The Peggy Lee Bio-Discography And Videography:
The Benny Goodman Years
by Iván Santiago-Mercado

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Peggy Lee's Career As Benny Goodman Orchestra's Canary, 1941-1943

Benny Goodman (ldr), John Hammond (pdr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), John Simmons (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)

At The Recording Session

During the summer of 1941, The Benny Goodman Orchestra welcomed numerous additions to its fold: pianist Mel Powell and drummer Sid Catlett (in June), bassist John Simmons, saxophonists George Berg, Chuck Gentry, Vido Musso, and Clint Neagley (in July), and vocalist Peggy Lee (in August). Many of the instrumentalists had actually played in earlier editions of the orchestra, but were of course new to this particular edition.

When the band headed to the studio for the present August 15 session, all new male members had had one or two previous recording experiences as part of the ensemble. The pianist and the drummer had participated in a studio session held on June 11. The saxophonists and the bassist had joined them and the rest of the orchestra at an August 1 session.

For her part, the female vocalist was a complete novice in the recording studio: this August 15 session marked her debut on record. Moreover (and in contract to the new male members), she had not been playing with the rest of the ensemble for weeks. By this point, the most that she had spent onstage with The Benny Goodman Orchestra was three or four evenings -- possibly even less than that. (The exact day on which Lee joined the band remains unknown.)

None of the newer additions to the band fared particularly well on this date. What's more, the ensemble's collective effort was dismissed by a few music critics, and even dissed by some Goodman fans of note. No less an authority than the bandleader's bio-discographer, D. Russell Connor, referred to the sound of the entire reed section as very ragged. He added that the nervous vocalist would show improvement during the next session, held five days later.

In her autobiography, Peggy Lee quotes Mel Powell's recollection of this Friday the 15th date: "Columbia Records, to whom Benny was contracted, always came to wherever the band was playing. So they arrived in Chicago to record. There Peg was, making a recording with Benny Goodman just a day or two after she joined the band. She met CBS producer John Hammond in the control room, and he handed her the sheet music for Elmer's Tune. This was a pretty tough rap for a kid. There was no taping on those days. You just made records. If you blew something, you started from the beginning. You didn't say, 'Well, let's take it from measure 39 and splice it.' She was so nervous. The sheet music John handed her made such a racket, and they didn't have high-tech ways of beating that, so unfortunately, it sounded like a forest fire that was going over the brass, over the saxophones. Peggy had probably been up all night learning this thing, and then she came in, and the arrangement was disorienting because Elmer's Tune was very clever, very fancy, full of stuff."

Part of the vocalist's difficulty stemmed from the fact her new boss did not think that singers needed to rehearse with the band. (The strict purpose of Goodman's rehearsals was the fine-tuning of the instrumentalists -- with occasional exceptions, of course.) In other words, Lee was not only coming into the recording studio for the first time but also trying a number that she had not previously practiced with the ensemble -- not live, not in the studio.

Fortunately, the newcomer counted with the invaluable aid of pianist Mel Powell, an 18-year-old prodigy who had joined the band two months before the arrival of the 21-year-old Lee. After the initial aborted attempts, Powell and Lee met in an adjacent room, where they sat down and ran through the more demanding parts of the arrangement. By creating a cue especially for her ("I'm just gonna pop that in there in the midst of what seems to be just a ramble over the band while the band's playing ... you catch it from that ... count four, and go"), the pianist immensely helped the vocalist, making possible the subsequent waxing of two complete takes.

(Later sessions -- probably most of the ones in New York -- did feature vocal rehearsals, though they seem to have alloted a very minimal amount of time. According to Lee herself during a 1974 interview, "[w]e rehearsed a great deal. Actually, my part of the rehearsal wasn’t that important. But I was always there. And I might have waited three hours before they got to a song with a vocal in it. But that taught me patience and humility and the value of rehearsing, of being prepared.")


Songs

1. "Elmer's Tune" And The Music Charts
"Elmer's Tune" was not fondly remembered by Peggy Lee. In 1983, an interviewer described Lee as involuntarily shuddering at the mention of the tune: "Oh, that. First, I hated Elmer's Tune, and second, it was in Helen Forrest's key ..."

Leaving aside the unpleasant memories of a difficult recording session (and the unsavory challenge of singing in somebody else's key), there were other plausible reasons for Lee's dislike of the number. "Elmer's Tune" was a far cry from the sophisticated repertoire of swing and standards that she had come to associate with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. The novelty tune features lyrics which evoke a backwoods atmosphere: "What makes a lady of eighty / Go out on the loose / Why does the gander / Meander in search of a goose / What put a kick in a chicken / The magic in June / It's just Elmer's tune ..." Better suited for a vocal group (or a hillbilly act), such tongue-twisting lyrics must have failed to meet the high expectations of the young Lee. They were not the most ideal of choices for her debut with the top band that she had long and hugely admired.

In the estimation of many of the era's big band fans, this ditty was, on the other hand, a winner: playfully humorous and, most importantly, eminently danceable. A version by The Glenn Miller Orchestra became the nation's top hit in early October 1941. It featured Ray Eberle and The Modernaires on vocals. Competing versions included not only Goodman's but another one recorded by Dick Jurgens and His Orchestra, with vocal chorus by Eddy Howard. It reached the top 10. (Since Jurgens was one of the credited songwriters, he might have actually been the first to record the tune.) Both hit versions counted with the advantage of being sold at competitive prices. Miller's was issued by RCA on its budget subsidiary Bluebird, and Jurgens' on Columbia own budget line, Okeh.

Though released in the pricier Columbia label, Goodman's version enjoyed some measure of popularity, at least in the Chicago area. (Reports of its success come from contemporaneous newspapers, which are vague as to specifics.) The Goodman-Lee version is also listed in Edward Foote Gardner's Popular Songs Of The Twentieth Century: A Charted History as one of four that received airplay and which made a dent in Billboard's charts. (Three of these versions have been already mentioned in this and the previous paragraph. The fourth version was by The Andrews Sisters, on Decca. Foote Gardner's book does not include charting positions or any other specifics.)

Thanks to airplay not only on radio but also on film, "Elmer's Tune" remained current for about two years after the charting versions had run their course. Movie audiences who went to see Universal's Strictly In The Groove (premiering in November 1942, running nationwide in 1943) were treated to a performance of the song. (For another number featured in Strictly In The Groove that Lee happened to record, see her #1 hit "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place," which she and Goodman recorded on November 13, 1941.) Moreover, the popular radio show Hit Parade named "Elmer's Tune" one of the top songs of 1943 after the ditty spent 15 weeks in the show's countdown. There was also an attempt at extending the string of successes which "Elmer's Tune" had enjoyed: Elmer Albrecht (a Chicago undertaker who had named the tune after himself) wrote a follow-up which he of course titled "Elmer Done It Again," and which, unfortunately for him, got nowhere.


Masters And Issues

1. Columbia Co #36359 [single]
This 78 was Peggy Lee's debut on record. The issue, seen here, does credit her by name ("vocal chorus by Peggy Lee").

2. "Elmer's Tune" And Benny Goodman, Featuring Peggy Lee [CD]
The 1993 Columbia CD Benny Goodman, Featuring Peggy Lee identifies its version of "Elmer's Tune" as a "previously unissued master." For more than one reason, such a wording is at the very least equivocal, if not plain wrong.

The claim that CCO 3950-1 was "previously unissued" is also inaccurate. This alternate take was first issued by the collectors' label Phontastic, probably with the blessing of Benny Goodman himself, back in 1980. (As for the only other extant take, the master, Columbia first issued it in 1941, on its subsidiary label Okeh.) The likely reason why Columbia (Sony) calls CCO 3950-1 unissued is because the company itself had not released it before. As explained by Goodman's bio-discographer D. Russell Connor, who wrote the notes for the aforementioned Phontastic album: "[i]n company with other major label producers, Sony refuses to acknowledge prior releases on unauthorized labels."

Still futher, and given the fact that the performance in question (CCO 3950-1) is not the master, the last of the three words in question (i.e., "previously unissued master") should be "alternate."

3. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this session was the instrumental "The Birth Of The Blues" (master #3951).

4. Breakdowns
There are no extant breakdowns from this date.


Arrangements

1. "Elmer's Tune"
The arranger of "Elmer's Tune" was either Mel Powell or Eddie Sauter. As discussed in the next paragraphs, my main sources disagree on this matter.

Powell's own comments about this date, quoted in Lee's autobiography, vaguely point to Sauter as the arranger.

In the track listing of various Columbia Legacy CDs (#53422, #65686), Mel Powell is listed as pianist/arranger of "Elmer's Tune." And yet, the liner annotator of one of those CDs (#53422) alludes instead to Eddie Sauter as the arranger. Perhaps one or both of the track list annotators wrongly inferred that, because Powell was the session's pianist, he had to have been the arranger, too.

For his part, bio-discographer D. Russell Connor lists Mel Powell not only as this session's pianist but also as the arranger of its other performance (the instrumental "The Birth of The Blues"). However, Connor does not list any arranger for "Elmer's Tune," thereby suggesting that he, too, is uncertain of his identity.


Location

None of the consulted sources identifies the exact location of Benny Goodman's Chicago sessions. In one instance, Russell Connor does refer to "Chicago's Columbia Studios," but he does not provide any further specifics.

Benny Goodman (ldr), John Hammond (pdr), Bill Savory (eng), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), John Simmons (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)

At The Recording Session

1. John Hammond
John Hammond was the producer of Goodman's 1941 Chicago sessions. (The identity of the man who produced all subsequent dates -- which were held in New York -- remains unknown to me. The Japanese LP Elmer's Tune gives credit to Hammond for the production of all 32 takes in the album, but I am wary of collective credits, since they often turn out to be inaccurate. Besides, this collective credit is not found in other official issues, nor is it explicitly given in Benny Goodman's bio-discography. What's more, Ross Firestone states in his book Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life & Times of Benny Goodman that at the end of 1941 Hammond "took what was described as an indefinite leave of absence from Columbia Records.")

Despite what is suggested in various books about Benny Goodman and his music, it was apparently at this session (not at the previous one) that Hammond tried to get rid of the band's new canary. In the words of D. Russell Connor: "Benny was ... annoyed with John Hammond during this session. With Helen Forrest on notice, John kept bugging Benny to hire Billie Holiday, get rid of Peggy Lee, who just cahn't sing, Benny, she really cahn't. Benny put a stop to that by throwing a chair at his future brother-in-law." Given the fact that the Goodman bio-discographer personally listened to the session tapes -- and consulted with Goodman, too -- Russell Connor's account should be deemed more reliable than those found in other texts. One such text is Ross Firestone's otherwise recommended Swing, Swing, Swing, in which Hammond's "cahn't sing" exclamations are presented as part of the happenings from the previous date (August 15, 1941). Firestone himself might not necessarily be at fault for the ascription of these events to the previous date, however. He seems to have relied not only on previous literature but also on oral testimony from those present at the sessions. Perhaps the passing of time led one of the participants to coalesce into one date events that had happened over the two Chicago dates.

Another active participant in the events under scrutiny -- in addition to Goodman, Hammond, and Lee -- was audio engineer Bill Savory. His presence at the date is explained by Russell Connor as follows: "Benny was unhappy with the audio engineering in Columbia's Chicago studios, hastily summoned Billy Savory to participate, give them a hand." (Incidentally, Goodman gave to Savory various takes from the session as souvenirs, including the three unissued takes of "I See A Million People" that are listed above.) Savory was probably Russell Connor's source for the remarks quoted in the previous paragraph, and he was definitely one of the sources for the comments from Firestone's book, where his colorful account is quoted at length: "It was a very tense situation. Then, to make matters worse, John started hassling Benny about Peggy's deficiencies. Benny, she cahn't sing. She just cahn't sing. Finally, out of exasperation, Benny picked up a chair and hurled it across the studio at him. John was amazed and upset. What does one do?, he asked me. Does one fight? 'Just forget about it,' I told him. 'The sight of blood would probably make you faint.' "

According to Firestone, Hammond "continued to hold fast to his disdain even after [Peggy Lee] had more than proved herself through such excellent recordings as Let's Do It, Where Or When and Somebody Else Is Taking My Place. He quotes Hammond as having once declared that Lee had "no vocal or interpretative talent."

A man who relentlessly championed Count Basie and (most notably) Billie Holiday but at times dismissed Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, Hammond was highly opinionated as a critic, relentless as a promoting impresario and, according to acquaintances, rigidly unwilling to entertain views other than his own. Though a highly influential figure in the world of jazz music (and beyond), his personality earned harsh criticism from many of those who knew him -- and also from others who interacted with the not-so-gentle-man on a more limited basis. (His sense of ethics has come into scrutiny as well. The battery of charges includes fickleness, rudeness, pettiness, haughtiness, thoughtless obstinacy, vindictiveness with his pen, opportunism, self-aggrandizement, and distortion -- or even outright fabrication -- of anecdotal stories.) In the 1930s and 1940s, his influence in the hiring and firing of personnel from The Benny Goodman Orchestra became a sore subject among musicians, too. As James Lincoln Collier explains in his book Benny Goodman And The Swing Era (while indirectly quoting Benny Goodman's first canary, Helen Ward), "Hammond's meddling was frequently resented by the members of the band, said Ward, in part because they felt they knew more about how the music should be played than Hammond did, and partly because they knew his tastes were fickle, and he might at any moment start urging Benny to fire any of them in favor of somebody he had recently heard."


Songs

1. "I See A Million People" In The Music Charts
In his book Popular Songs Of The Twentieth Century: A Charted History, Edward Foote Gardner lists three versions of this song that, according to his research, received airplay in 1941. One of them is the original version sung by Una Mae Carlisle, another the above-listed Benny Goodman-Peggy Lee version, issued on Columbia. The third, which is also found in Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954: Cab Calloway's, whose vocal was released by Columbia's budget line Okeh. Whitburn lists neither the Goodman-Lee nor the Carlisle versions.


Masters

1. World Transcription Recordings
2. Mysterious, Unknown 1941 Peggy Lee Recordings?
Discographer D. Russell Connor makes reference to some mysterious Goodman & Lee sides whose existence still remains in doubt: "music press reports at this time [i.e., in late August 1941] claimed Benny recorded some sides with vocals by Peggy for World Transcriptions. Benny has no recollection of such a session, cannot imagine under what circumstances it would have occurred."

I have not come across any other mentions of such transcriptions. (Lee did record for the World transcription service, but she did so in the 1950s, by which time she was an established solo artist.) The aforementioned music press reports from 1941 may thus be erroneous. Misinterpretation could have stemmed from the fact that, between 1939 and 1941, Columbia Records occasionally made use of the World Broadcasting System's studio in New York. Perhaps The Benny Goodman Orchestra came into World not to do transcriptions, but to participate in some live radio broadcast, or even to record a studio date. (However, if the possibility that it was a studio date were to be entertained, it should be noted that this page includes all the studio dates that Lee is officially known to have recorded with Goodman.)

The following is another possible source of confusion, though a less likely one: many studio recordings of the 1940s were re-pressed on transcription discs by the Armed Forces Radio Service. For instance, Goodman-and-Lee's Columbia recordings of "I See A Million People," "On The Sunny Side Of The Street," and "Why Don't You Do Right?" made appearances on AFRS transcription discs.

In conclusion, there is no factual evidence of 1941 World transcription recordings by Lee with Goodman. Still, the lack of evidence does not automatically discard the possibility that such recordings were made. (As for Goodman's incredulous reaction, his memory is known to have been faulty in other occasions.)

3. "I See A Million People"
This session's three unissued masters of "I See A Million People" were not kept in Columbia's vaults. For that reason, the official paperwork at Columbia does not list them. Discographer Russell Connor explains that they were found in the possession of audio engineer Bill Savory, who kept them as souvenirs of the date, after they were discarded. (As previously mentioned, Savory was not a regular member of Columbia's staff in Chicago. He became involved in the session at Goodman's request. According to Russell Connor, the bandleader felt "unhappy with the engineering in Columbia's Chicago studios.")

4. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this session were the instrumentals "The Birth Of The Blues" (master #3951; a remake) and "Clarinet A La King" (master #3980).

5. Breakdowns
There are no extant breakdowns from this date.


Cross-references

1. "My Old Flame"
According to Peggy Lee, "My Old Flame" was the number -- or one of the numbers -- that she sang during her very first concert with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. (That onstage appearance took place just one or two days before her August 15 debut session -- or, at most, three or four days earlier.) "My Old Flame" is, therefore, a very important song in Peggy Lee's canon. After she became a solo artist, Lee re-recorded it twice, once for Decca (on June 7, 1956) and once for Capitol (on February 28, 1969). It is the only composition that Lee recorded in each of the three main decades of her discographical career. (See also session dated October 2, 1941, which lists a Goodman-and-Lee remake of "My Old Flame.")


Discographical Clarifications

1. Secondary Masters
2. Takes #3982-"A" / #3982-"B"/ #3982-"C"
For an explanation of my use of the term "secondary master" in this and in some subsequent dates, see note at the very bottom of this page. See same note for an explanation of takes that have a letter designation ("A," "B," "C," etc.)

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Morty Stuhlmaker (b), Mel Powell (p), Jo Jones (d), Peggy Lee (v)

On The Road: The Transitional Weeks

When this date took place, more than a month had elapsed since Peggy Lee's enrollment in The Benny Goodman Orchestra. The singer and the rest of the band had spent the intervening weeks traveling and performing across the nation. Lee's previous experiences with traveling bands had been on a smaller scale (in and around North Dakota's Valley City with the Doc Haines ensemble, back when she was 14 or 15; from Minneapolis to Missouri with The Will Osborne Orchestra, when she was 20). Still, those experiences probably eased her way into the more taxing travails of an itinerant life with a national band -- travails which included dizzying location changes every few days, irregular or limited sleep, and everyday difficulties brought about by non-familiarity with new accommodations.

Traveling must have also strengthened Lee's ties with fellow band members. During the previous month in Chicago, when her nerves had overtaken her, she had felt that the band's members were not speaking to her, but by the time of this session, she was well integrated into the band, and on friendly terms with her fellow musicians.

Widespread approval from concert fans would take months, however. Many concertgoers were still pining after the stylings of the orchestra's previous canary, the very popular and highly regarded Helen Forrest. But thanks to vocals waxed during these New York sessions, Peggy Lee would soon begin to earn fans from the radio-listening and record-buying public.


Peggy Lee's Early Successes: The New York Recording Sessions

Judging from the aural results, Lee seems to have been in a self-assured and relaxed state of mind during this September session, and even more so during the ensuing dates. For her, this particular session must have signified a fresh start in the recording studio. Unlike previous ones, the date was held in New York, not in Chicago. New arrangements, mostly by Mel Powell, were now being tailored for her range. (At this point, her song assignments were probably a combination of fresh numbers thought to suit her and numbers that Eddie Sauter, in particular, had arranged with Helen Forrest in mind.) And, as previouly mentioned, she had become well integrated to the band, thanks to weeks spent traveling together. As for the rather nefarious presence of John Hammond in the studio, there is no indication that he actively produced or even attended the New York sessions.

Hammond's earlier protests notwithstanding, Goodman's hiring of Lee would soon prove a wise decision. For starters, one of her vocals from this very session proved popular among concert audiences (see below, under Songs). Then, at the date which follows this one, Lee recorded the first official chart hit of her career. Subsequent dates resulted in further hits, including a couple of big sellers.

A clear indication of Peggy Lee's ascent in Goodman's estimation happened when he asked her to participate in two of the bandleader's prestigious sextet sessions. Her vocals were granted a prominent role on both occasions, and Lee certainly took advantage of the opportunity. (See sessions dated December 24, 1941 and March 10, 1942.) Those sessions' ballads ("Where Or When," "The Way You Look Tonight") display a very personalized style of singing which most likely harks back to the years before Lee had become a member of Goodman's big band orchestra. (As part of their integration to the orchestras from the time, Lee and most other singers had often had to subjugate their styles to the dance-oriented beat which audiences craved from the bands.)

On at least two New York recording dates, including this one, the singer was also allowed to offer input in the area of song selection. (For further details, see immediately below, under Songs. See also notes under session dated July 27, 1942.)

As for the specifics surrounding this initial New York recording session, none involving Lee are known, unfortunately. All the anecdotal details that have been passed down over the decades pertain to problems with the use of percussion during the date.


Location

None of my main sources identifies the exact location where Benny Goodman held his 1941 Chicago and New York sessions.

For the New York dates, Liederkranz Hall is a prime suspect. In various interviews, Lee and Goodman corroborate that they indeed recorded together in this hall, which was then located between Lexington Avenue and Park Avenue. However, such general comments from the artists offer no guarantee that each of the New York dates (16 in total) took place in the same building. Hence the present discography lists Liederkranz Hall only for those specific sessions that Goodman, Lee, or any other member of the personnel identified as having occurred there. (Columbia is known to have also had four recording studios at a penthouse facility located on 799 Seventh Avenue. The company would acquire yet another facility in the late 1940s, and would occasionally record in World Transcriptions' studio as well.)


Songs (And Cross-references)

1. "Let's Do It"
According to D. Russell Connor, "Let's Do It" was Peggy Lee's "first big hit" with The Benny Goodman Orchestra and "a must in her repertoire for years. He adds that "Peggy's sexy treatment of those clever lyrics was a looked-for highlight of Benny's dance and radio dates of wartime '40's." Russell Connor seems to be referring not to popularity in radio airplay but to audience demand during Goodman's concerts, which were sometimes broadcast on the radio. However, "Let's Do It" was most likely excised or left out from many of those broadcasts. (Despite his allusion to "Let's Do It" as a highlight at Goodman's radio dates, Russell Connor's bio-discography lists only one radio broadcast in which Lee is heard singing the number -- that is to say, just one broadcast among dozens listed. Ever since its original publication in 1928, the song's suggestive lyrics kept it out of the airwaves, and thereby away from a significant chunk of the record-buying public.)

At any rate, Russell Connor's comment suggests that "Let's Do It" was Lee's unofficial first hit.

Peggy Lee told radio broadcaster Fred Hall that the Cole Porter standard was among the numbers that she had sung during her pre-Goodman days at the Buttery Room of Chicago's Ambassador West Hotel. Hence "Let's Do It" may have been Lee's first active contribution (or suggestion) to the band's repertoire, and as such, an indication that she was gaining a footing amidst Goodman's ensemble. In her autobiography, the singer further clarified how she became acquainted with the tune. "Rather late at night after I sang," explained Lee, "I would go to Rush Street and hear Laura Ricker [sic; Rucker] and Baby Dodds [brother of Johnny Dodds] -- two of the truly old-time greats. Laura played the piano and sang, Baby sang and played the drums ...... she taught me how to sing songs like Let's Do It ... They both had quite an effect on me, and, without reservation, I loved them very much."

The Benny Goodman Orchestra re-recorded "Let's Do It" on October 21. That saucier-sounding version (not this one) is the Peggy Lee vocal that has become best-known through continued issuing, although this version also displays a fine reading of the lyrics. More generally, and in comparison with the August dates, both this and the October 21 date reveal a commendably looser (more tongue-in-cheek and adventuresome) approach on Lee's part.

2. "How Deep Is The Ocean?"
For comments about Lee's rendition(s) of this song, see notes under session dated October 8, 1941.


Masters And Cross-references

1. Non-Lee Masters
2. Non-Lee Vocals: Tommy Taylor
Also recorded during this session were "The Earl" (master #31364; an instrumental) and " 'Tis Autumn," which features a vocal by Tommy Taylor (master #3136).

3. Sequence Of Masters And Takes
During this session, the band actually recorded numerous takes of both "The Earl" and "How Deep Is The Ocean?". Word of mouth suggests that Goodman was dissatisfied with the session's drummer, who was not Sid Cattlett, the band's regular drummer at the time (Sid Cattlett) but Jo Jones. As extant, the recording sequence begins with two completed takes of "How Deep Is The Ocean?," which are followed by various takes of "The Earl," some complete, some aborted. More takes of the two songs ensue, but without drums. When queried decades later, a hesitant Goodman simply offered that the sometimes problematic acoustics at Liederkranz Hall had probably led him and his engineer to get rid of the drums. He did not think that there were any difficulties with personnel -- other queried witnesses suggest otherwise -- or at least he had no recollection of any.

4. "How Deep Is The Ocean?" (Takes' Order And Availability)
Before the CD era, Columbia does not seem to have released any of this session's takes of "How Deep Is The Ocean?". For the take that Columbia did originally issue on 78, see remake session dated October 8, 1941.

The first two takes of "How Deep Is The Ocean?" shown above (named A and B) differ from the last two (numbered 1 and 2) in instrumentation. Drums are present in A and B, absent in 1 and 2.

Furthermore, Columbia's database lists only the two takes of "How Deep Is The Ocean?" that are herein identified as take #1 and take #2. The other two takes of "How Deep Is The Ocean?" were belatedly found -- presumably in the possession of Goodman or one of the other main participants. Their designation as "A" and "B" is exclusive to this discography; elsewhere, both tend to be listed simply as master 31363, with no additional number (or letter) to differentiate between them.

These four takes are herein listed in the order in which they were performed.

5. Breakdowns
Two "How Deep Is The Ocean?" breakdowns are extant, both from the drumless segment of the date. Also extant are three consecutive "Let's Do It" breakdowns, following the first completed take. There are no extant "That's The Way It Goes" breakdowns.


Personnel

1. Jo Jones
Jo Jones present on takes A and B of "How Deep Is The Ocean?" only. Jones out on all other above-listed takes and masters.


Arrangements And Cross-references

1. "Let's Do It"
"Let's Do It" began as a head arrangement, later polished by Mel Powell. See also notes under session dated October 21, 1941.


Issues, Alternate Takes And Cross-references

1. "Let's Do It" And Okeh #6474 [78]
The single that pairs "Let's Do It" and the instrumental "The Earl" was originally issued not on Columbia but on its budget subsidiary Okeh. Discographer Russell Connor deems Columbia's decision "a strategical move to counter RCA's low-priced Bluebird releases." It was the first of what would be various Goodman singles in the Okeh series.

Okeh #6474 has a couple of peculiarities. For starters, not all of this 78's pressings feature the same take of "Let's Do It." One pressing contains take #2, another take #4. The pressing that contains take #2 was apparently withdrawn and replaced with the other pressing. The presumed motivation for the withdrawal is the lack of an audible drummer in that take. Goodman and/or Columbia might have objected to the company's initial issuing of the drumless take.

Notice also that, although Columbia's cataloguing system identifies those two performances of "Let's Do It" as takes from the same matrix (31367), in reality they were not recorded during the same session, but at different dates. See one of the pressings, probably #4, here.

For other peculiarities pertaining to "Let's Do It" and to Okeh #6474, and for additional takes of "Let's Do It," see session dated October 21, 1941, including note entitled "Let's Do It": Comparison Of Takes.

2. "Let's Do It" And Elmer's Tune [LP]
In a 1996 update to his 1988 Benny Goodman bio-discography, D. Russell Connor tried to correct an error that he had allegedly made in an earlier edition of the text. In the 1988 edition, he had supposedly misidentified the take of "Let's Do It" which is included in the LP Elmer's Tune as #2, when it was #4 instead. My inspection of the actual LP reveals that Connor was paradoxically wrong in thinking that he was wrong: the LP in fact contains both takes of the song (#2 and #4). I have thus disregarded Russell Connor's self-correction. (For take #4, see session dated on October 21, 1941.)

3. "Let's Do It" And Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
Columbia Legacy's 1999 CD set includes two takes of "Let's Do It," the one recorded during this date (#2) and another one (#4), recorded on October 21. The CD's discographical annotator has made a transpositional error in the identification of those two takes:

Track #8 (in the first of the set's two CDs) is misidentified by the annotator as take #4 from October 21. It is actually take #2 from this September 25 date .

Track #19 (also in the first of the two CDs) is misidentified by the annotator as take #2 from September 25. It is actually take #4 from October 21.

My thanks to the ever-vigilant Bill "Mr. Alternate Take" Brooks for noticing and pointing out the annotator's error to me.

4. "How Deep Is The Ocean?" And Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
Columbia Legacy's 2CD set Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings also contains two takes of the song "How Deep Is The Ocean?". One take is from October 8.

The other take, dated September 25, 1941, shall be the focus of the present paragraph. It is track #18 of the 2CD set's first disc. The CD's annotator identifies it as alternate take #1. However, record collector Bill Brooks has a dissenting opinion on this matter. He convincingly argues that the take in question cannot be #1, because drums are featured. (Take #1 is known to be drumless -- ditto for take #2. The takes known to feature drums are the ones herein identified as "A" and "B.") Brooks feels certain that it is take "A" because he has listened to the issue in which that take was originally issued -- i.e., Blu-Disc's 1986 LP The Unheard Benny Goodman, Volume 8. Not having been able to listen to that LP, I cannot fully corroborate or deny Bill's claim, but I am willing to tentatively endorse it. (Further strengthening his argument": we know of no issues containing take "B". It thus appears to remain unissued.)

For another discographical error in the same 2CD set, pertaining to the other take of "How Deep Is The Ocean?," see notes about issues under session dated October 8, 1941.

5. "Let's Do It" And Public Domain Issues
Most Public Domain issues contain not this session's take of "Let's Do It" (#2) but the master take of the same song (#4) which was recorded later, on October 21, 1941. Readers must bear in mind, however, that I have not been able to listen to every single Goodman/Lee Public Domain issue. In some instances, I have simply made the tentative assumption that the included take is #4, not #2. Corrections from those who own any of the PD issues would be appreciated.

In passing, it is worth noting that the once uncommonly found take #2 is now more easily available to bootleggers and Public Domain companies, due to its inclusion in the two above-bolded, widely distributed CD issues from the 1990s. Case in point: Acrobat's Where Or When, which showed no compunction in grabbing the entire contents of the Columbia Legacy CD set, alternate takes included.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Morty Stuhlmaker (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. Peggy Lee's Billboard Hits
Peggy Lee's string of 70 Billboard entries began with a Columbia master from this 1941 session. The string lasted 33 years, ending with the 1974 Atlantic master "Let's Love."

2. "I Got It Bad" In The Music Charts
According to Joel Whitburn's estimates in his book Pop Memories, 1890-1954, Peggy Lee's first Billboard hit appeared in the charts during the week of November 15, 1941 and peaked at #25. (Duke Ellington's own version of "I Got It Bad," with a vocal by his canary Ivie Anderson, had entered the charts a month earlier. It is estimated to have peaked at #13.)

"I Got It Bad" was also the first of Lee's 10 chart hits as vocalist with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. During her stay with the band, vocals actually accounted for the bulk of chart hits by the orchestra. (Besides Lee's entries, there were also a couple of charting numbers sung by Dick Haymes, who was the orchestra's male singer for a few weeks.) The orchestra had only two instrumental hits within the period in question.

(Nota bene: In making the previous commentary about the ratio of vocal to instrumental hits, my chief intention has been to show that Lee contributed to the band's success during the early 1940s. My commentary should not be misconstrued as an indication that Lee or any other Goodman vocalist deserves primary credit for the band's overall success. Before Lee and Haymes joined the band, Goodman had had well over a hundred radio hits -- just as many instrumentals as vocals by his previous singers. The bandleader would go on to have about thirty more hits after Haymes and Lee left his orchestra.)


Masters

1. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this session were the instrumentals "Caprice XXIV Paganini" (master #31390), "Clarinet A La King" (master #31393) and "I'm Here" (master #31402).

2. Breakdowns
Two consecutive "My Old Flame" breakdowns have been preserved. There are no extant "I Got It Bad" breakdowns.


Issues

1. "My Old Flame" And Columbia Co #36754 [78]
As noted by Russell Connor, original 78 #36754 omits credit to Peggy Lee for her "My Old Flame" vocal.


Collectors' Corner

1. Vocalists ("70 Oz." Series) [CD]
I have generally listed various-artists compilations in a separate discographical page, but have made exceptions for a few compilations that might be of interest to collectors. The 1995 CD Vocalists ("70 Oz." Series) is a Sony-licensed product which includes Lee's version of "I Got It Bad." For a front cover, this release features a drawing of a brass section and a female, singing into a microphone. Though the woman is unidentified, her face is clearly Peggy Lee's (minus mole, and with a neo-swing attire which is unlike anything that Lee was ever known to wear, however).


Cross-references

1. "My Old Flame"
For an earlier version of "My Old Flame," see master #3981 in session dated August 20, 1941.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Skip Martin, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell, Cootie Williams (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Sid Catlett (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. "How Deep Is The Ocean?"
Critical Praise. In the book The Swing Era, Eddie Sauter's arrangements of How Deep Is The Ocean? and My Old Flame are singled out for praise. Author Gunther Schuller also writes approvingly of Peggy Lee's interpretative talents. In How Deep Is The Ocean?, he hears a suitably "unemotional, virtually passive" voice that "drifts across the song like a slow-moving distant cloud in the sky." (According to a commentator on the net, the virtues of Lee's low-key vocal have also been extolled through the simile "as still as a full moon gliding silently across a cloudless sky.") Peggy Lee herself would have been pleased by this correlation of her work with pictorial poetry.

Lyric Order. As noted by Richard Sudhalter in his essay for the Columbia Legacy CD Benny Goodman, Featuring Peggy Lee, the singer reverses the first four-bar lines of "How Deep Is The Ocean?". Instead of

How much do I love you?
I'll tell you no lie
How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?

the lines are sung as follows:

How deep is the ocean?
How high is the sky?
How much do I love you?
I'll tell you no lie

Since the same pattern is present in all takes that I've heard, the reversal seems to have been intentional. If so, perhaps this reversal was requested by the bandleader or by the session's producer. (On the web, I have read comments from listeners who assert that Goodman demanded the alteration. The presumable motivation for the change would have been a desire to start the vocal with its title. The same listeners also claim that Lee originally sang the song in the correct order, after which Goodman requested the reversal. That's certainly a logical scenario, and therefore it could have happened. Nevertheless, the reliable sources at my reach offer no confirmation, nor are there, as already mentioned, any extant takes which feature the official line order.)

2. "How Deep Is The Ocean?" In The Charts
Curiously, "How Deep Is The Ocean?" remained unissued for four years. Columbia's decision to finally release it in 1945 might have had something to do with the inclusion of this song in the film Blue Skies, which premiered in 1946. As a result of the film's high profile, the record companies issued competing singles by artists such as Margaret Whiting (Capitol) and Dick Haymes (Decca). Columbia might have also wanted to reap benefits from Peggy Lee's then-incipient success as a solo artist at Capitol.

According to Joel Whitburn's estimates in his book Pop Memories, 1890-1954, the Goodman-Lee version of "How Deep Is The Ocean?" appeared in the charts during the week of October 6, 1945 and peaked at #19. It belatedly became Lee's 10th charting success as Goodman's canary. (Margaret Whiting's Capitol version is not listed as charting in Whitburn's book, but, according to Edward Foote Gardner's Popular Songs Of The Twentieth Century: A Charted History, it also received airplay, making a smaller dent in the charts.)


Masters

1. A Session Of 'Makes' And Remakes
This was one of three consecutive sessions which Goodman partially or completely dedicated to remaking previously recorded songs. (Peggy Lee did not participate in the third one, dated October 23.)

"How Deep Is The Ocean?" had been first recorded during the orchestra's September 25 session. Columbia had assigned the numbers 1 and 2 to a couple of completed takes from that earlier date. At the present October 8 session, "How Deep Is The Ocean?" was re-recorded. The resulting performance received the same master number that had been previously used (31363), with a 3 suitably added to identify the new take.

Two other songs from this October 8 date would be remade in Goodman's next session, dated October 21: the above-listed "Shady Lady Bird" and also "Buckle Down, Winsocki," which does not feature Lee.

2. "Shady Lady Bird"
Only the master take of "Shady Lady Bird" (#1) is listed in Columbia's master logs. Three other takes, herein labeled them A, B and C, were belatedly found.

3. Non-Lee Masters
4. Non-Lee Vocals (Tommy Taylor)
Also recorded during this date were the instrumentals "Roll 'Em, Part 1" and "Roll 'Em, Part 2," to which Columbia did not assign a master number. A fifth recording from this session was "Buckle Down, Winsocki" (master #31427), whose vocal was sung by the orchestra's then-new, recently hired male vocalist, named Tommy Taylor, and which also featured a backing vocal by the musicians, singing in chorus. (During the ensuing October 21 session, this particular song was tried again, but it was assigned to other vocalists. Taylor's membership with The Benny Goodman Orchestra seems to have lasted a couple of weeks, at most.)

5. Breakdowns
Among the various aborted attempts from this date that are extant, one occurred during the recording of "How Deep Is The Ocean?" and three during the recording of "Shady Lady Bird." All other extant breakdowns happened during the recording of the session's instrumentals.


Dating

1. "Shady Lady Bird"
In addition to the four takes listed under this date, four more takes of "Shady Lady Bird" can be found in the next session (October 21). The dating of these eight takes is problematic. Columbia's database places those it lists in this session only. (Not all eight takes are listed by Columbia). Nevertheless, discographer D. Russell Connor does not believe that all extant take come from a single date. Because he inspected not only the Columbia's 16" safeties but also the reference tapes originally in Goodman's possession, I am trusting his judgment on this matter. His proposed distribution is thus the one that I have followed herein -- and through most of this page.


Issues And Collectors' Corner

1. "Shady Lady Bird" And The Different Pressings Of Columbia Co #36429 [78]
The issue Columbia #36429 exists in two different pressings. One pressing contains take #1 from this session. The other pressing features take #3 from the next session (October 21, 1941). The two pressings can be told apart by inspecting the typeface used on the song's title: in one case, it is the standard size for Columbia's typeface; in the other case, it is a smaller typeface.

There is some discrepancy as to which typeface accompanies which take. According to Russell Connor, take #1 shows the small typeface. However, music collector Mark Takasugi tells me that his copy of the 78, in small typeface, contains take #3, as "evidenced by the 3- imprinted in the dead wax directly across from the matrix number." Since I have not been able to inspect and listen to copies of this 78, I can offer no definite explanation for this discrepancy; I am wondering if the wax of the small typeface 78s wrongly identify the take as #3 -- and if close listening would reveal it to be take #1.

Through a secondary source, Mark also learned that, according to Benny Goodman expert Dave Jessup, take #3 was issued first, whereas take #1 was a later, erroneous (and perhaps regional) release.

2. "How Deep Is The Ocean?" And Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
Columbia Legacy's 2CD set Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings contains two takes of the song "How Deep Is The Ocean?". One take is from September 25. The other take (track #6, first CD) is from this date (October 8). The CD's annotator states that it was "[o]riginally released in 1941." That statement is incorrect: as shown above, "How Deep Is The Ocean?" was first released in 1945. (The alternates were of course released even later.)


Personnel

1. Cootie Williams
In Columbia's logs, this session from early October is the last one to include trumpet player Cootie Williams amidst its personnel. According to discographer Russell Connor, the trumpet player actually stayed with the band for the whole month, until October 31, when his one-year contract expired, but he does not appear to have come into the studio. Connor adds that Williams is present in extant broadcasts from later in October.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)

At The Recording Session. Masters, Dating And Cross-references.

1. A Session Of Remakes
This was a session entirely dedicated to remakes: "Shady Lady Bird," "Buckle Down Winsocki" (both previously recorded on October 8, 1941) and "Let's Do It" (first recorded on September 25, 1941). As Goodman bio-discographer D. Russell Connor states, "Benny had trouble getting these two tunes [Shady Lady Bird and Buckle Down Winsocki] from the musical Best Foot Forward onto wax satisfactorily. Each tune was recorded a total of eight times, spread over three studio dates. Shady Lady Bird, a simple-enough score probably by Mel Powell, seemed jinxed; the band would ride through it without mistake almost to the coda, then someone would hit a clinker. Finally the band got it right; Peggy's vocal is split by a Goodman-Powell interlude, Vido Musso solos against a brass background, and the result is a happy blend of piquant lyrics and lighthearted melody." [n.b.: Russell Connor alludes to three recording dates because when he wrote the above-quoted note -- in the late 1960s -- he indeed believed that those two songs had been recorded over a trio of October, 1941 sessions. But there was no known date for a few alternate takes, kept by Goodman in reference tapes, and not extant in Columbia's vaults. Later research (and also the "discovery of Columbia 6" safeties in private hands in 1984") led Connor to make corrections which included the assignation of those previously undated takes to two just dates, instead of three.]

2. "Let's Do It": Comparison Of Takes
Peggy Lee sings this session's takes of "Let's Do It" in a saucy manner, particularly where the title line is concerned. The other issued take from this session (#3) finds Lee in an even more humorous mood, especially toward the end of the song. In the earlier takes (September 25), she generally sings the title line in a manner that comes across as more emphatic than saucy.

3. Non-Lee Masters
4. Non-Lee Vocals: Tommy Dix And Benny Goodman
The only non-Lee master recorded during this session was "Buckle Down Winsocki." Initial takes of "Buckle Down Winsocki" featured vocals by Tommy Dix; later takes had Benny Goodman himself on vocals. [The earlier versions from October 8 used yet another vocalist, Tommy Taylor.] Also singing in all takes, as a chorus: the musicians. Explains D. Russell Connor: "The difficulty with Buckle Down Winsocki wasn't orchestral, it was vocal. Before he got a take he liked, Benny tried three vocalists: Tommy Taylor, Tommy Dix, and ... Benny Goodman! One effort by Taylor was released on V-Disc; one by Dix was issued by Columbia; but th[e] take with Benny singing was unissued until [1968]."

5. Breakdowns
During the recording of "Let's Do It," there were three aborted attempts. They took place right after the second completed take. There are no other extant breakdowns from this date.

6. Dating [Co #31426-2, Co #31426-3]
In Columbia's database, takes #2 and #3 of "Shady Lady Bird" are listed under the earlier, October 8 session, but in this sessionography, I have followed the lead of Goodman's discographer D. Russell Connor, who re-assigned those takes to this date. Russell Connor's alteration was based on his listening of the session tapes. (He also re-assigned various takes of "Buckle Down Winsocki" to this session.)


Arrangements

1. "Let's Do It"
"Let's Do It" began as a head arrangement which was apparently polished by Mel Powell. In Peggy Lee's own words, this was a tune with which "we fooled around ... quite a bit. I guess you'd have to say Mel Powell was responsible for the arrangement as it was finally recorded." Benny Goodman's comments, as quoted by D. Russell Connor, echo Lee's take on the matter: "we first started fooling around with this cute little tune of Cole Porter's [while playing in New Jersey's Meadowbrook club]. We changed it a couple of times, and I guess you'd have to credit Mel with the finished arrangement."

2. "Shady Lady Bird"
3. Stylistics: Mel Powell Versus Eddie Sauter
Goodman bio-discographer Russell Connor does not seem to have known who the arranger of "Shady Lady Bird" was. In his book, he identifies the arrangers of this session's two other songs -- Mel Powell for "Let's Do It," Cliff Jenkins for "Buckle Down Winsocki" -- but remains mum about "Shady Lady Bird."

However, in his aforementioned notes for the Epic LP Clarinet Ala King, Russell Connor does venture an educated guess. He writes, in passing, that the arrangement was "probably by Mel Powell." Writer and musician Richard M. Sudhalter shares the same opinion in his liner notes for Columbia Legacy CD #53422 (Peggy Lee And Benny Goodman).

One basis for the tentative assignation of ditties such as "Shady Lady Bird" to Powell is that his writing is, in Sudhalter's words, "generally clear and direct, without as much musical incident as [Eddie] Sauter's, and therefore flows better rhythmically."

In short, the identification of Mel Powell as the arranger of "Shady Lady Bird" is tentative.


Issues

1. "Let's Do It" And Okeh #6474 [78]
A peculiarity of this 78 is its existence in two versions. One version contains take #2 of "Let's Do It," the other take #4. The pressing that contains the rarer take (take #2, I believe, from the session dated September 25, 1941) is deemed a valuable collectible.

2. "Shady Lady Bird" And Columbia Co #36429 [78]
This 78 also exists in two pressings that contain different takes of "Shady Lady Bird." See notes under session dated October 8, 1941.

3. "Shady Lady Bird" And Benny Goodman, Featuring Peggy Lee [CD]
Columbia Legacy's 1993 CD incorrectly identifies its take of "Shady Lady Bird" as #3. According to D. Russell Connor, the disc contains take #2 instead.

4. "Shady Lady Bird" And Peggy Lee And Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
In Columbia Legacy's 1999 CD set, the master take of "Shady Lady Bird" is inaccurately dated October 8, 1941. The correct date is October 21. (This error is attributable to the original source. Columbia's old logs do list all takes of "Shady Lady Bird" under Goodman's October 8 session. But bio-discographer D. Russell Connor actually listened to the original session tapes, and found out that the takes are split between two consecutive sessions. Herein I have followed the corrected dating that the discographer established.)

5. "Let's Do It" And Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
Columbia Legacy's 1999 2CD set includes two takes of "Let's Do It," one recorded on September 25, 1941 (#2) and another (#4) recorded at this date. The CD's discographical annotator has made a transpositional error in the identification of those two takes:

Track #8 in the first CD is misidentified by the annotator as take #4 from October 21. It is actually take #2 from September 25.

Track #19, also in the first CD, is misidentified by the annotator as take #2 from September 25. It is actually this date's take #4.

My thanks to Bill Brooks for pointing out the annotator's error.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Jules "Julie" Schwartz (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Billy Butterfield, Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)

At The Recording Session

This was the first Benny Goodman date entirely dedicated to vocals by Peggy Lee. Goodman's decision to feature only Lee was a wise one: the session generated a number one hit -- Lee's first.

Judging from the dialogue that has been preserved in the session tapes, the date was a fun one, too. We hear Goodman accusing Lee of a mistake that, as it turns out, she had not made. The "non-mistake" occurred toward the session's end, while That Did It, Marie was being recorded. Reports D. Russell Connor: "Benny, evidently at a different microphone and watching the band, believes that Peggy has missed her entrance cue; he terminates the recording by exclaiming, in meter, 'Where the hell's the vocalist?' But Peggy is on time, and Benny realizes he's wrong; he says he's sorry, but asks, 'Why didn't you tell me about it?' The session proceeds [...]; as if to compensate, Benny digs hard. Peggy then saucily adds a bop phrase -- a a diddle la dip, When all the cats gave out their jive -- not on the original [...], seemingly in retaliation for the boss' blunder. Fun and games in the studio ..."


Songs

1. "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" In The Music Charts
According to Joel Whitburn's estimates in his book Pop Memories, 1890-1954, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" topped the Billboard charts for three consecutive weeks. Released by Columbia on its budget imprint Okeh, the smash hit entered the charts during the week of March 7, 1942. It stayed for a total of 15 weeks.

Competition came from Russ Morgan and His Morganaires, whose Decca version peaked at #5. Edward Foote Gardner's Popular Songs Of The Twentieth Century: A Charted History lists two other versions which received airplay, and which might have showed up in some (unspecified) charts. One is by The Bob Chester Orchestra, the other by Vaughn Monroe.

"Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" was the fourth Peggy Lee vocal to make a dent in Billboard's charts. The first one had been "I Got It Bad," from the a session dated October 2, 1941. The second and third hit vocals were actually recorded after "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" but released before. (See below, under sessions dated November 27 and December 24, 1941.)

Long after its 15 aforementioned weeks in the charts, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" managed the feat of re-entering them. Newly pressed and re-released on Columbia single #38198, "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" made its return during the week of June 19, 1948. On this second round, it peaked at #30 (according, once again, to Whitburn's estimates). One of the factors that probably triggered Columbia to re-release these performances was the success that Capitol had had, a few months earlier, with the Goodman-Lee track "For Every Man There's A Woman" (Capitol #15030, recorded on December 2, 1947).

"Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" thus holds the distinction of being not only Lee and Goodman's only #1 hit collaboration but also their #11 and final chart entry together.


2. "Somebody Nobody Loves"
3. The Singles Collection [CD]
The CD set The Singles Collection is a definitive retrospective of Lee's career. From her Goodman years, three tracks were picked. Although many would have considered the #1 ballad "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" a more logical choice, the producers chose to include instead the uptempo "Somebody Nobody Loves". Someone who would have approved of that decision is Goodman's bio-discographer D. Russell Connor, who once wrote the following about Lee's rendition: "[Somebody Nobody Loves is] her kind of tune, there's a perky lilt in her voice, and I consider it one of her better, if little remarked efforts."


Masters

1. Slightly Different Readings Of "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place"
The two preserved takes of "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" evince some minor but clear differences which should help collectors in the task of locating them. For the master take, Lee sings the fifth and six lines of the lyrics in their correct, official order ("Little you know the price that I paid / Little you care for vows that you made"). In the alternate take, she reverses those two lines ("Little you care for vows that you've made / Little you know the price that I've paid"). The fact that the tense was altered in the alternate take suggests that this reversal was thought out and, thus, intentional.

2. The Correct Takes Of "How Long Has This Been Going On?"
Two takes of "How Long Has This Been Going On?" were officially issued during the pre-CD era. Take #2 was the original release; it first came out in 1941, on 78. Take #1 was released as part of the Benny Goodman 10" LP Dance Parade, Volume 2, in 1950. Ever since, Columbia has regularly picked take #1 for issue in not only its main label but also its subsidiaries and licensees (Harmony, Hallmark, etc.). One exception is the 1993 CD Benny Goodman, Featuring Peggy Lee, in which the original master take was used.

A trait that distinguishes one take from the other is Lee's periodic use of a tremulous vibrato in take #2. For instance, only on take #2 does Lee apply vibrato to the "I" of the lines "Where have I / Been all these years?," which are heard around 36 seconds into the performance.

The fact that both of these takes were issued before the compact disc era complicates the task of determining their distribution. Posing the most difficulty are the many Public Domain CDs which do not supply discographical information. Here is a list of PD CDs whose take of "How Long Has This Been Going On?" I have been able to identify:


Flapper CD: In The Beginning ... [take #2; i.e., originally released master]
Gallerie CD: A Portrait Of Peggy Lee [take #2; i.e., originally released master]
Going-For-A-Song CD: The Fever Of Peggy Lee [take #2; i.e., originally released master]
Great Voices Of The Century CD: Oh La La Lee [take #2; i.e., originally released master]
History CD: Everything I Love [take #2; i.e., originally released master]
Music Club CD: Black Coffee; The Best Of Peggy Lee [take #2; i.e., originally released master]


ASV CD: It's A Good Day [take #1, aka "secondary master"]
ASV CD: Why Don't You So Right [take #1, aka "secondary master"]
Pickwick/Hallmark CD: Why Don't You So Right [take #1, aka "secondary master"]
Planet CD: Let There Be Love [take #1, aka "secondary master"]
Snapper CD: Linger [take #1, aka "secondary master"]
Tim/Document CD: A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues [take #1, aka "secondary master"]

Acrobat CD: Where Or When [probably take #1, aka "secondary master"]

In the case of all other Public Domain CDs that contain Lee's Columbia performance of "How Long Has This Been Going On?," I have not listened to them, and I do not know which take they contain. Until I'm able to locate copies and give them a listen, I am forced to arbitrarily "dump" all of those PD CDs under one of the two takes. Take #1 is my choice.

3. Non-Lee Masters
Only numbers with vocals by Peggy Lee were recorded during this session.

4. Breakdowns
There are four extant breakdowns from this date. Two happened during the recording of "Somebody Nobody Loves," one during "How Long Has This Been Going On?," and another during "That Did It, Marie."


Arrangements

1. "That Did It, Marie"
Columbia's database credits Eddie Sauter with the arrangement of "That Did It, Marie." After listening to the session tapes, discographer Russell Connor determined that the credit was erroneous. Dialogue heard in the session's aborted takes proves that the arranger was Mel Powell. Further corroboration comes from the arrangement itself, currently kept in the New York Public Library, as part of the Benny Goodman Collection of Musical Arrangements: it identifies Powell as its author.

2. "Somebody Else Is Taking My Place"
In his Benny Goodman bio-discography, D. Russell Connor lists no arranger for this number. Mel Powell "probably did the arrangement," writes music historian Richard Sudhalter in his notes for the Columbia Legacy CD Benny Goodman, Featuring Peggy Lee. Although I have trusted the late Mr. Sudhalter's proven expertise, more exacting readers are advised to consider the credit tentative.


Issues

1. "Somebody Nobody Loves,", "Somebody Loves Me" And Benny Goodman And Peggy Lee [78 Album]

Consisting of four 78s, the album Benny Goodman And Peggy Lee exists in two versions, a70 and C-170. Each version sports a different cover but otherwise they are alike, and have the exact same eight recordings. There is, however, an error in the cover of set a70: instead of "Somebody Nobody Loves," a70 lists "Somebody Loves Me," which is not a song that Lee recorded during her years with Benny Goodman. The cover of C-170 correctly lists the track as "Somebody Nobody Loves."

2. Columbia Co #38280, Co #38281, Co #38282, Co #38283 [78s]
Listed as 78 singles in some sources, these four issues are actually pieces of the 78 album Benny Goodman And Peggy Lee. They were originally released only as part of that album, not separately.

3. Benny's Best [78 Album]
I have not been able to locate the catalogue number of this 78 album. I would appreciate hearing from any reader who owns a copy, or who can tell me the album's number. It consists of four 78s: #37243 ("Let's Dance" / "Why Don't You Do Right?"), #37244 ("Somebody Else Is Taking My Place" / "That Did It, Marie"), #37245 ("Jersey Bounce" / "A String Of Pearls") and #37246 ("Scatterbrain" / "On The Sunny Side Of The Street").

4. "That Did It, Marie" And Peggy Lee Sings With Benny Goodman [LP]
As duly noted by D. Russell Connor in his Goodman bio-discography, the first chorus of "That Did It, Marie" is missing from this Harmony issue, and thus also from its derivates.

5. "How Long Has This Been Going On?" And Peggy Lee And Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings [CD]
6. "How Long Has This Been Going On?" And The Alternate Goodman, Volume VI [LP]
7. "How Long Has This Been Going On?" And The Different Version, Volume III, 1&2 [CD]
There is an error in the track listing of the Columbia Legacy set Peggy Lee And Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings. The set's version of "How Long Has This Been Going On?" is identified as take #2 but aural inspection reveals that the CD contains take #1 instead. My thanks to Bill Brooks, whose notes about different takes alerted me to this error. (n.b.: As already explained above, the take originally released on 78 in 1941 was #2 but ever since the 1950s Columbia/Sony has shifted to take #1 for issue. Perhaps this situation led to the use and misidentification of take #1 as the master.)

Adding to the confusion about "How Long Has This Been Going On?" is the existence of a third take, which was supposedly released first on the Phontastic LP The Alternate Goodman, Volume VI. However, close listening of this LP reveals that the alternate in question is not a third take, but actually alternate #1. My thanks to Bill Brooks and to Jarl Ingves, both of whom gave careful listening to this LP, and came to the same conclusion.

Since I have not been able to find a copy of The Different Version, Volume III, 1&2 (i.e., Phontastic's CD version of the aforementioned LP), I'm only making an educated guess that, like its LP incarnation, the CD contains take #1, too.

8. A Portrait Of Peggy Lee 1941-1942 [LP & CD, CBS Sony]
9. A Portrait Of Peggy Lee [CD, Gallerie]
Many commercial websites give incorrect track information about a CD that they call A Portrait Of Peggy Lee 1941-1942 but whose real title is simply A Portrait Of Peggy Lee. A detailed explanation follows.

There is only one issue titled A Portrait Of Peggy Lee 1941-1942. It is a Japanese anthology that has undergone various incarnations. Originally released on LP, it has also been issued on CD twice. The original incarnations (LP, CD) contained 16 tracks. In 2002, a reissue expanded the track total to 24. This Sony anthology boasts a cover illustration of a young Peggy Lee in a red-orange gown, singing on a rooftop at dusk, with a skyline behind her.

There are, on the other hand, various CD releases whose title is A Portrait Of Peggy Lee. The one of interest to this discussion is a 47-track 2CD set, encased in a red box. It was released by the Gallerie label.

Many commercial websites wrongly list the 47 tracks of A Portrait Of Peggy Lee under the title A Portrait Of Peggy Lee 1941-1942. There are also a few commercial sites which mix numbers from the Sony and the Gallerie releases, ending up with a total of 24 tracks.

Amazon.com shows the wrong title and the wrong cover here. The right cover (the one from the Public Domain CD) can also be seen at Amazon, thanks to a customer who uploaded it, here.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, Joe Ferrante, Jimmy Maxwell (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee, Art London aka Art Lund (v)

Songs

1. "Winter Weather" In The Music Charts
According to Joel Whitburn, Peggy Lee's second chart hit with The Benny Goodman Orchestra made its debut during the week of January 10, 1942. "Winter Weather" peaked at #24. Whitburn's text shows no other charting versions.


Personnel

1. Art London
2. Art Lund
In "Winter Weather," Peggy Lee shares vocal duties with the band's then-new male vocalist, Art London. (In "Ev'rything I Love," Lee sings solo.) Notice that in later years Art London changed his stage name to Art Lund.


Issues

1. "Ev'rything I Love" And Okeh #6516 [78]
This 78 exists in two pressings. The official pressing pairs "Winter Weather" with "Ev'rything I Love." The other issue pairs "Winter Weather" with a vocal by Tommy Tucker ("I Don't Want To Walk Without You"); its release is deemed to have been an error on Columbia's part.


Masters And Takes

1. "Ev'rything I Love" (Critical Commentary)
Goodman bio-discographer D. Russell Connor describes the first take of "Ev'rything I Love" as follows: "Mel Powell's intro seems somewhat experimental, Peggy Lee is strident, but excellent nevertheless; and Benny is quite inventive." Russell Connor's comment is partially meant as an illustration of the adage that practice makes perfect. He considers subsequent takes better than the first. (Russell Connor is more harshly critical of the male vocalist in the next date.)

2. "Ev'rything I Love" (Take Numbers)
Columbia's general policy was to assign numbers to takes when and if they were released, beginning with #1 for the master take. But in its handling of this date (and one or two others), Columbia seems to have partially disregarded policy: the takes were numbered according to the order in which they were recorded, not the order in which they were released. For instance, the master take of "Ev'rything I Love" was assigned the number "2" because, according to Columbia's logs, it was the second take recorded on November 27, 1941.

(n.b.: The take that the logs list as recorded first is identified merely as 31812. The logs give it no #1 -- or, for that matter, no number, other than the one for the matrix. In keeping with my own policy for unnumbered takes -- described in this page's final note -- I have labeled it as 313812-"A." As for the take that I have identified as 31812-"B," it is not listed in Columbia's logs, and it was not preserved in Columbia's vaults. It was instead kept by one of the session's participants.)

3. "Winter Weather" (Take Numbers)
A more uneven modus operandi is apparent in the handling of the "Winter Weather" takes. Columbia actually followed its usual policy when it released the master take. That is to say, the master was given the number "1," per usual, although it had actually been recorded last. However, the policy was disregarded by Columbia (Sony) later, when it released one of the alternate takes. Instead of numbering it 2, that alternate was assigned a 3 as its number, because it was the third one recorded at the session. (n.b.: As shown above, Sony released take #3 in a 1984 various-artists compilation.)

4. Non-Lee Masters
Only masters that featured Peggy Lee were recorded during this session.

5. Breakdowns
All four extant breakdowns from this date happened during the recording of "Winter Weather."

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee, Art London aka Art Lund (v)

At The Recording Session

To judge from details reported by D. Russell Connor in his bio-discography of Benny Goodman, the bandleader's temper was running high during this date, which was entirely dedicated to vocal recordings. He reached his boiling point during the session's last song, "You Don't Know What Love Is." His chief target was trombonist Lou McGarity, whose solo does not meet the bandleader's expectations. Explains the bio-discographer: "You Don't Know What Love Is was the last tune cut on a lengthy and difficult recording session; an inordinate number of aborted takes and full renditions of four other takes had preceded it. Understandably, tempers were frayed; and Benny explodes when Lou McGarity fluffs his solo with, You've got a solo -- why don't you play it!, and then demonstrates how it should be played with his clarinet ... In Lou's behalf, must say the tune and the tempo are dirge-like, and Sauter's arrangement does not facilitate a trouble-free reading." Tellingly, no trombone solo is heard in the released take of "You Don't Know What Love Is."

Peggy Lee's two vocals were waxed right before You Don't Know What Love Is. Russell Connor does not allude to any trouble during the recording of them. He gives general praise for the resulting master and alternate takes. In his estimation, Not Mine features a "[g]reat Benny in the first run-through [i.e., alternate 31944-"A"], excellent Peggy, and marvelously emotional trombone playing." As for Not A Care In The World, "Eddie Sauter's score is blithe and airy, the band executes well, and Peggy Lee's vocal is harmoniously degagé, perhaps more so on th[e] alternate take [i.e., 31945-1] than on [master 31945-2]."

Two other vocals by Art Lund precede the ones by Lee, and start the session. To Connor's ears, Lund's first take on Somebody's Rocking My Dreamboat sounds "flat, unsure, and off-key." The singer's first take on Let's Give Love A Chance also leaves, in the opinion of the Goodman expert, plenty to be desired. The bio-discographer attributes these difficulties to the complexity of Eddie Sauter's charts and, in Lund's case, to his own learning curve, which made him "more comfortable as succeeding takes were recorded."


Masters (And Alternate Takes)

1. "Not A Care In The World"
Though very similar, the two extant takes of "Not A Care In The World" can be easily distinguished thanks to a piano riff heard in take #2 only. The riff is heard 6 seconds into the performance, and lasts less than a second. My thanks to music collector Bill "Mr. Alternate Take" Brooks for pointing out this difference.

2. Non-Lee Masters (Art London)
This session was entirely dedicated to vocals; no instrumentals were recorded. In addition to Peggy Lee's two entries, there were three ballads sung by Art Lund: "Someone's Rocking My Boat" (master #31942), "Let's Give Love A Chance" (master #31943) and "You Don't Know What Love Is" (master #31946).

3. Breakdowns
Of this session's various extant breakdowns, only one happened during a Lee number -- "Not A Care In The World."


Issues

1. "Not A Care In The World" And Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
This 1999 Columbia Legacy set misidentifies its take of "Not A Care In The World" as #1. Instead, the take heard in the set is the master (#2).

2. "Not A Care In The World" And Benny Goodman, Featuring Peggy Lee [CD]
This 1993 Columbia Legacy CD includes take #1 of "Not A Care In The World," which is inaccurately described by the CD's annotator as a "previously unissued alternate take." Whereas it is true that Columbia had not issued this alternate before, the collector's label Phontastic certainly had. (Columbia was obviously unwilling to recognize or legitimize unauthorized issuing of the masters that it owned.)

3. Benny Goodman Presents Eddie Sauter Arrangements [EP, LP]
4. "Not A Care In The World" / "That's The Way It Goes" [45]
Of all the issues included in this discography, Benny Goodman Presents Eddie Sauter Arrangements ranks among my most time-consuming research subjects. The points that needed clarification and modification are discussed in this discography's LP Index, under the entry for this particular issue.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Sextet (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Cutty Cutshall (tb), Lou McGarity (tb, v), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p, cel), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)

At The Recording Session

In her autobiography, Peggy Lee writes: "We did some sextette numbers -- Where Or When, and The Way You Look Tonight -- at the Liederkranz Hall. Benny wanted to use one microphone for all musicians as well as the singer, which called for more gymnastics. [The microphone was hanging high, quite a few feet away from the floor.] Lou McGarity, playing trombone, would first crawl up in the air (on boxes), then we somehow managed to remain relatively silent and hold our breath in passing each other as I crawled up for my vocal and he crawled down. Those recordings may seem rather moody, and somehow they were, but it was also, after all, a little dangerous ... either of us could have crashed to the floor. But if Benny said do it, we did it."


Songs

1. "Where Or When" [And "The Way You Look Tonight"] As Part Of The Peggy Lee Canon
In a radio interview conducted by Fred Hall, Peggy Lee named both "Where Or When" (recorded during this session) and "The Way You Look Tonight" (recorded on March 10, 1942) among her personal favorites from her years of recording with Benny Goodman. And with good reason. She thoroughly imbues both ballads with an emotional fervor and a mellow warmth that she was probably discouraged from conveying in the ballad tracks that featured full orchestra -- and which were geared toward dance-oriented audiences.

"Where Or When" and "The Way You Look Tonight" probably exemplify the intimate style of singing that Lee had cultivated earlier, during her days as a solo act -- a style which she had needed to put on hold in order to adjust to the dance tempo of the big bands. Lee continued to develop this bluesy and melodic style right after leaving Goodman, through her interpretations of numbers such as "That Old Feeling" (recorded January 7, 1944) "Baby Is What He Calls Me" (December 27, 1944) and "Waitin' For The Train To Come In" (July 30, 1945).

2. "Blues In The Night" In The Music Charts
In his book Pop Memories 1890-1954, Joel Whitburn identifies "Blues In The Night" as Peggy Lee's third chart hit. After entering the charts during the week of February 14, 1942, it peaked at #20. Five other versions of the song are shown as also charting, including one by Woody Herman And His Orchestra, who took the standard-to-be to the top spot.


Personnel And Musical Instruments

1. Celeste
Celeste is heard on "Where Or When" only.

2. Yodeling
Lou McGarity (not Peggy Lee) does the yodeling on "Blues In The Night."

3. Cutty Cutshall
4. Lou McGarity
Cutty Cutshall and his trombone join The Benny Goodman Sextet for "Blues In The Night." The need for a second trombone player was probably due to the fact that regular trombonist Lou McGarity was busy, since he had been assigned the yodeling segment of the performance.

Russell Connor's text suggests that McGarity was the only trombonist during "On The Sunny Side Of The Street."

Somewhat oddly, the text further suggests that both trombonists are heard during "Where Or When." Since this is a performance for which the use of two trombones would seem unnecessary, this suggestion is questionable. Taking into account Lee's above-quoted comment, I'd be more inclined to believe that only McGarity played. (Then again, an alternation between trombonists could have eased the motional and acoustic challenges to which Lee referred.)


Arrangements

1. Mel Powell
2. Head Arrangements
With the possible exception of "Blues In The Night," this session's sextet numbers seem to have actually used head arrangements, presumably routined by Mel Powell. Indeed, the Columbia Legacy CD set Peggy Lee And Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings lists Mel Powell as this session's "pianist/arranger."

3. Eddie Sauter
4. "Blues In The Night"
The arranger of "Blues In The Night" is not officially known. According to collector (and Benny Goodman expert) Dave Weiner, Goodman's live versions of "Blues In The Night" feature full-band charts in a style strongly reminiscent of Sauter's. This session's master of "Blues In The Night" strikes Weiner as a cut-down version of the aforementioned live versions. The credit to Eddie Sauter should thus be deemed likely, but still tentative.


Issues

1. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" On V-Disc?
An unissued V-disc pressing of "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" is listed in Richard Sears' V-Discs: A History And Discography. Sears identifies Dave Barbour's Orchestra as the accompaniment. He further pinpoints Capitol 78 #810 as the original source from which the V-disc was re-pressed.

Sears' information on this matter is confusing and, at the very least, partially erroneous. For starters, Peggy Lee did not record "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" for Capitol. The 78 to which Sears refers contains instead her Capitol versions of "Sugar" and "Save Your Sorrow For Tomorrow."

Furthermore, the 78 in question was actually issued in 1950, whereas the V-Disc program ceased general disc production in 1949. (Notice, however, that this commercial 78 contained one performance that had been recorded in 1947 and another in the first half of 1949. Hence, even if the 78 was too late to qualify for V-Disc pressing, the two performances themselves were not.)

The main question, then: is "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" really the song heard in the unissued V-disc, or does the V-disc contain instead one of the songs from the 78 ("Sugar," "Save Your Sorrow For Tomorrow")? Since I have not listened to the V-disc described by Sears, I can only offer an educated guess. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" is the likelier answer. (Should this guess ever be proven correct, it would then be necessary to determine whether the master or one of the alternates was used.)

There is some lateral support for the likelihood that the V-disc contains "On The Sunny Side Of The Street." The American Forces Radio Service pressed "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" on transcription disc, for use at their radio stations. If AFRS found this Benny Goodman Orchestra performance popular and suitable enough for radio airplay on their stations, there is a good chance that the V-Disc program felt the same way. Certainly, the song's optimistic lyrics must have seemed very appropriate as a morale booster for the troops, and the fact that Goodman's version was among the charting ones should have provided further incentive.

2. Columbia #38281 [78]
3. Columbia #38821 [78]
4. Benny Goodman And Peggy Lee [aka Benny Goodman, Vocals By Peggy Lee] [78 Album]
In the 1988 edition of his Benny Goodman bio-discography, D. Russell Connor partially (mis)identifies "Where Or When" and "Blues In The Night" as the two songs found in Columbia 78 #38821. In his 1996 update of that text, Connor corrects the error: "Where Or When" is not on single #38821, but on single #38281, whose flip side features "Let's Do It." Although I have not been able to see the actual, physical 78s, I can corroborate (thanks to pictures found online) that the label of #38281 indeed lists "Let's Do It" and "Where Or When."

Notice also that, although nowadays sold as single pieces by record sellers, the four Columbia 78s that bear the numbers 38280, 382281, 38282 and 38283 were originally parts of the album Benny Goodman And Peggy Lee (set A 70 or, in its reissue version, C 70).


Masters

1. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" (Additional Lyrics)
In the master of "On The Sunny Of The Street" (32053-1) Peggy Lee sings the following lyrics, which are common to most versions of the song:

I used to walk in the shade
With those blues on parade
Now I'm not afraid
This rover's crossed over.

But in one of the alternate takes, she sings the following chorus instead :

I used to walk in the shade
Blues on parade
My blue days over
Now I walk in the sun
Having my fun
- This rover's crossed over.

I have been able to listen to those special lyrics thanks to a non-commercial tape supplied by a friend. Unfortunately, the non-commercial tape does not reveal the number of the take in question.

Which take is it, then? At present time, I can only give a preliminary answer, at which I am arriving by process of elimination. As already made clear, it is not the master take.

After having listened to take "A" as issued in a couple of collector-label LPs (specifically, Blu-Disc #1002 and Nostalgia LP #7620), I can confidently assert that take "A" does not contain those lyrics, either.

As for take "B," unfortunately I do not own any of the commercial issues that contain it. But, by process of elimination, "B" is presumed to be the take in question -- unless, unbeknownst to Russell Connor and to me, a fourth take exists.

Thanks to online samples, I can definitely assert that the take with the additional lyrics was included in the Phontastic CD The Permanent Goodman, Volume II. Such is the reason why herein I have tentatively entered that CD under take "B" of "On The Sunny Side Of The Street."

2. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" (Takes' Order)
In this session and also elsewhere in this page, I have listed all takes in the same order in which Russell Connor's Benny Goodman: Listen To His Legacy shows them. I have reason to suspect, however, that during the actual December 24, 1941 session the chronological order was take "B," take "A," and then take #1 of "On The Sunny Of The Street."

3. The Correct Alternate Take Numbers For "Where Or When" And "On The Sunny Side Of The Street"
A more technical commentary. As I have also explained in this page's very last note, Columbia did not assign numbers to those takes that it left unreleased. Thus, in the case of "On The Sunny Side Of The Street," Columbia's paperwork lists the released take as Co 32053-1 but the two alternates just as Co 32053, with no take number to distinguish between them. In this page, I have attempted to differentiate such alternates from one another by assigning them a letter within quotation marks: e.g., "A" or "B" or "C."

Another, more obvious differentiation system was enforced by the Blu-Disc Record Company, which released numerous alternate takes from Benny Goodman's discography. Blu-Disc simply gave a number to each take. As a result, this discography's takes "A" of "Where Or When" and "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" are the exact same takes that are identified in Blu-Disc albums as #2 takes.

For the pros and cons of my decision to identify alternate takes by letter, see note at the bottom of this page.

4. Non-Lee Masters
There were no additional masters recorded at the present date. This sextet session was actually an all-vocals session, with Peggy Lee singing on every master (and the addition of Cutty Cutshall's trombone in some performances).

5. Breakdowns
From this date, there is only one extant breakdown. It preceded the first master take of "Where Or When."

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Chuck Gentry (bar), Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee, Art London aka Art Lund (v)

Personnel

1. Art London (Lund)
Art London shares vocal duties with Peggy Lee on "If You Build A Better Mousetrap" only.


Masters And Issues

1. "When The Roses Bloom Again" (Additional Take)
Columbia's database lists a second complete take of "When The Roses Bloom Again," numbered 32242, no take number indicated. Discographer D. Russell Connor clarifies that this is not an alternate take but merely a safety copy of take #1. I have trusted his judgment, and have therefore excluded the alleged second take #32242 from this discography.

7. "When The Roses Bloom Again" (Additional Take; Non-Lee Vocal)
During a later date (January 23, 1942), Benny Goodman And His Orchestra recorded a second master of "When The Roses Bloom Again." That second master (identified as 32242-2) features Art London on vocals -- not Peggy Lee. The Lund performance was the one chosen for release on 78 (Okeh #6580). As a result, Lee's performance was left unreleased until its appearance in a Japanese anthology in the 1970s.

3. "The Lamp of Memory" (Additional Take)
Take #2 of "The Lamp of Memory" made its first appearance on Columbia Legacy's CD Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947, released in 1999. Previously, its existence was not stated in any of the documents that I have consulted -- not even in D. Russell Connor's bio-discography.

4. "If You Build A Better Mousetrap", "When The Roses Bloom Again" And Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
The 1997 Columbia Legacy CD misidentifies its takes of "If You Build A Better Mousetrap" and "When The Roses Bloom Again" as previously unissued. (The CD's annotator used an asterisk to signify that a given track had not been previously issued. Asterisks can be found next to both tracks.) These takes had been formerly released by Sony itself in Japan, on vinyl. Both takes had also been previously issued domestically: by Sony in the case of "When The Roses Bloom Again" and by the (non-official) collectors' label Joyce in the case of "If You Build A Better Mousetrap." (Most likely, this error stems from consulting Columbia logs that have not been updated.)

7. "If You Build A Better Mousetrap" And Art Lund ("The Big Bands' Greatest Vocalists" Series) [LP]
In his book Benny Goodman: Listen To His Legacy, D. Russsell Connor erroneously listed the Joyce LP Art Lund ("The Big Bands' Greatest Vocalists" Series) under take #1. He acknowledged and rectified the error in Wrappin' It Up, where the LP's version of "If You Build A Better Mousetrap" is correctly listed as #2.

6. "If You Build A Better Mousetrap" And The Chronogical Benny Goodman, 1942 [CD]
My placement of this CD from the Classics series under take #1 of "If You Build A Better Mousetrap" is tentative: I have not been able to listen to this CD -- nor is this recent disc listed in Russell's Connor's bio-discography.

7. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this session were the instrumentals "Jersey Bounce" (alternate to master #32238; other takes, including the master, recorded on January 23, 1942) and "At The Darktown Strutters' Ball" (master #32241).

8. Breakdowns
There are no extant breakdowns from this date.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Clint Neagley (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Al Davis, Jimmy Maxwell, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. "My Little Cousin" In The Music Charts
"My Little Cousin" was Peggy Lee's fifth chart hit. (For her fourth, see session dated November 13, 1941.) After making its debut during the week of April 11, 1942, it went on to peak at #14. Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 does not list any other charting versions of the song.


Masters

1. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this session were the instrumentals "A String Of Pearls" (master #32383) and "Ramona" (master #32385).

2. Breakdowns
Four of this date's eight extant breakdowns happened during the recording of "My Little Cousin." (The remainder happened during the recording of the instrumental "Ramona.")


Issues And Masters

1. "My Little Cousin" And Solid Gold Instrumental Hits [LP]
A double album that otherwise comprises instrumentals, Solid Gold Instrumental Hits curiously includes Peggy Lee's vocal of "My Little Cousin." A plausible explanation for the inclusion of "My Little Cousin" in an album of instrumentals is the undeniable appeal or catchiness of its melody, which was taken from a Yiddish original.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Sextet (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p, cel), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. "The Way You Look Tonight" [And "Where Or When"] As Part Of The Peggy Lee Canon
Under session dated December 24, 1941, see first note about Songs.

2. "The Way You Look Tonight" In The Music Charts
This classic from the Great American Songbook made its first appearance in the 1936 movie Swing Time. Fred Astaire sang it in the film and also took it to the top of the 1936 charts. Other versions were recorded that year; some of them made the charts as well.

Six years later, Peggy Lee and The Benny Goodman Sextet were responsible for the return of the tune to the charts. Their version made its debut during the week of June 27, 1942, peaking at #21. "The Way You Look Tonight" thereby became Lee's eighth vocal to make the Billboard charts. (For details about her sixth and seventh entries, see next session.)

Nearly twenty years elapsed before The Lettermen proved the song's perennial appeal: their version peaked at #13 in 1961. Later yet (1971), Edward Woodward's version made the British chart, too.


Arrangements

1. "The Way You Look Tonight"
The arrangement of "The Way You Look Tonight" is credited to Mel Powell in the track listing of Columbia Legacy CD #65686. Aurally, the number sounds like a head arrangement, presumably routined by Powell. D. Russell Connor lists no arranger in his discography.


Personnel

1. Peggy Lee's Prominent Participation With The Sextet
2. Benny Goodman's Non-Participation
This date marked Lee's second reunion with the prestigious small group ensemble that was known as The Benny Goodman Sextet. Critic Leonard Feather has brought attention to the highly unusual fact that "virtually nothing is heard from Benny [during The Way You Look Tonight]; it's basically a showcase for [Peggy Lee's] vocal, with a brief intro by McGarity and with Mel [Powell] on celeste."


Masters

1. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this sextet session were the instrumentals "The Wang Wang Blues" (master #32593), "The World Is Waiting For A Sunrise" (master #32594) and "St. Louis Blues," which was not assigned a matrix number.

2. Breakdowns
There are no extant breakdowns from this date.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Bud Shiffman (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Jimmy Maxwell, John Napton, Bernie Privin (t), Cutty Cutshall, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Ralph Collier (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. "We'll Meet Again" In The Music Charts
2. "Full Moon" In The Music Charts
This session generated two hits for Peggy Lee and The Benny Goodman Orchestra. According to Joel Whitburn's estimates in his book Pop Memories, 1890-1954, "We'll Meet Again" made its debut during the week of May 23, 1942, and "Full Moon" did so a few weeks later, on the week of June 13, 1942. Lee's summer chart streak continued with yet a third song, which reached its peak at the end of June ("The Way You Look Tonight," recorded on March 10, 1942).

A popular warhorse, "We'll Meet Again" enjoyed a fair number of hit versions. Two of them, one by Kay Kyser and the other by Guy Lombardo, had actually been released a year earlier than Goodman's. Both 1941 versions had peaked at #24. Contemporaneous with the Goodman-Lee recording (1942) was a Victor 78 by Sammy Kaye with vocal by Allan Foster, which made a small dent in the charts. (From the vague data at hand, I gather that it peaked somewhere below the top 30.) Twelve years later, Vera Lynn (the so-called World War Sweetheart) and members of Her Majesty's Forces took their version on London Records to #29. Goodman and Lee charted higher than all of those versions: #16.

Goodman and Lee's "Full Moon" also had contemporaneous competition in the charts. A Decca recording by The Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, with vocal by Bob Eberly, peaked at #19. Reaching #22, Goodman and his canary peaked three notches below Dorsey and his crooner.


Masters

1. "Full Moon"
In the estimation of bio-discographer D. Russell Connor, the playing throughout this session's takes of Full Moon illustrates "the competence attainable by a stable personnel." He gives "[p]osies to Peggy Lee, too, quite professional by now, and exhibiting a distinctive style."

2. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this session were the instrumentals "Before (Rachmaninoff Special)" (master #32600) and "Peter And The Wolf" (no master number assigned).

3. Breakdowns
Breakdowns are extant from all but one of this session's six performances ("There Won't Be A Shortage Of Love"). One breakdown happened during "I Threw A Kiss In The Ocean," one during "We'll Meet Again," two during "Full Moon," and the others during the instrumental performances.


Songs And Issues

1. "Full Moon" And Peggy Lee Sings With Benny Goodman [LP]
2. "Full Moon" And Miss Peggy Lee [LP]
3. "Full Moon" And We'll Meet Again [LP]
Discographer D. Russell Connor notes that the the intro and the first chorus of "Full Moon" is missing from the above-listed releases, on the Harmony and Hallmark labels.


Arrangements

1. "We'll Meet Again"
2. Mel Powell
3. Salvatore "Tutti" ("Toots") Camarata
Mel Powell arranged at least two numbers from this session: the vocal "We'll Meet Again" and the instrumental "Peter And The Wolf." Tutti Camarata arranged the instrumental "Before (Rachmaninoff Special)." Powell and Camarata are identified as the authors in the actual arrangements, which are currently kept in the New York Public Library, as part of the Benny Goodman Collection of Musical Arrangements. The collection does not include any arrangements for "I Threw A Kiss On The Ocean," "Full Moon" or "There Won't Be A Shortage Of Love."

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Sol Kane, Bud Shiffman (as), George Berg, Vido Musso (ts), Art Ralston (bar), Jimmy Maxwell, John Napton, Bernie Privin (t), Charlie Castaldo, Lou McGarity (tb), Tom "Tommy" Morgan (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Alvin Stoller (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Personnel & Cross-references (Biography)

1. Vido Musso
2. Lou McGarrity
This was saxophonist Vido Musso's last session with The Benny Goodman Orchestra. Goodman bio-discographer D. Russell Connor shares a personal, tongue-in-cheek recollection that involves Musso, trombone player Lou McGarity and Peggy Lee: "The author recalls a one-nighter in the Sunnybrook Ballroom, Pottstown, Pa., probably in May ... He also remembers Lou McGarity introducing him to Peggy Lee during an intermission [at the Sunnybrook] with a tentative date in the offing; and that Vido Musso, who acted as Peggy's unofficial bodyguard, talked her out of it."


Arrangements

1. Dave Matthews
In D. Russell Connor's expert opinion, Dave Matthews might have been the arranger of "All I Need Is You." This identification should be considered tentative, not definitive.


Masters

1. "All I Need Is You"
Originally, D. Russell Connor and other Goodman experts presumed that all existent takes of "All I Need Is You" had been recorded during this date. Russell Connor eventually changed his mind, however. He re-assigned one of the takes ("B") to July 17, 1942. The re-assignment was motivated by the substantially different instrumental intro on take "B." In this discography, I have followed Russell Connor's lead, thereby accepting his re-assignment.

2. Non-Lee Masters
3. Non-Lee Vocals: Art London (Lund)
No instrumentals were recorded during this session. In addition to Lee's two numbers, the date also generated two vocals by Art London: "I've Got A Gal In Kalamazoo" (master #32795) and "Take Me" (master #32796).

4. Breakdowns
The only extant breakdown from this date happened right before the first completed take of "All I Need Is You."

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Hymie Schertzer, Bud Shiffman (as), George Berg, Jerry Jerome (ts), Johnny McAfee (bar), Tony Faso, Bernie Privin, Cootie Williams (t), Charlie Castaldo, Lou McGarity (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Sid Weiss (b), Mel Powell (p), Alvin Stoller (d), Dick Haymes, Peggy Lee (v)

Personnel

1. Personnel Changes
During this mid-1942 period, the amount of personnel changes in Goodman's orchestra is higher than usual, due primarily (though not exclusively) to war drafting.

2. Dave Barbour
This session introduces guitarist Dave Barbour, the man who would become Peggy Lee's first husband. By this time, Barbour was already a seasoned studio player, with about a decade of work as accompanist to the likes of Louis Armstrong, Charlie Barnet, Glenn Miller, Red Norvo and Mildred Bailey, among others. In comments that she made during the later years of her career, Lee misidentified the next session (July 27, 1942) as Barbour's studio debut with The Benny Goodman Orchestra.


Masters

1. Numerical Sequence
For other takes of "All I Need Is You," see session dated May 14, 1942, including notes.

2. Non-Lee Masters
This all-vocals session was partially dedicated to remakes. In addition to "All I Need Is You," two vocals that Art London had tried on May 14, 1942 were remade as well. London could not be present at the session because he had just been drafted for military service. Hence the two London vocals were assigned to his replacement, Dick Haymes, who also sang two fresh numbers during this session: "Serenade In Blue" (master #32923) and "Idaho" (master #32924).

3. Breakdowns
The only extant breakdown from this date happened during the recording of one of the Dick Haymes vocals.

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Hymie Schertzer (as), Leonard Sims, Zoot Sims, Jon Walton (ts), Robert Poland (bar), Benny Baker, Tony Faso, Jimmy Maxwell, Lawrence Stearns, aka Alfred Sculco (t), Charlie Castaldo, Lou McGarity (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), Mel Powell (p), Howard "Hud" Davies (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Songs

1. "Why Don't You Do Right?"
For my brief essay about the early days of the song "Why Don't You Do Right?" and its connection to Peggy Lee, consult this research page.

2. The Goodman-Lee Version Of"Why Don't You Do Right?" In The Music Charts
The Billboard debut of "Why Don't You Do Right?" took place during the week of January 2, 1943. According to Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories, 1890-1954, the Goodman-and-Lee recording peaked at #4 and spent a total of 19 weeks in the charts. (For Lee's next and last Columbia hit with Goodman -- her tenth -- see session above, dated October 8, 1941.)

4. The Club Version Of "Why Don't You" In The Charts
In 2010, "Why Don't You Do Right?" returned to the charts under the guise of a club house version simply titled "Why Don't You." For additional details, see Issues notes under session dated November 19, 1947, in this page.


Cross-references

1. "Why Don't You Do Right?"
For other studio recordings of "Why Don't You Do Right?," see sessions dated November 19, 1947 and September 8, 1992. See also sessions dated February 8, 1961; April 24, 1968; March 13 and 20, 1977.


Session And Masters

1. "Why Don't You Do Right?"
When heard sequentially, this session's takes of "Why Don't You Do Right?" convey a general mood of enthusiasm amidst participating musicians. Also noticeable is Peggy Lee's game experimentation with various vocal approaches to selected words and phrases. To my ears, the overall effect is that of a musical gathering where the players are having a good time, maybe because they have been allowed to perform in more than one strict tempo and style. (I should stress that this is a merely an opinion of mine. We do not know what actually transpired during the session. Besides, the portrait of Goodman at his recording sessions is that of a serious, stern, even controlling taskmaster. But it could still be that this particular master was perceived almost as a throwaway, and that some latitude was given to Lee due to her hand in the finding of the song.)

Of the four extant takes, two have been officially issued by Columbia. They are fairly different in approach. The most widely disseminated take (#1) spotlights a Peggy Lee who intentionally sings in the style of Lil Green yet still adds her own ironic, skeptical stance to the song's message. In take #2, singer and orchestra are apparently having a lot more fun. Lee is purposefully singing the number in the style of Billie Holiday, and the band is playing at a faster clip.

2. Non-Lee Masters
Also recorded during this session were the instrumentals "Six Flats Unfurnished" (master #33047) and "After You've Gone" (master #33049).

3. Breakdowns
Of the three extant breakdowns from this date, one happened before the second completed take of "Why Don't You Do Right?," the others during the waxing of the instrumentals.


Personnel

1. Benny Baker
2. Lawrence Stearns
Columbia's logs for this session does not list trumpet player Benny Baker as part of its personnel, but D. Russell Connor's book Benny Goodman: Listen To His Legacy does. "Jimmy Maxwell," explains Russell Connor, "is adamant that his teacher, trumpeter Benny Baker, who regularly played with the New York Philarmonic, recorded with the band on this session." Hence the bio-discographer has added Baker to the personnel.

As a corollary to this addition, Russell Connor deems the participation of one of Goodman's regular trumpet players (Lawrence Stearns) "questionable." Since Stearns is listed in Columbia's logs (and since Russell Connor and/or Jimmy Maxwell could be mistaken in their claim that Baker was present) I have not excluded Stearns' name from the personnel, however.

In short, my own addition of Benny Baker to this sessionography should be deemed tentative.


Issues

1. "Why Don't You Do Right?" And Benny Goodman, The Different Version, Volume IV [CD]
2. Why Don't You Do Right? And The Unheard Benny Goodman, Volume Seven [LP]
According to D. Russell Connor, the notes for the fourth volume in Phontastic's Different Version CD series contain one bit of erroneous information about an earlier issue. The CD's notes state that Blu-Disc LP T 1014 (volume 7 in the Unheard series) contains take "B" of Why Don't You Do Right?, when in truth the take that it contains is "A." (As for take "B," it can actually be found in Blu-Disc T 1015, which is the next album from the series).

Benny Goodman (ldr), The Benny Goodman Orchestra (acc), Benny Goodman (cl), Clint Neagley, Hymie Schertzer (as), Leonard Sims, Jon Walton (ts), Robert Poland (bar), Tony Faso, Jimmy Maxwell, Lawrence Stearns, aka Alfred Sculco (t), Charlie Castaldo, Lou McGarity (tb), Dave Barbour (g), Cliff Hill (b), Mel Powell (p), Howard "Hud" Davies (d), Peggy Lee (v)

Songwriters

1. Charles Farrow
2. Merrill Tonning - Bud Williams
Various sources credit Merrill Tonning and Bud Williams as the songwriters of "Let's Say A Prayer." However, the sheet music identifies Charles Farrow as sole author of both music and lyrics.


Personnel (And Issues)

1. Zoot Sims
2. Leonard Sims
3. Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947 [CD]
A tenor saxophonist by the last name of Sims plays on this and on the July 27 session that precedes this one. His first name is given as Leonard in all but one of the sources known to me. The dissenting source is the 1999 Columbia Legacy CD set Peggy Lee & Benny Goodman: The Complete Recordings, 1941-1947, which identifies the saxophonist not just as Leonard Sims but as Leonard "Zoot" Sims. Since Zoot Sims' birth name was John Haley Sims, I assume that Columbia Legacy made a mistake. Elsewhere, I have not seen any indication that Zoot Sims played for Goodman during these 1941-1942 sessions.


Masters

1. Non-Lee Masters
2. Non-Lee Vocals: Philip "Buzz" Aston
Also recorded during this session were the instrumental "Mission To Moscow" (master #33070) and two vocals by the band's then-new male vocalist, Philip "Buzz" Aston: "Dearly Beloved" (master #32067) and "I'm Old Fashioned" (master #32068).

3. Breakdowns
There is one extant breakdown from each of this date's performances, including "Let's Say A Prayer."


Arrangements

1. Eddie Sauter
The arranger of "Let's Say A Prayer" and of this session's other vocals remains unknown. Only the arranger of the instrumental "Mission To Moscow" is known (Eddie Sauter, according to D. Russell Connor.)

GENERAL NOTES

Peggy Lee's Career As Canary With The Benny Goodman Orchestra, 1941-1943

Dating: Peggy Lee's Working Period With Benny Goodman And His Orchestra

Peggy Lee's Departure From The Benny Goodman Orchestra

Statistics: Number Of Songs Recorded, As Benny Goodman's Canary, By Peggy Lee

The AFM Recording Ban

Popularity: Peggy In The Polls

The Frank Sinatra Event And The Rising Popularity Of Vocalists

Main Sources And Acknowledgments: D. Russell Connor, Benny Goodman's Bio-discographer

Discographical Technicalities

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