Benny Goodman is best known as the “King of Swing”, a leading jazz clarinetist and an outstanding bandleader of the Swing Era. He was born Benjamin David Goodman on May 30, 1909 in Chicago, IL. His father, David Goodman came to America in 1892 from Warsaw, Poland and his mother, Dora came from Kovno, Poland. Benny was the ninth child out of twelve of this poor Jewish immigrant family. The family lived in a slum part of Chicago in the Maxwell Street neighborhood. Out of this poor beginning, Benny learned the love of music from his father while going to free band concerts at a park. The elder Goodman wanted to bestow an appreciation of music and was able to send Benny and two other brothers to music lessons at the Kehelah Jacob Synagogue. The fee was 25 cents per lesson and they used the instruments at the synagogue. In spite of his depression era upbringing, Benny grew up to be a very successful musician.
Benny played clarinet with a passion and zest. When he was 14 he dropped out of high school to become a musician. In August of 1925 at age 16 he joined the Ben Pollack band in Los Angeles. He was with the band for two years and then in 1928 released his first album “A Jazz Holiday”. He then left the band and moved to New York City. Benny worked on the radio, in recording sessions, and in the orchestras of Broadway shows where he worked with legends Fats Walker, Ted Lewis and Bessie Smith. In 1931, Benny’s song “He’s Not Worth Your Tears” with vocals of Scrappy Lambert was his first chart success.
In 1934 Benny started his career as a bandleader with the group “The Benny Goodman Orchestra”. They performed on a radio program called “Let’s Dance” which was a huge push on his career. During the six months on the show he had a large amount of number one hits. After this he went on a national tour (1935) but didn’t become very successful until they reached the West Coast. Because the time zone was 3 hours earlier than the East Coast, many more people listened to the radio program Let’s Dance and were excited by Benny Goodman and his music.
On August 21, 1935, the birth of “The Swing Era” began with Benny performing at the Palomer Ballroom near Los Angeles. During this time span, Benny has a lot of Top Ten hits, he became a host of a radio series and the band film debuted in “The Big Broadcast of 1937”. He featured famous singers like Ella Fitzgerald, Margaret McCrae, Helen Ward, Martha Tilton and Mildred Bailey. He was in a Broadway musical “Swingin’ the Dream” leading a sextet. He eventually disbanded in 1949 but still led recording sessions and organized groups for tours.
Benny Goodman continued to play but mostly overseas. The album “Benny Goodman in Moscow” was done in 1962 on his U.S.S.R tour. In 1963, RCA Victor staged a studio reunion of the Benny Goodman Quartet of the 30’s which included Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, and Lionel Hampton. This resulted in an album called “Together Again”. Benny played less frequently in his later years but did reach the chart again in 1974 with “Benny Goodman Today” recorded live in Stockholm. The last album to be released before his death in 1986 was “Let’s Dance”, a television soundtrack, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Instrumental Performance, Big Band.
Goodman was one of the first of many prominent bandleaders who broke up their orchestras after World War II, although he continued to assemble big bands and small groups for touring and recording throughout the remainder of his career. He unenthusiastically embraced the bebop movement and in the late 1940s made several recordings with noted bop musicians. Although Benny’s solos were decisively in the old school, the blend of the two styles was effective. He ended his fling with bop in 1950 and thereafter devoted himself to his classic swing style. Many of his 1950s recordings are ranked among his best. In his later years, Benny played classical music. He was a respected classical player, noted for combining the emotional expressiveness of jazz with a precise classical technique.
Benny Goodman had a prominent impact on racial integration. Goodman was among the first bandleaders to employ both white and black musicians in his groups, performing together on the same stage. Benny also hired some of the best black arrangers in the business: Benny Carter, Edgar Sampson and Fletcher Henderson. The Benny Goodman Quartet was formed with black pianist Teddy Wilson, black vibraphonist Lionel Hampton and white drummer Gene Krupa. This was big in that this was an integrated band and Benny Goodman made it acceptable to the public. In later years, Teddy Wilson commented to writer Nat Hentoff: ‘I knew of the pressures that were pulling Benny the other way. Guys in the music business were telling him he’d ruin his career if he hired me. They weren’t necessarily anti-black; they were businessmen’. Benny was a businessman as well, but his empathy for black Teddy Wilson won out. (Crowther 27)
Racial integration was one of the hallmarks of the 1938 Carnegie Hall concert. Benny Goodman’s Band was one of the first to perform jazz at the famed New York City’s hall. Other legendary acts to perform that night were Count Basie and Duke Ellington. It is interesting that we get to hear this concert today only because someone thought to record it on a hanging microphone. This concert is regarded as one of the most significant in jazz history!
Benny Goodman’s Big Band music is still alive today and many older generation appreciate listening to his works. In the late 1990’s there was a swing revival, with young people doing the lindy hop and listening to big bands. The King of Swing is still going strong!