Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Music Column – The Big Band Era with William Price King and Sally Cronin 1930s – Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and The Lambeth Walk

Welcome to the 2023 series of the music column where I am joined as always by Jazz singer and composer William Price King.  We hope you will join us every Tuesday for some of the chart hits of the big band era from the 1930s through to the 1950s.

Some of the earlier videos are not of the best quality however where possible we have sourced remastered copies to share with you. Considering some are almost 100 years old, it is remarkable that they exist at all.  A testament to the love of the music of that era. Along with our selections each week we will also be showcasing one of the dance crazes from the 1920s onwards and as with the music videos some are not of the highest quality and in some cases I have substituted more modern versions.

Here is my next selection from the Big Band chart in the 1930s fromTommy Dorsey

Tommy Dorsey “I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” (1936)

“I’m Getting Sentimental Over You” was composed by George Bassman as a fox trot, with lyrics by Ned Washington. It was first performed in 1932, featuring Tommy Dorsey on the trombone. In 1935 Dorsey wrote a definitive arrangement of this piece with Cliff Weston on trumpet and vocals. It was released as a single in 1936. After Tommy Dorsey’s death in 1956 Frank Sinatra sang it in the Dorsey Orchestra and also featured it in an album, “I Remember Tommy.”

This song was featured in an episode of “The Twilight Zone” called “Static,” and in the films “Carnal Knowledge,” “Bart Got a Room,” and the Oscar-winning “The Garden of the Finzi-Continis.”

Here is my next selection from this era of popular music from Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman “Stompin’ at the Savoy” (1936)

“Stompin’ at the Savoy” is a 1933 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson. It is named after the famed Harlem nightspot the Savoy Ballroom in New York City.

Although the song is credited to Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, Edgar Sampson, and Andy Razaf, it was written and arranged by Sampson, Rex Stewart’s alto saxophonist.

Sampson wrote the song when he was with Stewart’s orchestra at the Empire Ballroom in 1933. It was used as the band’s theme song until the band broke up, after which Sampson joined Webb’s band, taking the song with him.[ Both Webb and Goodman recorded it as an instrumental, Goodman’s being the bigger hit. Lyrics were added by lyricist Andy Razaf. Benny Goodman – Topic

Other sources: Wikipedia

“The Lambeth Walk” is a song from the 1937 musical Me and My Girl (with book and lyrics by Douglas Furber and L. Arthur Rose and music by Noel Gay). The song takes its name from a local street, Lambeth Walk, once notable for its street market and working-class culture in Lambeth, an area of London. The tune gave its name to a Cockney dance made popular in 1937 by Lupino Lane.

The choreography from the musical, in which the song was a show-stopping Cockney-inspired extravaganza, inspired a popular walking dance, performed in a jaunty strutting style.

Lane explained the origin of the dance as follows: I got the idea from my personal experience and from having worked among cockneys. I’m a cockney born and bred myself. The Lambeth Walk is just an exaggerated idea of how the cockney struts.

When the stage show had been running for a few months, C. L. Heimann, managing director of the Locarno Dance Halls, got one of his dancing instructors, Adele England, to elaborate the walk into a dance. “Starting from the Locarno Dance Hall, Streatham, the dance-version of the Lambeth Walk swept the country. The craze reached Buckingham Palace, with King George VI and Queen Elizabeth attending a performance and joining in the shouted “Oi” which ends the chorus.

The fad reached the United States in 1938, popularized by Boston-based orchestra-leader Joseph (Joe) Rines, among others. Rines and his band frequently performed in New York, and the dance became especially popular at the “better” night clubs.

As with most dance crazes, other well-known orchestras did versions of the song, including Duke Ellington’s. The dance then spread across America, and to Paris and Prague.

Here is a modern performance of the dance from Me and My Girl with Robert Lindsay and cast. Jestana Silvercoat

Your Hosts for The Big Band Era

William Price King is an American jazz singer, crooner, and composer.

His interest in music began at an early age when he studied piano and clarinet in high school. At Morehouse College in Atlanta where he grew up, he sang in the Glee Club and studied classical music. After graduation he went off to the Yale School of Music where he earned a Masters degree. From there he journeyed to New York where he created a jazz trio ‘Au Naturel’ which performed in some of the hottest venues in Manhattan including gigs on Broadway and the famous ‘Rainbow Room.’ These gigs opened doors for performances in Montreal and a European tour.

While touring Europe he met a lovely French lady, Jeanne Maïstre, who, a year later became his wife. King left the group ‘Au Naturel’ and settled in the south of France where he started a new life on the French Riviera, opening his own music school – the “Price King Ecole Internationale de Chant.” He has had the pleasure over the years of seeing many of his students excel as singers on a professional level, and some going on to become national celebrities. He continues to coach young singers today, in his spare time.

Blog– IMPROVISATION – William Price King on Tumblr – Buy William’s music: William Price King iTunes – Facebook – William Price King – Twitter – @wpkofficial
Regular Venue – Cave Wilson

Sally Cronin is an author, blogger and broadcaster who enjoyed four years as part of the team on Onda Cero International’s English speaking morning show in Marbella and then for two years as a presenter on Expressfm the local radio station in Portsmouth. She co-presented two ‘Drive Time’ shows a week with Adrian Knight, hosted the live Thursday Afternoon Show and The Sunday Morning Show guests including musicians and authors. Following this she became Station Director for a local internet television station for two years, producing and presenting the daily news segment, outside broadcasts and co-presenting the Adrian and Sally chat show live on Friday evenings.

She and her husband David have now returned to Ireland where they live on the Wexford Coast where she blogs and continues to write books.

Books :Amazon US – And: Amazon UK – More reviews: Goodreads – blog: Smorgasbord Blog Magazine Twitter: @sgc58 – Facebook: Sally Cronin – LinkedIn: Sally Cronin

Thanks for tuning in and as always we love to hear from you.. thanks William and Sally.