The Very Best of Benny Goodman

by

Benny Goodman

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It's hard to believe that back in the 1930's music purists of the time considered Benny Goodman a rebel. Music was meant for listening while sitting. Along comes the king of swing and couples are dancing wildly up and down the isles of the paramount Theater in NY and everywhere else starting a new era for modern music. A foundation that led to the Rock N Roll Era. "The Very Best Of Benny Goodman" Is a very affordable overview of Benny's absolute prime. The sound quality thanks to remastering is fantastic and with 20 tracks it makes a fine collection for those who are considering purchasing a Goodman cd for the first time. Some great tunes are stuffed into this package like "And The Angels Sing" featuring vocals by Martha Tilton, "Stompin At The Savoy", "One O 'Clock Jump", "Bie Mir Bist Du Schoen" and of course the Louis Prima Classic "Sing Sing Sing" Featuring one of the greatest drummers of the day Gene krupa. This cd should be mandatory listening for the younger generation so they can appreciate the birth of modern day music as we know it. In some strange way all the kings and queens of modern music, Elvis, Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson and even Frank Sinatra can thank the king of swing Benny Goodman for paving the way.

If you are looking for a good single-disc collection of Benny Goodman's classic period (late '30s), with...

1. pretty new remastering for the best sound possible...

2. made by RCA/BMG (i.e., not a bootleg)...

3. at an affordable price...

...then you have two choices: The Very Best of Benny Goodman and BlueBird's Best- Benny Goodman: King Of Swing. They are both the same price and were newly mastered in 2000 and 2003 respectively.

The basic difference? "Very Best" has unnaturally deep bass. Don't get me wrong, if we had the technology to hear deep bass as it was recorded, then i am ALL for it. Unfortunately, the added bass on this release muddles out much of the bottom end. The drums, bass, and any other deep notes kinda run together. On the other end, the high end is clipped just slightly. It's got that bass beat that i suppose my generation is supposed to like, but since the mid-upper range is flat, it lacks punch.

Now, the "BlueBird's Best" sounds fantastic. The bass is just a tad on the restrained side, but the middle and upper frequencies are clear and defined. It has great punch, and the intruments are more detailed. Essentially, you HEAR MORE of the music. Besides, you can always turn the bass up slightly if you really need that deep bass. But you will NEVER be able to regain the clarity of the middle/upper frequencies by fiddling with your stereo. That clarity is lost on the "Very Best" collection.

Upon further inspection inside, i realized that even though they were released only 3 years apart, and come from the same company, they have totally different restoration engineers. I suppose since the newer one is clearer and more defined, they found good reason to change the mastering technique.

"Very Best" has a few more tracks than "BlueBird", but ALL the "Bluebird" tracks are big band tunes, whereas several on the other disc are with Goodman's Trios & Quartets. Those small groups are fantastic, but wouldn't you rather listen to them on BlueBird's sister album, Legendary Small Groups? (Trust me, they sound better there, too).

I think i've said enough. Listen for yourself and make up your own mind. As i try to collect different classic big band collections, i'm sticking with the BlueBird ones where available....next: Count Basie & Artie Shaw.