Benny Goodman. It’s hard to know what to say about the “King of Swing.” I first heard him on the clarinet at Capitol Drug Store in Annapolis, Maryland, in the 1970s. My boss and the store’s owner and pharmacist, Buddy Levy, loved jazz, and especially Benny Goodman. Benny’s recording career began nearly 50 years earlier, in 1926, with the Ben Pollack Orchestra. He first recorded under his own name in 1928. The recordings below span the first 40 years of his career, from the 1920s through the 1950s. For a detailed description of his long and influential career, see
Limehouse Blues
Group:
Sextet
Label:
Okeh
Matrix Number:
Okeh (6486)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
October 28, 1941
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If I Had You
Group:
Sextet
Label:
Okeh
Matrix Number:
Okeh (6486)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
October 28, 1941
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Dinah
Group:
Benny Goodman Quartet
Label:
HMV
Matrix Number:
HMV (B.8503)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
June 26, 1936
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Exactly Like You
Group:
Benny Goodman Quartet
Label:
HMV
Matrix Number:
HMV (B.8503)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
June 26, 1936
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Lady Be Good
Group:
Benny Goodman Trio
Label:
RCA Victor
Matrix Number:
RCA Victor (40-0107)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
April, 1945
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After You've Gone
Group:
Benny Goodman Trio
Label:
RCA Victor
Matrix Number:
RCA Victor (40-0107)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
April, 1945
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It's Been So Long
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
Label:
Victor
Matrix Number:
Victor (25425)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
January 24, 1936
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This is the delightful ‘B’ side to the fantastic “Goody-Goody”
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Goody Goody
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
Label:
Victor
Matrix Number:
Victor (25245)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
January 24, 1936
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Notes:
This is the first recorded version of our perennial favorite, “Goody Goody” Helen Ward is the vocalist and has such a great delivery! Who knew there were so many different ways of emphasizing the title words?
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One O'Clock Jump
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (B-8203)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
1956
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Written by Count Basie. This version really swings.
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Moonglow & Down South Camp Meetin'
Group:
Benny Goodman Quartet & Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (B-8203)
Record Type:
Double sided 7 inch 45 RPM
Date Recorded:
1956
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The Wang Wang Blues
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Sextet
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (36723)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
March 10, 1942
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Rose Room
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Sextet
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (36720)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
October 2, 1939
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Poor Butterfly
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Sextet
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (36722)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
April 10, 1940
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I Found a New Baby
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Sextet
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (36721)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
January 15, 1941
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Grand Slam
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Sextet
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (36722)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
April 16, 1940
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Flying Home
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Sextet
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (36721)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
October 2, 1939
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As Long As I Live
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Sextet
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (36723)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
November 7, 1940
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Air Mail Special
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Sextet
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (36720)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
March 13, 1941
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Let's Dance
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (35301)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
October 24, 1939
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Boy Meets Horn
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Orchestra
Label:
Columbia
Matrix Number:
Columbia (35301)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
August 11, 1939
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Shirt Tail Stomp
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Boys
Label:
Brunswick
Matrix Number:
Brunswick (80030)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
June 4, 1928
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Notes:
This is a re-issue of the original 1928 recording.
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Blue
Group:
Benny Goodman and his Boys
Label:
Brunswick
Matrix Number:
Brunswick (80030)
Record Type:
Double sided 10 inch 78 RPM
Date Recorded:
June 4, 1928
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Notes:
This is a re-issue of the original June 1928 recording.
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