Chapter 6

“In the Mood” :The Swing Era, 1935-1945

Chapter 6 (outline)• Swing Music and American Culture• Benny Goodman: “The King of Swing”• Duke Ellington in the Swing Era• Kansas City Swing: Count Basie• Superstar of Swing: Glenn Miller• Country Music in the Swing Era: Roy Acuff,

Singing Cowboys, and Western Swing• Latin Music in the Swing Era• ASCAP, the AFM, and the Decline of the Big

Bands

Glenn Miller(1904-1944?)

• Most successful band (commercial, 1939-44)

• Disciplined arrangements• Lost in WW II• Exs.

- Moonlight Serenade - The Glenn Miller Orchestra ("In The Digital Mood" version) (in HD)

(GM’s theme song)- Glenn Miller - Chattanooga Choo Choo - Sun Valley Serenade (1941) HQ – YouTube

- Glenn Miller - In The Mood [HQ] – YouTube (textbook, p. 173-4)

“Duke” Ellington (1899-1974)• Cotton Club (1926-31)• Touring from 1931 on

- never disbands• Eclipsed in popularity by others• Ellington as Composer

- long-term stability in band- interest in small groups- Billy Strayhorn (co-arranger)

• “Beyond category”• Exs.

- “Caravan” Duke Ellington - Caravan – YouTube (Textbook LG, p. 169-70)-“Take the ‘A’ Train” Duke Ellington Orchestra "Take The A Train" 1943 - YouTube

“Fate is being kind to me.Fate doesn't want me to be

famous too young.”- declining Pulitzer Prize in 1965 (awarded posthumously in 1999)

Country Music

• Expanding markets in the Swing Era (1935-45)

• Southerners moving north (urban industries)

• Growth of non-Southern audiences

- Clear channel radio (50,000 watt signals)

- BMI (see next slide)

- World War II (“Victory Discs”)

• General decline of Big Bands (war shortages)

Music Licensing • American Society of Composers, Authors, and

Publishers (ASCAP, founded 1914)- Controlled 90% of Tin Pan Alley songs- demanding higher fees from radio

• Broadcast Music Inc (BMI)- founded by radio broadcasters- open door policy for all songwriters

• “Petrillo Ban” – no new recordings (1942-3) (American Federation of Musicians)

• New Agreements (& unemployed musicians)

Roy Acuff (1903-1992)• Singer, Fiddler, Promoter• 1st appearances – mid-1930s• National Figure by 1940s - Opry• “King of Country Music”• WW II Japanese : “…to hell

with Roosevelt, Babe Ruth, Roy Acuff…”

• Acuff-Rose Publishing- founded 1942 for own music - becomes THE leading music publisher for all performers

• Exs.- Roy Acuff - Great Speckled bird – YouTube (textbook, pp. 179)- Roy Acuff - Wabash Cannonball - Grand Ole Opry Classics - YouTube

Singing Cowboys• “Westerns” replace “hillbillies”• Gene Autry as first media “cowboy”

(radio, movies, TV, recordings, etc.)• Movie Career

- Springtime in the Rockies Gene Autry - Western Movies Full Length

(5:40, 20:30, 24:15, 27:00, 37:20, 40:55, 54:15)• “American” values: freedom, integrity,

wholesomeness, etc.Gene Autry's Cowboy Code

• Popular songs (Exs.)- Gene Autry - Back in the Saddle Again (from Back in the Saddle 1941) (signature song)- Gene Autry - Here Comes Santa Claus (1947) – YouTube

(1947: # 5 Country, # 9 Pop)- Gene Autry - Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer 1949 The Pinafores

(# 1 – Christmas 1949)

Gene Autry (1907-1988)“The Singing Cowboy”

More Singing Cowboys• Leonard Slye (“Roy Rogers”)• Strong Marketing

- Radio, Movies, TV, etc.- Restaurants, toys, etc.

• EX Movie: Grand Canyon Trail (Roy Rogers) complete western movies full length watch free online – YouTube (song at 51:00)

• Ex Song. ROY ROGERS, DALE EVANS, SONS OF THE PIONEERS: The Place Where I Worship & Happy Trails 1962 - YouTube

• “King of the Cowboys”• Sons of the Pioneers (1934)

(vocal harmony)• Ex. Sons Of The Pioneers - Cool Clear

Water - Vintage 78rpm Gramophone – YouTube (text book, p. 181)

“Roy Rogers” (1911-1998)

Bob Wills (1905-1975)• Texas fiddler (musical family)

• Cotton farm (w/ black friends)

• Medicine shows, minstrelsy, etc.

• “Light Crust Doughboys”- String band, but more….

• “Texas Playboys” (OK City)- adds horns and drums- swings the beat (dance band)

• “WESTERN SWING”• Exs. Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys -

New San Antonio Rose (1940) – YouTube (text book, p. 183)- Ida Red - YouTube