The Big Bands

by George T. Simon

.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Reference, Biography

640 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

Reviews

[Lauren Stoolfire]

The Big Bands by by George T. Simon is exactly what I needed. I love listening to this kind of music so this was awesome! I learned some about new to me bands and I'll have to check out their music soon.

[David]

A kick. Covers scads of swing-era musicians, including some who would range from obscure to forgotten. Written with lots of flair and opinion, yet seems quite fair even to people the author didn't much like. Several retrospective articles at the end of the book . . . Artie Shaw, Bennie Goodman, Harry James, etc. 30 years after the peak of the big-band era.

Am listening to lots of big-band stuff and have been going back to the book over and over. Alas, the library will want it back one of these days. I'd buy a copy if I ever run across one.

January 2017 -- and I did, for all of 50 cents at a thrift store. Super luck!

August 2020 -- this continues to be a great addition to my library. Useful when I was reading Benny Goodman bio this summer. Also went back and reread the Glenn Miller section; may get around to Simon's bio of Miller one of these days.

August 2023 -- am referring to this while listening to podcasts of "The Star-Spangled Radio Hour," a weekly series about 1930s - 1940s big bands produced by Dennis M. Spragg of The Glenn Miller Collections at the University of Colorado's American Music Research Center. While "The Star-Spangled Radio Hour" has existed for 15 or more years, the web site includes perhaps 100 of the best from the past (re-posted in the past three years) and new episodes weekly in 2023. As you would expect, there's lots in the podcasts featuring Glenn Miller, including his WW II GI musical groups, but also much info on and music from Tommy Dorsey and Artie Shaw and a good smattering of music from other bands. This book of Simon's has something about EVERYONE.

[Robert Pachella]

An older compilation of much information on the big band era. If you like the music of the late thirties and forties, you will love it. But the second half of the book is more like an encyclopedia with an alphabetic listing of all the bands of the time period.

[Gary Laughrey]

Nice update of the original.

[Buddy Don]

This book is more of a reference work than a "good read," but it's of great interest if one wishes to learn more about the big bands of the swing era, 1936-1947. Simon was a reviewer for Metronome Magazine during the time indicated, so he has a very informed point of view, knowing many of the individuals about whom he writes personally. I'll be consulting this one a lot as I learn more about this amazing period in music.

[Craig]

This truly is the definitive guide to the music of the big bands written by a man who worked in the music industry during that era. George Simon knew the musicians that he wrote about. A nice discography is included for the record collectors.

[Ceejay]

I read this book a little bit at a time. If you are interested in the Big Band era of jazz,you can't do better than this book. There is a history (at times breif) of all the major big bands (and some of the also rans). This is truly an excellent reference book!

[Angela Hardy]

I loved this book, and dreamed of being the vocalist for a group like these...alas, I was born to late!

[Ted Gurley]

Essential Big Band reference. Feature's profiles of the bands and the musicians.

[Faith Evangeline]

This is a fabulous book for anyone who is fascinated by the music of the Big Band era! I found it tremendously informative.