If not a law, there should at the minimum be a policy which prevents record companies, especially major ones, from marketing CDs with as little as 29 minutes of music, even under the guise of a "cheap buy." Yet MCA (now under GRP) has issued a disc with just 29 minutes of music, albeit pretty good familiar stuff from the old Decca Records days. While the material is well known, not all of the songs are original recordings. Thus, Tommy Dorsey's "Opus #1" is not the famous 1944 session, but rather a 1958 release when Warren ...
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If not a law, there should at the minimum be a policy which prevents record companies, especially major ones, from marketing CDs with as little as 29 minutes of music, even under the guise of a "cheap buy." Yet MCA (now under GRP) has issued a disc with just 29 minutes of music, albeit pretty good familiar stuff from the old Decca Records days. While the material is well known, not all of the songs are original recordings. Thus, Tommy Dorsey's "Opus #1" is not the famous 1944 session, but rather a 1958 release when Warren Covington took over the band following Dorsey's demise. "Chattanooga Choo Choo" is not the Glenn Miller/Tex Beneke/Modernaires zinger which reached number one on the charts in 1941, but Tex Beneke's own 1953 release of Miller's arrangement, with Beneke doing the same whistling and singing as before. But the album has some early classic recordings. Among the more exciting are Charlie Barnet's 1944 hit "Skyliner" and Count Basie's 1939 "One O' Clock Jump." The 1939 aggregation was arguably Basie's greatest group, with Lester Young, Buck Clayton, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Dickie Wells, Jo Jones and the rest of that magical crew, many of whom get a chance to do some brief solos on this cut. The cut right after Basie is an Ink Spots hit, "If I Didn't Care," which doesn't relate to the album's subtitle, Best of the Big Bands. Irrespective of what one thinks of them musically, no other group survived so long delivering each song exactly the same way. The tenor (for years, Bill Kenny) opening up, then the deep bass part (also for years, Orville "Hoppy" Jones), with the tenor coming back to close. Other vocal contributions are made by Billie Holiday represented with Sy Oliver's arrangement of "Now or Never," the Mills Brothers and the Hi-Los. Swing compiles very tasty tidbits from the past, but with only 29 minutes, it is a small taste indeed. There are many more comprehensive big band compilations available than this MCA offering. [The liner notes show the date of the Ink Spots recording to be 1949. That should probably be 1939.] ~ Dave Nathan, Rovi
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Add this copy of Swing: Best of Big Bands to cart. $3.24, very good condition, Sold by HPB-Diamond rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Mca.
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Add this copy of Swing: Best of Big Bands to cart. $6.29, very good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by MCA.
Add this copy of Swing: Best of Big Bands to cart. $6.29, good condition, Sold by Wonder Book - Member ABAA/ILAB rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Frederick, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by MCA.
Add this copy of Swing: Best of Big Bands to cart. $8.49, very good condition, Sold by Music Fiendz rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from South Hackensack, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1988 by Mca.
Add this copy of Swing: Best of Big Bands to cart. $8.49, good condition, Sold by Music Fiendz rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from South Hackensack, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Mca.
Add this copy of Swing: Best of Big Bands to cart. $9.99, good condition, Sold by Friends of the Phoenix Library rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Phoenix, AZ, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Mca.
Add this copy of Swing: Best of Big Bands to cart. $13.98, new condition, Sold by Music Fiendz rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from South Hackensack, NJ, UNITED STATES, published 1998 by Mca.
