Benny Goodman

See all 22 pictures

Play Radio

Listen to Benny Goodman Radio, featuring artists like Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman Quartet and more…

• Search on Spotify

3,073,208 plays (324,833 listeners)
In your library (0 plays)

Shop now at Amazon | Send Benny Goodman Ringtones to Cell

Buy

• Download
• Amazon
• Send Ringtones to Cell
• Tonefuse Search

Add to my Library

Benny Goodman, born Benjamin David Goodman, (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American jazz musician, known as King of Swing, Patriarch of the Clarinet, The Professor, and Swing’s Senior Statesman.

Goodman was regarded by some as a demanding taskmaster, by others an arrogant and eccentric martinet. Many musicians spoke of The Ray, Goodman’s trademark glare that he bestowed on a musician who failed to perform to his demanding standards. Anita O’Day and Helen Forrest spoke bitterly of their experiences singing with Goodman. “The twenty or so months I spent with Benny felt like twenty years,” said Forrest. “When I look back, they seem like a life sentence.” He could also be incredibly self-absorbed; it is reported that when eating an egg onto which a ketchup bottle cap had fallen, Goodman simply ate around it. At the same time, there are reports that he privately funded several college educations and was sometimes very generous, though always secretly. When a friend asked him why one time, he reportedly said, “Well, if they knew about it, everyone would come to me with their hand out.”

Some suggest that Elvis Presley had the same success with rock and roll that Goodman achieved with jazz and swing. Without Goodman there would not have been a swing era. It is true that many of Goodman’s arrangements had been played for years before by Fletcher Henderson’s orchestra. While Goodman publicly acknowledged his debt to Henderson, many young white swing fans had never heard Henderson’s band.

Read more… Edit bio

Popular tags: jazz, swing, big band, clarinet, oldies  See more

Share this artist:

• Tweet
• Send

Top Albums

• Dynamic Swing - Benny Goodman
  Benny Goodman

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 Search
  • 7digital Search
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search

  New

• Benny Goodman: Only the Best (Remastered Version)
  Benny Goodman

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 Search
  • 7digital Search
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search

  New

• The Best of Benny Goodman
  Benny Goodman

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 $8.99
  • 7digital $8.99
  • iTunes $9.99
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search
• Ken Burns Jazz
  Benny Goodman

  Buy

  • Download Album
  • Amazon MP3 Search
  • 7digital Search
  • iTunes Search
  • Buy Album
  • Amazon Search
  • eBay Search

Top Tracks

• Last Week
• Last 6 months

1		Sing, Sing, Sing			481
2		Stompin' At The Savoy			270
3		Let's Dance			263
4		King Porter Stomp			238
5		Don't Be That Way			202
6		Bugle Call Rag			200
7		One O'Clock Jump			195
8		Moonglow			151
9		After You've Gone			145
10		Body And Soul			119
11		Jersey Bounce			118
12		Sing Sing Sing			113
13		Chicago			101
14		Goodbye			98
15		All The Cats Join In			91

Buy all tracks at Amazon MP3

See more