), Charlie Castaldo, Earl LeFave (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), James "Jimmy" Rowles (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Roll 'em(Mary Lou Williams) |
unissued |
Performances
This is the second "Roll 'Em" performance of which I have become aware. For details about my first (including specifics pertaining to Lee's vocal), consult the entry dated December 4, 1942, below.
Audio Sources
1. Homemade Recording
Probably recorded off the radio by a listener, this performance has been preserved on a lacquer disc. Of the brand Federal Perma-Disk, it plays at 78 rpm.
2. Radio
The performance is announced by Willis Conover, the radio personality who is best known for his work at the Voice of America.
Date: December 3, 1942, 11:15-11:30 Eastern; CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Jon Walton (ts), Ted Goddard (bar), Conrad Gozzo, Carl Poole, Steve Steck (t), Charlie Castaldo, Jack Jenney (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Why Don't You Do Right?(Joe McCoy) / arr: Mel Powell |
unissued |
Performances
1. Preservation
This date's version of "Why Don't You Do Right?" was not preserved in its entirety.
Audio Sources
1. Airing Network
The identification of CBS as this broadcast's network of origination should be deemed tentative.
Date: December 4, 1942; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Jon Walton (ts), Ted Goddard (bar), Conrad Gozzo, Carl Poole, Steve Steck (t), Charlie Castaldo, Jack Jenney (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Roll 'em(Mary Lou Williams) |
unissued |
Performances
1. "Roll 'Em"
For more than one reason, this vocalization of a well-known instrumental by the King of Swing qualifies as a noteworthy curiosity in Peggy Lee's canon of early songs. For nearly 70 years, there was no public knowledge of this vocal's existence, until Benny Goodman discographer David Jessup disclosed it in his 2010 book. The vigorous, fast-paced interpretation is aptly described by Jessup as "a true eyebrow-raiser," in which "Peggy Lee's bluesy vocal is echoed by Benny's subsequent solo."
Date: December 26, 1942; Broadcast On The Blue Radio Network
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Ted Goddard or Joe Rushton (sax), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Jon Walton (ts), Conrad Gozzo, Carl Poole, Steve Steck (t), Charlie Castaldo, Jack Jenney (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Why Don't You Do Right? - 3:31(Joe McCoy) |
unissued |
Photo
A song request card. Instead of song titles, it has the signatures of both Goodman and Lee.
Audio Sources
1. Over Here (December 26, 1942)
Airing on the Blue network during the wartime period and dedicated to the sale of war bonds, the radio show Over Here billed itself as "a musical letter from home to the boys on the war fronts." Each hour-long episode featured a motley variety of performers, from actors and musicians to comedians and personalities. Research conducted by Goodman discographer David Jessup retrieved data for a total of eight episodes, broadcast each Saturday from November 28, 1942 to January 16, 1942. Radio engineer J. David Goldin lists five of these episodes as extant in his indexed collection of broadcasts (aka the RadioGoldinIndex), albeit none of them in complete form. Commercial sites in the internet also claim to have copies of the same five episodes.
The December 26, 1942 episode of the show aired at 7:00 p.m. Listed as appearing during the full hour were Janet Blair, The Benny Goodman Orchestra, Sam Hearn, Herbert Marshall (reading a message from John Dewey), Frank McHugh, Jack Benny, Dennis Day, Peggy Lee, Mary Livingston, Don Wilson, and announcer Jimmy Wallington. In addition to the above-entered Peggy Lee vocal, two instrumental performances by Goodman and his orchestra were heard ("Let's Dance," "Clarinet A La King"). Only about 25 of the show's 60 minutes are known to be extant; fortunately, all three Goodman performances are part of the preserved segments.
Russ Connor's extensive bio-discography of Benny Goodman does not make mention of Over Here. However, this December 26 version of "Why Don't You Do Right?" could be among those that Connor classifies as undated. See session immediately below.
2. Over Here (December 19, 1942)
The RadioGoldinIndex tentatively suggests that Peggy Lee might have also appeared in the December 19, 1942 episode of Over Here. She did not. The confusion stems from the participation of the similarly named Penny Lee, singing with Joe Reichman's Orchestra in that episode. My thanks to David Jessup, whose research cleared up this confusion.
3. Over Here: Treasury Department War Bond Shows
Also uncovered by David Jessup's research in The New York Times' radio log were matching entries for the two above-mentioned episodes of Over Here. In the interest of fans or researchers wanting to consult that resource, I should further clarify that the New York Time's log does not identify either of the two episodes by the name of Over Here. Instead, the December 26, 1942 installment is merely called a War Bond Show from the New Yorker Hotel, and the December 19 episode is described as a Treasury Department War Bond Show, broadcast on WJZ from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
4. Miscellanea: Spotlight Bands [Non-extant]
Furthermore, I have learned about two December 1942 episodes of Victory Parade Of Spotlight Bands in which The Benny Goodman Orchestra and Peggy Lee were featured. Both aired on that show's regular slot (9:30 p.m.) on the Mutual network. One dates from December the 11th, the other from December the 19th. The earliest of the two episodes was advertised as a "salute [to] soldiers at Fort Totten" (in New York's Queens Borough). No further details about it are available to me.
The December 19 episode (to which I was alerted by Jessup) was actually broadcast right after the end of the War Bond program already mentioned above (point #3). In addition to three instrumentals by Goodman and his band ("The Count," "Velvet Moon," "Bugle Call Rag"), a Peggy Lee vocal was heard. She sang about "That Soldier Of Mine." Unfortunately, neither of these Spotlight Bands installments appear to have survived the test of time.
Personnel
1. Joe Rushton
2. Ted Goddard
Bass saxophonist Joe Rushton is believed to have replaced baritone saxophonist Ted Goddard on a yet-to-be-determined day within the month of December, 1942. Because Rushton is seen playing in the December 1942 movie Stage Door Canteen, and because the present broadcast bears a very late date within that month (December 26), I find it likelier that Rushton is present, Goddard absent. However, I do not count with confirmation for this bit of speculation.
Date: Late Nov. 1942 To Ca. January 2 1943; Broadcast On CBS, Etc.
Location: Terrace Room, Hotel New Yorker, 481 8th Avenue (And 34th St.), Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Ted Goddard or Joe Rushton (sax), Benny Goodman (cl), Henry J. "Heinie" Beau, Hank D'Amico, Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Zoot Sims, Robert "Bob" Taylor, Jon Walton (ts), Lee Castle, Conrad Gozzo, Sol LaPerche, Yank Lawson, Carl Poole, Steve Steck (t), Charlie Castaldo, Jack Jenney, Miff Mole (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Sid Weiss (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Why Don't You Do Right?(Joe McCoy) / arr: Mel Powell |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Don't Get Around Much Anymore(Duke Ellington, Bob Russell) |
c. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Why Don't You Do Right?(Joe McCoy) / arr: Mel Powell |
d. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Why Don't You Do Right?(Joe McCoy) / arr: Mel Powell |
e. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City(Johhny Lange, Leon Rene) / arr: Mel Powell |
f. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City(Johhny Lange, Leon Rene) |
g. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | That Soldier Of Mine(Matt Dennis, Paul Herrick) |
All titles unissued. |
Audio Sources
1. Airing Networks
All the above-listed performances were heard in sustaining broadcasts whose networks remain unknown. The exceptions are the first two titles listed ("Why Don't You Do Right?" and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore"), which are known to have been broadcast by CBS.
Personnel
1. Collective Personnel
2. Louis Bellson, Kenny Unwin
3. Charlie Castaldo, Lee Castle
4. Ted Goddard, Joe Rushton
Due in part to the lack of exact dates, the present 'session' uses a collective personnel, proposed by Goodman discographer Russ Connor.
Especially uncertain are the identities of two players, one in the brass section and the other on drums. The drummer could be the man shown in the collective personnel (Louis Bellson) or it could instead be Kenny Unwin. As for the brass section player, Lee Castle could be present, functioning as a then-brand new addition to the band's trumpet players, or it could instead be Charlie Castaldo (listed above) playing trumpet in some numbers, trombone in others. On Castle, see also entry below.
Yet another uncertain case involves baritone saxophonist Ted Goddard and bass saxophonist Joe Rushton: the latter replaced the former within the month of December, 1942, but the exact day is yet to be determined.
5. Sol LaPerche (Sal La Perch)
Following Russ Connor's lead, I have made this "multi-session" my very first entry for a trumpet player whom he identifies as Sol LaPerche, but Variety calls Sal La Perch. According to that periodical's November 4, 1942 issue, he was a Goodman alumnus who "has left pit orch. at Casino, Pittsburgh, burlesque house" to re-join the King of Swing. Given the issue date, this trumpeter is likely to have also played on the preceding November and December sessions. (The periodical does not specify the exact date on which he joined, however.)
6. Lee Castle
7. Jess Stacy
In its December 30, 1942 issue, Variety explained that former bandleader Lee Castle had folded his six-months-old band the previous week, taking a job as a sideman with Goodman.
The same write-up states that Jess Stacy had been (re-)hired "at the same time" as Castle, which would mean late December of 1942. However, bio-discographer Russ Connor confidently lists Stacy in broadcasts which are deemed to date from early December, and I have followed Connor's lead.
Performances
1. Preservation
Of the above-listed performances, one version of "Why Don't You Do Right?" and one version of "I Lost My Sugar In Salt Lake City" have not survived in its entirety. The same fate applies to "That Soldier Of Mine."
2. "Deep In The Heart Of Texas" (Late 1942)
Versions of "Deep In The Heart Of Texas" by Alvino Rey, Ted Weems (with Perry Como), Bing Crosby, and others entered the music charts in early 1943, after having being initially recorded mostly in November and December of 1942. The Benny Goodman Orchestra and its vocalists did not make a recording of it (they were not recording at the time, due to a music union ban), but Peggy Lee seems to have sung the tune while it was in vogue. A column published by The Valley City Times-Record in the early 1940s makes the claim. Lee is said to have sung the ditty at an unidentified New York location, "to the delight of a contingent of navy officers." Unfortunately, no Lee vocal seems to have survived.
VII. BACK TO THE WINDY CITY: AT THE CHICAGO THEATRE, THE CHICAGO AUDITORIUM, THE ARAGON & TRIANON BALLROOMS
Schedule
As previously mentioned, Benny Goodman and His Orchestra had played at the Chicago Theatre in August 1942. The band returned to this venue in late January or early February 1943. On Saturday, February 13 and Sunday, February 14, they performed at two of Chicago's most prestigious dance halls, too: the Aragon & Trianon Ballrooms. February 13 also served as the occasion for what probably was a series of dates on behalf of war-related establishments.The Venues
Still in operation today, the Chicago Theater dates back to 1921, when it opened under the name Balaban and Katz Chicago Theatre. It became known for its inner lavishness and (neo-Baroque) grandeur. The original owners had business ties to Paramount Pictures. (Such was also the case for a few of the other theaters mentioned in the present page.) Jazz-oriented orchestras and big bands began to perform at the venue in the early 1920s, with continued box office success. At the time of Goodman's engagement,, the theater held 4,000 seats. Over ensuing decades, it repeatedly changed ownership. In the 1980s, it also went through a renovation, respectfully carried out by by the Chicago Theatre Preservation Group. Today, it remains in place, ranking as one of Chicago's best-known historical landmarks.Preservation
In the case of the February 1943 engagement at the Chicago Theatre, I have no evidence of aircheck survival. (Heard on the February 6 and 20 broadcasts of the show Spotlight Bands, a few extant Goodman numbers could conceivably be from this engagement. However, their exact Chicago location remains unknown, and the venue could thus be a different one. In any case, they do not include any Lee vocals.) We also lack any preserved from the Aragon & Trianon dates.Date: February 13, 1943; Broadcast On The Blue Network
Location: Service Men Center No. 2, 430 S. Michigan Av., Chicago, Illinois
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Henry J. "Heinie" Beau, Hank D'Amico, Clint Neagley, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Al Klink, Zoot Sims, Robert "Bob" Taylor, Jon Walton (ts), Joe Rushton (bsx), Lee Castle, Conrad Gozzo, Sol LaPerche, Yank Lawson, Carl Poole, Steve Steck (t), Charlie Castaldo, Jack Jenney, Miff Mole (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Sid Weiss (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | As Time Goes By(Herman Hupfeld) |
unissued |
Photo
Press picture of Peggy Lee. The first was taken onstage while she was performing in Chicago's Service Men Center No. 2, on this very date (February 13). The back of the photo includes a prospective caption, to be used by the periodical(s) slated to publish the picture: "Peggy Lee, the reason many of the Service Men went into a frenzy ... She sings with Benny Goodman, and they broadcast from the service men's Center with the Spot-light Band ..." The close-up photo is no accompanied by any detail, but Lee's hairdo suggests that it dates from 1943.
Audio Source
1. Spotlight Bands
As with four other entries listed above (November 14, 1941; December 5, 1941; March 2, 1942; April 24, 1942), this date has survived thanks to the fact that it was broadcast in an episode of the show Spotlight Bands, whose episodes were apparently airing on NBC Blue at this point in time. (Earlier retires on this page show previous episodes airing on the Mutual network.) The episode was, fortunately, recorded by a fan.
Performances
1. Preservation
This date's performance of "As Time Goes By" has not survived in its entirety.
2. "I Had The Craziest Dream"
The broadcast under discussion includes an incomplete version of "I Had The Craziest Dream." Usually, bands would perform this number with its vocal, which had been famously introduced by Helen Forrest while she was the vocalist with The Harry James Orchestra (and, more specifically, during a scene from the 1942 version of the film Springtime In The Rockies). Given the popularity of Forrest's vocal at that time, the complete Goodman version might have included a Peggy Lee vocal as well.
Personnel
1. Louis Bellson or Kenny Unwin
To judge from Russ Connor's personnel listings in his bio-discography of Benny Goodman, Kenny Unwin replaced or temporarily substituted for Louis Bellson on drums. The substitution period appears to have started in mid- or late December of 1942. Bellson was back on his regular post by early February; he could have actually returned a lot earlier, within the first two weeks of January, but the matter is unclear.
VIII. CALIFORNIA: AT THE HOLLYWOOD PALLADIUM
Schedule
The Benny Goodman Orchestra opened at the Palladium on February 23, 1943, and stayed in residence for six weeks. The final date took place on either April 4 or 5, 1943. (Billboard, on its April 17, 1943 issue, gives the closing date as April 4, adding in passing that Glen Gray And His Casa Loma Orchestra were expected next, on April 6, 1943. For his part, Goodman discographer Russ Connor gives April 5 as the date of the last known CBS broadcast from the Palladium. He does acknowledge that the closing date for the engagement is unknown to him. The correct closing date seems to be Sunday, April the 4th. Goodman and company were scheduled to play six days a week. They were off on Monday, on which the venue was still open, with Matty Malneck's band playing instead.) Tommy Dorsey, who had close ties to the establishment, had preceded Goodman, doing eight weeks. (The final one had collected $23,000). Glen Gray's Casa Loma would follow.Box Office Draw
The aforementioned Billboard entry is actually an article called Names Doing Phenom Coast Biz, One-nighter Nets James 5Gs, TD terrific, BG colossal. Its writer reported that Benny Goodman And His Orchestra had sold 70,000 tickets during their first five weeks at the Palladium, and asserted that ticket sales "continued strong with 34,000 being clocked for the week" (the week in question presumably being the one that started on Monday, March the 29th). At Variety it was clarified that the total number of tickets for the week need up being 4,900, the earnings actually $32,000.The Venue
Founded by the man who served as publisher of The Los Angeles Times at the time (Norman Chandler), the Hollywood Palladium opened on October 9, 1940. Playing at the inaugural concert date were Tommy Dorsey And His Orchestra, featuring Frank Sinatra. Counting with the allure of a legendary location (formerly the lot of Paramount Pictures) and ample space (amounting to 11,200 square foot, with a capacity to hold 4,000 dancers) the Palladium was justly touted as an ideal venue for dancers, orchestras, awards shows, large political events and, in later times, rock and latin concerts. Nevertheless, complaints about the quality of the site's acoustics were frequently voiced over the years. Turning into an increasingly unkempt place as the decades went by, threats of demolition began to pop up during the first decade of the twenty-first century. Although both its interior and exterior underwent an overhaul in 2007, the long-term benefits of such a renovation might not prove significant in the long term. In 2012, a sale was under way, with an apartment-and-condominium developer as the prospective buyer. However, as of this writing (2014), the venue remains in place, with scheduled concerts in its near future.Preservation
At least 10 airchecks from this engagement have been preserved. Three of them feature a Peggy Lee vocal. The first is from February 28 and the final one from March 20. Extant broadcasts from the last two weeks feature another female vocalist, Frances Hunt. (The earliest of such Hunt broadcasts dates from March 24, and the final one from April 5.) From an article published on the March 27, 1943 issue of Billboard magazine (with a March 20 byline), we also learn that "Helen Forrest, one of Goodman's former trushes, sat in for a couple of sets with the band at the Palladium one night this week, but it was only for old time's sake." Hunt, too, had previously served as Goodman's canary (1937). The reason for Forrest's one-night and Hunt's weeks-long stands with the band was probably one and the same: Peggy Lee had served Benny Goodman with a three weeks' notice.Date: February 28, 1943; Broadcasting Network Unknown
Location: Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Leonard Kaye, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Robert "Bob" Taylor, Jon Walton (ts), Joe Rushton (bsx), Lee Castle, Robert "Bobby" Guyer, Ray Linn (t), Charlie Castaldo, Miff Mole (tb), Bart Roth (g), Gus Van Camp (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Love A Piano(Irving Berlin) |
unissued |
Photo
The above-listed personnel (except for the canary), playing one of their 1943 concerts at the Palladium. During other parts of the concert, Peggy Lee might have occupied the seat that is visible near the piano.
Personnel
1. Jimmy Puppa
According to Goodman discographer Russ Connor, some of the February and March 1943 performances at the Hollywood Paladium feature trumpet player Jimmy Puppa. The exact days are not known. Connor believes that Puppa had been hired by Goodman for just a portion of this gig, as a temporary substitute.
Date: March 13, 1943; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Leonard Kaye, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Robert "Bob" Taylor, Jon Walton (ts), Joe Rushton (bsx), Lee Castle, Robert "Bobby" Guyer, Ray Linn (t), Charlie Castaldo, Miff Mole (tb), Bart Roth (g), Gus Van Camp (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Don't Get Around Much Anymore(Duke Ellington, Bob Russell) |
unissued |
Photos
Sitting in a booth at the Palladium,, Benny Goodman with an unidentified gentleman, with a menu at their reach. The second image showcases another table detail. It's a promotional card, with the following message: "Hall the King of Swing. Only two weeks more! Benny Goodman and his Orchestra. Featuring Peggy Lee, Jess Stacy, Hymie Schertzer and Benny Goodman's Famous Sextet. Given the two-week reference, this photo might date from March 1943. See also one of the next session's images, in which Goodman, Lee, Schertzer, and Stacy are photographed together, probably not coincidentally.
Performance
1. Preservation
This date's performance of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" has not survived in its entirety.
Date: March 20, 1943; Broadcast On The CBS Radio Network
Location: Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, California
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Leonard Kaye, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Robert "Bob" Taylor, Jon Walton (ts), Joe Rushton (bsx), Lee Castle, Robert "Bobby" Guyer, Ray Linn (t), Charlie Castaldo, Miff Mole (tb), Bart Roth (g), Gus Van Camp (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Slender, Tender And Tall(Mike Jackson, Hughie Prince) |
unissued |
Photos
Backstage at the Hollywood Palladium, Peggy Lee with an unidentified gathering of people. By a piano, Lee with Benny Goodman, Hymie" Schertzer, and pianist Jess Stacy. I do not have a date or location for the piano picture, but it is reasonable to suspect that it dates from this engagement period at the Hollywood Palladium.
Performances
1. "Slender, Tender And Tall"
This March 20 date contains Peggy Lee's last surviving concert performance as vocalist with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. Ensuing extant performances from the Palladium (starting with one from March 24) feature Frances Hunt as, apparently, a temporary replacement. (Lee returned to the Goodman fold for some later engagements within the first half of 1943, but none of her return performances are known to have survived. From the mid-1940s onwards, Lee would also participate in various musical reunions with Benny Goodman, but by then she was being primarily billed as a solo artist -- not as someone still working in her former capacity as a canary.)
2. Extant Repertoire By The Orchestra
Curious readers might want to know more about the selections heard in the remotes under scrutiny. From this date's extant broadcast, the surviving set of performances runs as follows:
"Drip, Drop" - vocal by Benny Goodman
"Slender, Tender And Tall" - vocal by Peggy Lee
"Air Mail Special" - instrumental by the Goodman Orchestra
"Goodbye" - instrumental by the Goodman Orchestra (its closing theme)
3. Other Goodman Versions Of "Slender, Tender And Tall"
Among the various other Goodman audio items from this period that are extant, there is a sustaining CBS broadcast from the Hollywood Palladium earlier this month (March 9, 1943). According to Goodman discographer David Jessup, it includes a version of "Slender, Tender And Tall" which is, in that particular case, an instrumental.
IX. CALIFORNIA: THE TWILIGHT MONTHS (THE CASINO GARDENS, THE ORPHEUM, AND THE GOLDEN GATE)
A Pause
After a year and a half of continuous work as Benny Goodman's canary, Peggy Lee disappeared from the bandleader's dates in mid-March of 1943. The likely reasons for Lee's absence will be discussed at some length in this discography's overview of Lee's period with Goodman. Herein, suffice it to give as one reason the fact that she had recently married guitarist Dave Barbour, who had been fired by Goodman not long before the wedding.The Semi-return
The earliest of Lee's documented re-appearances is an one-night stand on Saturday, April 24, 1943 at the Casino Gardens in Santa Monica's Ocean Park district. My source on this particular matter is a brief article published by Billboard magazine in its May 7, 1943 issue.The Venues
Originally the property of a Bernie Cohen, the Casino Gardens Ballroom gained nation attention in 1944. That was the year in which it was purchased by Tommy Dorsey, in partnership with his brother Jimmy and fellow bandleader Harry James. Dorsey's purchase is said to have been triggered in part by his competitive spirit and festering spite, after the collapse of his relationship with the Hollywood Palladium, a venue that he had inaugurated. (Other alleged motivations include, naturally, an entrepreneurial spirit, and a calculation that his band could benefit from remaining stationary at the ballroom rather than having to put through with the vicissitudes of life on the road.)Box Office Returns
At the end of Goodman's week at the Orpheum, Variety reported a "bangup $22,500" total gross. For the first week at the Golden Gate, Variety estimated that Goodman, Lee, and company had generated "a powerful $35,000." I do not have numbers for the Casino Gardens appearance.Definitive Departure
The aforementioned June 12, 1943 Billboard issue contains a brief article about Peggy Lee. It announced that she was set on ceasing her gigs, effective immediately: "[t]he blonde chanteuse this week revealed she will become a mother in the fall, and after appearing with Goodman at the Golden Gate Theater, San Francisco, this week she will return here to await for the stork." (The punctuation used in the quoted sentence may be misleading. I suspect that the comma placed after "Francisco" actually needed to be after the phrase that ensues -- "this week.") The article carried a Los Angeles, June 5 byline.Itinerary: The Final (Ac)count
The last phase of Lee's residence as a canary under Benny Goodman's wing spanned the two-and-a-half-month period of late March to mid-June of 1943. Her final performance as the band's official canary probably took place no later than June 14, 1943.X. PERFORMANCES BROADCAST FROM INSIDE THE STUDIOS OF THE RADIO NETWORKS
Date: March 6, 1943
Location: Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Leonard Kaye, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Robert "Bob" Taylor, Jon Walton (ts), Joe Rushton (bsx), Lee Castle, Robert "Bobby" Guyer, Ray Linn (t), Charlie Castaldo, Miff Mole (tb), Bart Roth (g), Gus Van Camp (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantGuest Spot (AFRS) | Why Don't You Do Right?(Joe McCoy) |
Armed Forces Radio Service 16" Transcription DiscProgram No. 56 — Command Performance [The Benny Goodman Orchestra, The Bombardiers, Alan Hale, Sons Of The Pioneers, Mabel Todd] (1943)
|
Sources
1. Command Performance, U.S.A! [Book]
Most of my details about this entry come from Harry MacKenzie’s books, especially Command Performance, U.S.A.!: A Discography. I consulted various online sources as well. However, on the matter of this particular episode, the better online sources offered the same details found in that text.
2. Command Performance [Radio Show]
Programs such as Command Performance and Downbeat were created so early in the history of the Armed Forces Radio Service that the organization had not even adopted that name yet. From July of 1942 to November of 1943, the AFRS was going instead by the name of the Special Services Division, aka SSD. (Even earlier, it had been known as the Morale Service Division.)
Of the shows that the division produced for the avowed purposes of "entertaining the troops and boosting their morale," Command Performance became the most popular. Initially produced by the Bureau of Public Relations, the Special Services Division took over the show on December 15, 1942. Original programming continued to be produced until episode #415 (December 20, 1949). Afterwards, and according to MacKenzie, all seemingly new episodes were deceptive, consisting instead of "previously recorded material ... with an new announcer and star, to preserve continuity."
Command Performance was essentially a variety show. Most episodes featured not only bands and singers but also actors, comedians, and other entertainers. The format centered around an extended sketch in which many of the entertainers participated. (Obviously, they performed individually, too.) In the 56th episode of the series, The Benny Goodman Orchestra was among the entertainers, along with the band's vocalist, Peggy Lee. This appearance would seem to have been among the earliest made by Goodman's in an SSD/AFRS program -- potentially the earliest. It also seems to be Peggy Lee's earliest. (Full confirmation will require further research.)
Personnel
1. The Benny Goodman Orchestra
Aside from Goodman and Lee, the participation of the above-listed musicians should be deemed collective. (The names were culled from contemporaneous dates.)
2. The Command Performers
Author and show compiler Harry MacKenzie names the performers scheduled for this episode as follows: “The Bombardiers, Mabel Todd, Alan Hale, Sons of the Pioneers, Peggy Lee with the Benny Goodman Orchestra and Unidentified Orchestra.” Ginny Simms was the scheduled mistress of ceremonies (a role that she frequently undertook for this show), Ken Carpenter the regular announcer.
Issues
1. Command Performance U.S.A., Program No. 56 [Transcription Disc]
I have not listened to the above-listed disc, but I have seen images online. It is from that image which I have obtained the title of the one song performed by Peggy Lee with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. (MacKenzie's Command Performance book does not supply song titles for this particular episode.) The image also reveals that this disc identifies itself as a production of the War Department, Special Services Division. (I have already explained that SSD was the earlier name of AFRS. For the purposes of this database, all SSD titles have been identified, entered and indexed under the label "AFRS.")
Venue And Date
Many episodes of Command Performance are known to have been broadcast from the Columbia Square Playhouse at 6121 Sunset Boulevard, in Hollywood. I do not know the program under discussion was among those beamed from that venue. (I should note that the very early episodes are believed to have been broadcasted from a variety of military headquarters, rather than from 6121 Sunset Boulevard or any other single location. It is also worth noting that some SSD and AFRS shows were partial or full remotes. Hence, even if the main --or some parts -- of the March 6, 1943 episode were proven to have taken at a location such as the Columbia Square Playhouse, it would still be possible for the Goodman portion to be a remote, performed elsewhere.) Similarly, the known recording date (March 6, 1943) could apply to only some of the performers, rather than all of them. (To reiterate, I have not listened to this episode. Thus I can only speculate on a number of matters pertaining to its contents.)
Date: Between March 9 And March 23, 1943
Location: Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl, v), Leonard Kaye, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Robert "Bob" Taylor, Jon Walton (ts), Joe Rushton (bsx), Lee Castle, Robert "Bobby" Guyer, Ray Linn (t), Charlie Castaldo, Miff Mole (tb), Bart Roth (g), Gus Van Camp (b), Jess Stacy (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Don't Believe In Rumors - 3:35(Harry Glick, Jimmy Lambert) |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Love A Piano - 3:58(Irving Berlin)
Swing House Collectors' Label CS/LP(United Kingdom) Cswk/Swh 46 — [Benny Goodman] "Command Performance" (1984)
Magic/Submarine Collectors' Label CD(United Kingdom) Dawe 102 — Why Don't You Do Right?; 1943-1947 (2001)
Sounds Of Yesteryear Collectors' Label CD(United Kingdom) Dsoy 636 — [Benny Goodman] "Command Performance" (2004)
|
c. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Why Don't You Do Right? - 2:48(Joe McCoy) / arr: Mel Powell
Swing House Collectors' Label CS/LP(United Kingdom) Cswk/Swh 46 — [Benny Goodman] "Command Performance" (1984)
Magic/Submarine Collectors' Label CD(United Kingdom) Dawe 102 — Why Don't You Do Right?; 1943-1947 (2001)
Sounds Of Yesteryear Collectors' Label CD(United Kingdom) Dsoy 636 — [Benny Goodman] "Command Performance" (2004)
|
All titles on: | Armed Forces Radio Service 16" Transcription DiscProgram No. 25 — Downbeat (1943)
|
Audio Sources
1. Downbeat
Programs such as Downbeat and Command Performance were created so early in the history of the Armed Forces Radio Service that the organization did not even have that name yet. Before November 1943, the AFRS went by the name of the Special Services Division. Downbeat was among the first music programs that the division produced, for the avowed purposes of entertaining the troops and boosting their morale. Having debuted its Downbeat installments on September 23, 1942, the Service continued to run the show until 1950 (or, according to another source, 1948), totaling about 255 episodes. In the 25th episode of the series, The Benny Goodman Orchestra was featured, along with their vocalist, Peggy Lee.
Dating (And Sources)
1. Recording Date
None of the documentation at my reach reveals the exact date on which this show was recorded. However, a helpful clue is supplied by the show itself. During the broadcast, Benny Goodman makes mention of Peggy Lee's then-recent marriage to Dave Barbour. That comment allowed Goodman discographer Russ Connor to assign an approximate date: either February or March 1943. I can further circumscribe that qualifying period. Since I know the Barbour-Lee marriage to have taken place on March 8, 1943, and since Goodman had begun to use another female vocalist by March 24, 1943, we can reduce the qualifying period from two months to less than two weeks. (The closing date is, naturally, more tentative than the starting date.)
2. "Command Performance" [LP]
This Swing House LP does supply a date (March 1943) for the two Peggy Lee tracks that it features. Furthermore, the tracks themselves include not only the musical performances but also the preceding or following dialogue from the radio show -- most notably, the allusion to Lee's marriage.
On a separate note, it is worth adding that the two tracks are not presented in the same sequence in which the AFRS show featured them: in this vinyl source, "Why Don't You Right?" is heard right before "I Love A Piano," rather than vice versa.
Combined with the title of the album (Command Performance), that track shuffling originally led me to question if the LP's version of "Why Don't You Right?" was not the one from the AFRS program under scrutiny (Downbeat No. 25), but the performance from the more elusive, already discussed AFRS program Command Performance No. 56. Fortunately, there is a clear answer to my query. The LP's inclusion of the dialogue makes it clear that we are listening to a vinyl transfer of the Downbeat show.
(Since I have not been able to listen to the AFRS Command show, one additional point that I am still considering is whether both shows could contain the exact same performance of "Why Don't You Right?" Such a possibility should by no means be dismissed; AFRS had a tendency to edit, cut and paste from different radio shows.)
Personnel
1. Benny Goodman
Bandleader Benny Goodman shares vocal duties with Peggy Lee on "I Love A Piano" only.
Issues
1. Downbeat, Program No. 25 [Transcription Disc]
I have not listened to the above-listed disc. Judging from other contemporaneous discs that I have seen, the disc's label is likely to feature the following identification: "War Department, Special Services Division, Information Branch, Radio-Phono, Downbeat." To reiterate a point made in the preceding session, the Special Services Division was the name that the future AFRS used to identify itself, at this early time in its history. For the purposes of this database and its indexes, all SSD titles have been incorporated to the "AFRS" label.
I do know that one side of the disc identifies itself as part I of the show, the other as part II. Of the above-listed numbers, I Don't Believe In Rumors is the only one on the first side.
Date: August 26, 1946
Location: Manhattan, New York
Benny Goodman (ldr), Benny Goodman (cl), Larry Molinelle, Herman "Hymie" Sche[r]tzer (as), Lester Clark, Cliff Strickland (ts), Al Klink (bar), John Best, Nate Kazebier, Dick Mains, Dale "Mickey" McMickle (t), Leon Cox, Cutty Cutshall (tb), Addison Collins (frh), Mike Bryan (g), Bernard aka Barney Spieler (b), Joe Bushkin (p), Louis Bellson (d), Peggy Lee, Art London aka Art Lund (v)
a. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | Why Don't You Do Right? - 2:44(Joe McCoy) / arr: Mel Powell |
b. | ExtantBen. Goodman Show | I Don't Know Enough About You - 1:45(Dave Barbour, Peggy Lee)
Magic/Submarine Collectors' Label CS/LP(United Kingdom) Cawe/Awe 23 — [Benny Goodman] The Benny Goodman Memorial Album (1986)
Sounds Of Yesteryear Collectors' Label CD(United Kingdom) Dsoy 731 — [Benny Goodman] Remember (2007)
|
Both titles on: | Armed Forces Radio Service 16" Transcription DiscProgram 9 — [Benny Goodman] The Benny Goodman Show (1946)
Sounds Of Yesteryear Collectors' Label CD(United Kingdom) Dsoy 840 — [Benny Goodman] The Complete AFRS Benny Goodman Shows (#9 & #10), Volume Five (2011)
|
Audio Sources
1. The Victor Borge Show, Starring Benny Goodman
2. The Mobilgas Program
3. The Benny Goodman Show
The Benny Goodman Show was broadcast by NBC on Monday evenings at 9:30 p.m. (or according to less reliable sources, at either 7:00 p.m. or 6:30 p.m.), then re-broadcast or 'transcribed' by the Armed Forces Radio network. Due to its sponsorship, the half-an-hour show was also known as The Mobilgas Program. It lasted for a full season, from June 1946 to June 1947, reaching a total of 50 episodes. Peggy Lee appeared in the season's ninth installment, and sang the above-listed numbers. (After the 10th episode, the show underwent an overhaul. It moved from New York to Hollywood, acquired comedian Victor Borge, and changed its name to The Victor Borge Show, Starring Benny Goodman.)
4. Benny Goodman Music Festival
On this same date (August 26, 1946) at 9:30 p.m., NBC's New York radio station WEAF broadcast a program that contemporaraneous newspaper and magazine radio schedules listed under the name of Benny Goodman Music Festival, and which featured Peggy Lee as its guest. No additional information about this program is available to me. Despite the different name, I am assuming that this is actually the same episode of The Benny Goodman Show that I am discussing under this entry.
Personnel
1. Art Lund
Art Lund shares vocal duties with Peggy Lee on "I Don't Know Enough About You" only.
2. Musicians
Aside from the bandleader and the vocalists, the above-listed personnel should be deemed tentative.
Photos
Above: Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee, cozily together in a photo whose occasion, date and venue have not been disclosed to me. Peggy Lee's physical appearance suggests a 1946 date. It is thus possible for the occasion to have been the reunion currently under discussion, on The Victor Borge Show, Starring Benny Goodman. The other gentleman in the picture is Mort Werner, who is remembered nowadays for his work at NBC as a television executive, from the 1950s onwards. (Werner had started his media career back in the late 1930s, as a singer-pianist in local LA radio, promptly graduating to the role of music director. According to one of the sources I consulted, in the 1940s he also became a CBS house leader, as well as the music director of the Lucky Strike Hit Parade. )
Also above: Goodman, photographer during a rehearsal for an unspecified episode of The Victor Borge Show, Starring Benny Goodman, and Lee, as she appeared on the front cover of Metronome magazine's August 1946 issue -- thus published in the same month as she appeared on the guest episode under discussion.
Below: As with the first image above, specifics about this photo are unknown to me. This episode's rehearsal and broadcasting are, once again, potential candidates. Judging from Peggy Lee's looks, the year is indeed likely to be 1946, wthough 1947 and 1945 should be considered as secondary possibilities.
General Notes And Song Index