Artie Shaw: Begin the Beguine

Read About This Recording

One of the great jazz clarinetists of all time, Artie Shaw was one of the most popular big band leaders of the Swing Era, almost despite himself. It seemed as if whenever he became hugely successful, he would break up his band and often retire for months. In 1939 when he had the most popular big band in the world (even topping Benny Goodman), the pressure became too much for him and he fled to Mexico, only to return with a new band six months later.

During the period covered by this very comprehensive ten-CD set, 1936-45, Shaw led five different orchestras. While the first one, a smaller group that combined together a dixieland-inspired frontline with a string quartet, was a commercial flop (despite recording very rewarding music), the 1938-39 band was a major hit. The two ensembles that followed during 1940-42 both had large string sections and their own sound. After Shaw served in the Navy during World War II, his last major orchestra in 1945 recaptured much of his earlier success.

This ten-CD box has virtually all of Shaw's commercial recordings of the nine year period (including "Begin the Beguine" and "Frenesi"), featuring such notables as singers Helen Forrest and Tony Pastor, pianist Johnny Guarnieri (who played celeste with Shaw's Gramercy Five), trumpeters Billy Butterfield, Hot Lips Page and Roy Eldridge, drummer Buddy Rich and Georgie Auld on tenor. Shaw plays brilliantly throughout, especially on "Concerto for Clarinet."

After listening to this well-conceived release, it will be obvious to listeners why Artie Shaw is still a household name.

—Scott Yanow

Contents

Imported from Europe!

CD 1: The Japanese Sandman (TT: 73:00): The Japanese Sandman; A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody; I Used to Be Above Love; No Regrets; South Sea Island Magic; It Ain't Right; Sugar Foot Stomp; Thou Swell; You're Giving Me a Song and a Dance; Darling, Not Without You; One, Two, Button Your Shoe; Let's Call a Heart a Heart; The Skeleton in the Closet; There's Someting in the Air; Take Another Guess; There's Frost on the Moon; Love and Learn; Moon Face; The Same Old Line; You Can Tell She Comes From Dixie; Sobbin' Blues; Copenhagen; Cream Puff; My Blue Heaven; Streamline.

CD 2: Sweet Lorraine (TT: 69:52): Sweet Lorraine; Love is Good for Anything That Ails You; No More Tears; Moonlight and Shadows; Was it Rain; All Alone; All God's Chillun Got Rhythm; It Goes to Your Feet; Because I Love You; Night and Day; I Surrender Dear; Blue Skies; Someday, Sweetheart; Afraid to Dream; If You Should Ever Leave; Sweet Adeline; How Dry I Am; Am I in Love; Fee Fi Fo Fum; Please Pardon Us, We're in Love; The Chant; The Blues March (Parts 1 & 2); It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary; I've Got a Strange New Rhythm in My Heart.

CD 3: If it's the Last Thing I Do (TT: 72:41): If it's the Last Thing I Do; Nightmare; Shoot the Likker to Me, John Boy; Free Wheeling; Let 'er Go; A Strange Loneliness; Monsoon; I'm Yours; Just You, Just Me; Free for All; Whistle While You Work; One Song; Goodnight, Angel; There's a New Moon Over the Old Mill; Non Stop Flight; I'll Be With You in Apple Blossom Time; Begin the Beguine; Indian Love Call; Comin' On; Back Bay Shuffle; Any Old Time; I Can't Believe That You're in Love With Me; Nightmare; Non-stop Flight; Yesterdays.

CD 4: What is This Thing Called Love (TT: 77:44): What is This Thing Called Love; You're a Sweet Little Headache; I Have Eyes; Between a Kiss and a Sigh; Thanks for Ev'rything; Deep in a Dream; Day After Day; Softly As in a Morning Sunrise; Copenhagen; A Room With a View; Say it With a Kiss; They Say; It Took a Million Years; Jungle Drums; It Had to Be You; Lover, Come Back to Me; My Heart Stood Still; Rosalie; Supper Time; Vilia; The Man I Love; The Donkey Serenade; Bill; Zigeuner; Carioca.

CD 5: Alone Together (TT: 76:45): Alone Together; Rose Room; I Want My Share of Love; It's All Yours; This is It; Delightful Delirium; Any Old Time; I'm in Love With the Honorable Mr. So and So; Prosshai (Goodbye, Goodbye); Deep Purple; I'm Coming, Virginia; Pastel Blue; You Grow Sweeter As the Years Go By; You're So Indifferent; Snug As a Bug in a Rug; If You Ever Change Your Mind; One Night Stand; One Foot in the Groove; Octoroon; I Poured My Heart Into a Song; When Winter Comes; All I Remember is You; Out of Nowhere; I Can't Afford to Dream; Comes Love.

CD 6: Go Fly a Kite (TT: 75:06): Go Fly a Kite; A Man and His Dream; Traffic Jam; Serenade to a Savage; Easy to Say; I'll Remember; Moonray; Melancholy Mood; Put That Down in Writing; Day in, Day Out; Two Blind Loves; The Last Two Weeks in July; Oh! Lady, Be Good; I Surrender, Dear; Many Dreams Ago; A Table in a Corner; If What You Say is True; Without a Dream to My Name; Love is Here; All is Fun; All the Things You Are; You're a Lucky Guy; Shadows; I Didn't Know What Time it Was; Do I Love You.

CD 7: When Love Beckoned (TT: 79:14): When Love Beckoned; Frenesi; Adios, Mariquita Linda; Gloomy Sunday; My Fantasy; A Deserted Farm; Don't Fall Asleep; Dreaming Out Loud; Now We Know; Mister Meadowlark; April in Paris; King for a Day; Special Delivery Stomp; Summit Ridge Drive; Keepin' Myself for You; Cross Your Heart; If it's You; Old, Old Castle in Scotland; Temptation; Chantez-les Bas; Love of My Life; A Handful of Stars; Stardust; Marinela; Danza Lucumi.

CD 8: This is Romance (TT: 79:38): This is Romance; What is There to Say; Pyramid; You Forgot About Me; Whispers in the Night; Blues (Parts 1 & 2); Who's Excited; Prelude in C Major; Dr. Livingston, I Presume; When the Quail Come Back to San Quentin; My Blue Heaven; Smoke Gets in Your Eyes; The Calypso; Beau Night in Hotchkiss; Concerto for Clarinet (Parts 1 & 2); Dancing in the Dark; I Cover the Waterfront; Moonglow; Alone Together; If I Had You; Georgia on My Mind; It Had to Be You.

CD 9: Confessin' (TT: 79:53): Confessin'; Love Me a Little Little; Beyond the Blue Horizon; Don't Take Your Love From Me; This Time the Dream's on Me; Blues in the Night; Nocturne; Rockin' Chair; Through the Years; If I Love Again; I Ask the Stars; Beyond the Blue Horizon; Take Your Shoes Off, Baby; Make Love to Me; Solid Sam; Just Kiddin' Around; To a Broadway Rose; St. James Infirmary (Parts 1 & 2); Deuces Wild; Dusk; Suite No 8; Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat; I Don't Want to Walk Without You.

CD 10: Somebody Nobody Loves (TT: 77:25): Somebody Nobody Loves; Not Mine; Absent Minded Moon; Hindustan; Carnival; Needlenose; Two in One Blues; Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child; Accentuate the Positive; Let's Take the Long Way Home; Jumpin' on the Merry-Go-Round; I'll Never Be the Same; Can't Help Lovin' That Man; 'S Wonderful; Bedford Drive; The Graptown Grapple; September Song; Little Jazz; But Not for Me; Tea for Two; Summertime; Easy to Love; Time on My Hands; Tabu.

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