Jackets and the music...

[Anonymous]

I was watching that old movie "Forever young" with Mel Gibson who plays a wwii test pilot

At one point he was at Jamie Lee Curtis' house and she played a record of Billie Holiday namely "Very thought of you"
The song was great, listening to it really takes you back to the 1940s.

Anybody here knows any CD titles of music from the war era? Something that people in the USA listened to/danced to?

Any ideas please?

 

[dujardin]

no idea about a cd/dvd into US;sorry

but YOUTUBE exist,
just watch this nice song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrUMctZdNF8

byeeeeeeee marcel

 

[capt71]

Deleted

 

[unclegrumpy]

One of my favorite "flight jacket" songs is Perry Como's "Dig You Later":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwO_MlqHCcQ

However, I think if I were to pick a place to start in 1940's music, I would say hands down Glenn Miller. Get a greatest hits CD covering 1938 to 1944. Glenn Miller really rocks, and his jazz improvisations were really ahead of his time. Tex Beneke played sax and sang with the band before the war and he is great too. I like Miller's prewar band a bit better than the later Army Air Force band, but there were some great songs to come out of that group as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6eLE5xX ... L&index=27

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XQybKMX ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2uoH6kcpMc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFv_PoZ2 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8y1oSia ... re=related

From there, I really like Johnny Mercer for his great songs, and both Harry James and Benny Goodman for their great bands and musicianship. I like a lot of 40's music, and many of the songs from the previous posts list are classics, but some will take getting accustomed to the periods music before you start to appreciate them. Many songs from this era are also down right sappy and dorky.

I always liked this one too, and Betty Hutton was pretty hot...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZYYqQIn ... re=related

Anyway, Glenn Miller is the way to go to start!

 

[Atticus]

I guess it depends on which war you're talkin' about. Being a fan of Vietnam era jackets, some of the music I would pick (just to get me started) would be:

For What Its Worth.......Steve Stills
Fortunate Son.............Creedence Clearwater
Deja vu.....................CSNY
The End....................The Doors
Uncle John's Band............Grateful Dead
American Woman...............Guess Who
Won't Get Fooled Again.........Who
Crystal Blue Persuasion...........Tommy James
All Along The Watchtower.........Jimi's version of Bobby's tune
Donald and Lydia.....................John Prine
Heroin...................................Lou Reed
Cocaine..................................J. J. Cale
Panama Red............................New Riders of the Purple sage
Man In Black.............................Johnny Cash
Born To Be Wild..........................Steppenwolf
Eight Miles High...........................Byrds
White Rabbit...............................The Airplane
Woodstock..................................Joni Mitchell
Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag............Country Joe McDonald
Eve of Destruction..........................Barry Mcguire
Crimson and Clover.........................Tommy James
Ohio..............................................Neil Young
What's Goin' On?.............................Marvin Gaye
Who'll Stop The Rain........................John Fogerty

AF

 

[unclegrumpy]

That's an awesome list man!

 

[Marv]

Not forgetting Gimme Shelter and Paint it Black by the Stones to add to that superb listing

 

[Anonymous]

you guys rock

thanks

 

[Swing]

Anyway, Glenn Miller is the way to go to start!

Bleh! I can't stand Miller, and if I never hear "In the Mood" again, it's too soon.

Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Will Bradley Orchestra (featuring Ray McKinley), and Ella Mae Morse would be my start.

~Swing

 

[Cobblers161]

Isham Jones - Stompin' At The Savoy. Now there's a tune that get's the mrs and I dancing!

Swing, I always felt the same about Glen Miller till I heard Peg O' My Heart. Beautiful tune. With you on Artie Shaw all the way.

 

[unclegrumpy]

Bleh! I can't stand Miller, and if I never hear "In the Mood" again, it's too soon.

Wow, no Glenn Miller! That is sort of like the 1960's without the Beatles isn't it? I can see being tired of hearing In the Mood again, since it has been butchered by every High School Jazz Band since the 1940's. But then again, that is like hating the Beatles because the versions they play in elevators don't have much zip to them.

Most of the better 1940' s music has been played over and over again. There is probably some band that calls themselves the Glenn Miller Band or something close out there today, but it is still not the same as the original. The same holds true with the other great big bands.... Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Earl Hines, Stan Kenton and those previously mentioned in other posts. Their music still lives.

Original 1940's recordings from the original artists are not hard to find anymore. Get them and listen. You'll end up having your own favorites, but I will bet you that you will not regret starting with Glenn Miller. After all, what started this post was what was the best 1940's music to dance to, and I could not imagine a period hanger dance without some Miller tunes blasting into the night....can you?

 

[Chris217]

I have a XM satellite radio in my car and one of the channels they offer is the 40's on 4. They play nothing but non stop WW2 era music. Its awesome!

I know this might sound weird, but to me the best time to listen to 40's era music is in the middle of the night. For some reason when I'm listening to it driving down the road at night, the music almost has a haunting quality about it, if that makes any sense.

 

[unclegrumpy]

I find the same to be true, blasting down the interstate at 2 am is a great time to pick up the subtleties of this music, especially with the Big Bands that have some longer instrumental tracks and/or songs with less singing. There has been a lot of work done in recent years to remaster the old original 1940's recordings. Once those old arrangements got cleaned up, the artistry and forcefulness really popped out....many of those guys were truly amazing, especially if you crank it up!

 

[zoomer]

Isham Jones - Stompin' At The Savoy. Now there's a tune that get's the mrs and I dancing!

Swing, I always felt the same about Glen Miller till I heard Peg O' My Heart. Beautiful tune. With you on Artie Shaw all the way.

Ah, a 30s music fan. I guessed you were outside the states and I was right. You even know pre-"ITM" Miller - even the ghost band won't play that stuff.

I wrote the booklet for the CD where you probably heard "Stompin' at the Savoy."

I wear A-1s and a Werber 1729, so I'm right in tune stylistically.

 

[Swing]

Bleh! I can't stand Miller, and if I never hear "In the Mood" again, it's too soon.

Wow, no Glenn Miller! That is sort of like the 1960's without the Beatles isn't it?

LOL! Another band I've heard too much of, and can do without ever hearing again. Throw the Rollings Stones in while we're at it!

Even when I was into 30s and 40s music (which I'm really not anymore), I was always bored with what I was hearing from Miller.

~Swing

 

[kkochheiser]

Look for V-Discs on ebay. Many of these WWII 78 rpm records have been transferred to CD's. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-Disc

I just donated about a dozen of my dad's V-Discs that he brought back from the war to our local air museum for one of their displays. Some great big band stuff.

Add me to the list of Artie Shaw fans, he was miles ahead of Benny Goodman!

Kent

 

[kkochheiser]

Oh yeah, Stan Kenton and Woody Herman!

Kent

 

[unclegrumpy]

I am starting to think that Swing just might have the wrong handle, and maybe we ought to work a trade!