World War II played a significant part in bringing the Swing Era to an end – the draft took away musicians, and the high cost of resources, as well as war time rationing, put a drain on recording as well as touring schedules of the Big Bands. Not many bands survived World War II. Benny Goodman’s band was no exception.
This exerpt from “The Powers Girl” (1942) shows Goodman’s transitional ensemble playing “Roll ‘Em”. It was trashed by critics as one of Goodman’s weakest, though listening to the band now, it still swings pretty hard. The style of dancing here is often referred to as the Hollywood style of Swing – Lindy Hop made for the movies – that was popularised by Dean Collins (1917-1984), who brought the dance from New York to Hollywood. It is a more upright version of the original “get down” version of the “Savoy style” of Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers. Although people were already dancing it in Los Angeles, Collins adapted it to for the movies, and was in fact, a pioneer of Lindy Hop instruction, as he was a technician of the dance who was able to break down what was usually a street dance learnt by watching and through trial and error. In this clip, Collins adds a new dimension to the dance, as he dances with his parter Jewel McGowan using an umbrella, leading her with the handle!
Here’s another clip from the movie, featuring Goodman’s band playing the Basie classic “One O’clock Jump”. It’s a great alternative to the original Basie.
Looks like they had the lack of male leads problem even back in the day! Haha. Pity this precious amatuer clip is without sound, but I like the fact that there’s colour – for a long time now, I’ve had problems thinking of the 20s and 30s in colour! The band that is featured in the clip is Glen Gray’s Orchestra. At [3:30] you see the African-American women swingin out!
Langston Hughes (1902-1967) was an American writer known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance, a movement where artists and intellectuals found new ways to explore the historical and contemporary experiences of black America through asserting their identities as black Americans, and celebrating black dignity and creativity in all fields of the Arts.
“The Weary Blues” was written by Hughes in 1923, and in this video clip from the Moving Poetry Series, the poem is recited by Dr. Allen Dwight Callahan. The Cab Calloway (introduced on this site together with the Nicholas Brothers) sequence is taken from his performance of “Minnie the Moocher”, and although the clip was taken out of context, I loved the sound track, along with the scene from New York back in the day, and it evoke a certain nostalgia – perhaps even the blues – in me when I watched this.
The Weary Blues
Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
He did a lazy sway ….
He did a lazy sway ….
To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan–
“Ain’t got nobody in all this world,
Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
And put ma troubles on the shelf.”
Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more–
“I got the Weary Blues
And I can’t be satisfied.
Got the Weary Blues
And can’t be satisfied–
I ain’t happy no mo’
And I wish that I had died.”
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.
