The Big Bands

Farmington Hills, Michigan, U.S.A.: Schirmer Books, 1981. Soft cover. Very Good. 8vo - over 7 in- 9 in Tall. Soft cover. Very good. NO markings on text. Illustrated. 614 pages. Spencer "Wolf" Smartt had a nostalgic report recently on the New York City/Broadway scene in the 50s and 60s. I like what George T. Simon wrote in his book, The Big Bands: "Do you remember what it was like...maybe you were there in New York two-thirds of the way through the 1930s, when there were so many great bands playing--so many of them at the same time...you could go to the Madhattan Room of the Hotel Pennsylvania, where Benny Goodman, the man who started it all, was playing with his great band, complete with Gene Krupa. "You could go a block or so farther to the Terrace Room of the Hotel New Yorker, and there you'd find Jimmy Dorsey and his Orchestra with Bob Eberly and Helen O'Connell... or to the Blue Room of the Hotel Lincoln to catch Artie Shaw and his band with Helen Forrest... or to the Green Room of the Hotel Edison for Les Brown's new band. "Maybe you'd rather go to some other hotel room--like the Palm Room of the Commodore for Red Norvo and Mildred Bailey and their soft, subtle swing... or to the Grill Room of the Lexington for Bob Crosby and his dixieland Bob Cats...or to the Moonlit Terrace of the Biltmore for Horace Heidt and his singing entourage... or down to the Roosevelt Grill for Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.