Woody Herman & His Orchestra - 1936-1937

Title: 1936-1937 Artist: Woody Herman & His Orchestra Release Date: 5/4/1999 Label: Classics Duration: 64:36 Album Type(s): Greatest Hits UPCs: 3307517104229, 723723542021 Genre: Rock Styles: Big Band, Bop, Swing Moods: Earthy, Exuberant, Rollicking, Amiable/Good-Natured, Boisterous, Elegant, Joyous, Playful, Refined/Mannered, Sophisticated, Stylish, Cheerful, Complex, Energetic, Freewheeling, Party/Celebratory, Passionate Total Copies: 0 Members Wishing: 1 Number of Discs/SwapaCD Credits: 1

1. Stompin' at the Savoy
2. I've Had the Blues So Long
3. Slappin' the Bass
4. Nola
5. Take It Easy
6. Fan It
7. Tormented
8. Wintertime Dreams
9. Someone to Care for Me
10. The Goose Hangs High
11. Now That Summer Is Gone
12. I Can't Pretend
13. Give Me an Old-Fashioned Swing
14. Mr. Ghost Goes to Town
15. Better Get off Your High Horse
16. Dupree Blues
17. Doctor Jazz
18. Trouble in Mind
19. It Happened Down in Dixieland
20. Stardust on the Moon
21. The Lady from Fifth Avenue
22. Don't You Know or Don't You Care?
23. Double or Nothing

Year Type Label Catalog # 1999 CD Classics 1042

No other editions were found for this album.

Woody Herman led many big bands throughout his career. Some biographies give very little space to his earliest groups and start out with the First Herd of 1944-46, but Herman was a bandleader as early as 1936. This CD actually starts out with a few Herman appearances with Isham Jones during March 1936. The full orchestra performs "Stompin' At The Savoy" and then "Isham Jones' Juniors" (an octet taken from the big band) performs six numbers, four of which include Herman vocals. Virginia Verrell sings a spirited "Slappin' The Bass" and the only instrumental is "Nola" but the best number (and one that would reappear with Herman in the future) is "Fan It." By Nov. 1936 the clarinetist-altoist was leading his own big band, one that also included five other musicians from Isham Jones' orchestra which had broken up a few months earlier. Few listeners probably know that the very first Herman big band mostly featured his ballad vocalizing; "Woodchoppers Ball" would not change the orchestra's direction until 1939. Only one song among the 16 selections by Woody Herman's orchestra is an instrumental ("Mr. Ghost Goes To Town"). The leader' singing ranges from insipid and romantic to (in a few cases) swinging; best are "Doctor Jazz," "Trouble In Mind" and "It Happened Down In Dixieland." But this set is strictly for completists and Woody Herman collectors who are curious to know how he started out. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide

Name Credits Anatol Schenker Liner Notes Bruce Wilkins Sax (Tenor) Chelsea Quealey Trumpet Chick Reeves Guitar Clarence Willard Trumpet Deane Kincaide Sax (Alto) Don Watt Sax (Alto) Eddie Stone Violin Frank Carlson Drums George Wartner Guitar Horace Diaz Piano Howard Smith Piano Isham Jones Sax (Tenor), Director Jack Ferrier Sax (Alto) Joe Bishop Flugelhorn Johnny Carlson Trumpet Kermit Simmons Trumpet Mark Bennett Sax (Tenor) Milt Yaner Sax (Alto), Clarinet Murray Williams Sax (Alto) Neil Reid Trombone Nick Hupfer Violin Oliver Matthewson Guitar Russ Jenner Sax (Tenor) Saxie Mansfield Sax (Tenor) Sonny Lee Trombone, Sax (Tenor) Tommy Linehan Piano Victor Hauprich Sax (Alto), Clarinet Walter Lageson Drums Walter Yoder Bass Woody Herman Clarinet, Sax (Baritone), Vocals, Sax (Alto), Director Woody Herman & His Orchestra Performer