Table Of ContentA R T I C i U A Ul
Also available from Continuum:
CHILTON Roy Eldridge
GRAY Song and Dance Man III
HULTKRANS Forever Changes
LEYMARIE Cuban Fire
PALMER Sonny Rollins
PETERSON A Jazz Odyssey
SHEARING Lullaby of Birdland
SHIPTON A New History of Jazz
SHIPTON Fats Waller
VAN RIJN The Truman and Eisenhower Blues
ZANES Dusty in Memphis
ARTIC (HflUI
Mis Life and (Bum
J O H fl W H I TE
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Copyright © 1998, 2004 by John White
Originally published in Great Britain in 1998 by The University of Hull Press.
Revised edition published in 2004 by Continuum, by arrangement with Bayou
Press Ltd.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers or their appointed agents.
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Biddies Ltd, King's Lynn, Norfolk
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
White, John, 1939 Feb. 5-
Artie Shaw : his life and Music / John White.—rev. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8264-6915-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Shaw, Artie, 1910- 2. Jazz musicians—United States—Biography.
I. Title.
ML419.S52W45 2004
788.6^2165 '092-dc22 2004000473
CONTENTS
Preface 9
1 • Perspectives on Swing 17
2 « Interlude in B Flat: The Search for Identity 41
3 • Beginning the Beguine: $ucce$$ and Remorse 75
4 • War and Peace 115
5 • Cinderella and Other Stories 141
6 • Concerto for Clarinet: The Artistry of Shaw 171
7 • 'S Wonderful: Artie Shaw on Record 189
Coda The Best of Intentions 203
Select Bibliography 211
Index 219
She knows exactly how many times everybody's been divorced
and why, and how many Warner brothers there are. She even
knows how many times Artie Shaw's been married, which I
bet he couldn't tell you himself. She asked me if I had ever
married Artie Shaw, and when I said No, seemed to think I
was pulling her leg or must have done it without noticing. I
tried to explain that when a girl goes to Hollywood, she doesn't
have to marry Artie Shaw, it's optional, but I don't think I con-
vinced her.
P. G. Wodehouse, The Mating Season (1949)
I suppose Artie was the first intelligent, intellectual man I'd
ever met, and he bowled me over. I remember that the first
time he took me to a little Italian restaurant across from RKO
studios. Artie looked across at me and said, "Ava, I think that
physically, emotionally, and mentally you are the most perfect
woman I've ever met." His eyes never moved from mine, and
he went on, "And what's more, I'd marry you tonight, except
for the fact that I've married too many wives already." Artie
took it for granted that everyone was panting to marry Artie
Shaw.
Ava Gardner, Ava: My Story (1990)
Artie Shaw was a great clarinet player, but I never felt he gen-
erated the intensive drive that Benny Goodman did. At first,
his band was a spin-off from the Goodman approach, but
some of the things he did with strings were very rewarding.
Artie had no sense of humor, in my opinion, and always took
himself too seriously to suit me.
Charlie Barnet, Those Swinging Years (1984)
For Teresa
PREFACE TO
SECOND EDITION
A
s the dashing and handsome leader of one of America's
most accomplished big bands in the 1930s and 1940s,
Artie Shaw achieved measures of fame and fortune which for a
time eclipsed even those of his great rival, Benny Goodman. Ac-
cording to one estimate, Shaw's five top single recordings had
sold over 65 million copies by 1965, and he has calculated that
by 1990, his total sales topped 100 million records. In 1962 at a
special ceremony in New York, Shaw received Golden Disc
awards for his million-seller records: Begin the Beguine, Night-
mare, Traffic Jam, Dancing in the Dark, Stardust, Summit Ridge
Drive, and Back Bay Shuffle. All of them feature Shaw's superla-
tive clarinet playing, remarkable for its plangent tone and aston-
ishing technical facility. Unlike Goodman, who has been the
subject of two recent and well-researched biographies—James
Lincoln Collier's Benny Goodman and the Swing Era (1990), and
Ross Firestone's Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life & Times of Benny
Goodman (1993)—Shaw has not received comparable treatment
by any jazz historian. This book is intended to remedy that omis-
sion.
Description:Artie Shaw was a great clarinet player, but I never felt he gen- erated the intensive drive that Benny Goodman did. At first, his band was a spin-off from
