Editing Benny Goodman

{{Short description|American jazz clarinetist and bandleader (1909–1986)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name         = Benny Goodman
| image        = Benny Goodman 1942.jpg
| caption      = Goodman in 1942
| birth_name   = Benjamin David Goodman
| birth_date   = {{birth date|1909|5|30}}
| birth_place  = [[Chicago]], Illinois, U.S.
| death_date   = {{death date and age|1986|6|13|1909|5|30}}
| death_place  = [[New York City]], U.S.
| genre        = {{flatlist|
* [[Jazz]]
* [[Swing music|swing]]
}}
| occupation   = {{flatlist|
* Musician
* bandleader
}}
| instrument   = Clarinet
| years_active = 1926–1986
| label        = {{hlist|[[Columbia Records|Columbia]]|[[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]}}
| website      = {{URL|https://bennygoodman.com}}
}}

'''Benjamin David Goodman''' (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American [[clarinet]]ist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His [[orchestra]] did phenomenally well commercially.

From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular [[Swing music|swing]] [[big bands]] in the United States. His [[The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert|concert at Carnegie Hall]] in New York City on January 16, 1938, is described by critic Bruce Eder as "the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history: jazz's 'coming out' party to the world of 'respectable' music."<ref name="Eder">{{cite web|last1=Eder|first1=Bruce|title=Live at Carnegie Hall: 1938 Complete|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-carnegie-hall-1938-complete-mw0000671550|website=AllMusic|date=November 2, 1999|access-date=December 27, 2012}}</ref>

Goodman's bands started the careers of many jazz musicians. During an era of racial segregation, he led one of the first integrated jazz groups, his trio and quartet. He continued performing until the end of his life while pursuing an interest in classical music.

== Early years ==
Goodman was the ninth of twelve children born to poor [[History of the Jews in the United States#Jewish immigration|Jewish emigrants]] from the [[Russian Empire]]. His father, David Goodman, came to the United States in 1892 from [[Warsaw]] in [[partitioned Poland]] and became a tailor.<ref name="bg">{{cite web |title=Biography |url=http://www.bennygoodman.com/about/biography2.html |work=Benny Goodman – The Official Website of the King of Swing |publisher=Estate of Benny Goodman |access-date=November 5, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101030030926/http://bennygoodman.com/about/biography2.html |archive-date=October 30, 2010 }}</ref> His mother, Dora Grisinsky,<ref name="bg"/> came from [[Kaunas]]. They met in [[Baltimore, Maryland]], and moved to Chicago before Goodman's birth. With little income and a large family, they moved to the [[Maxwell Street]] neighborhood, an overcrowded slum near railroad yards and factories that was populated by German, Irish, Italian, Polish, Scandinavian, and Jewish immigrants.<ref name="Firestone">{{cite book |last1=Firestone |first1=Ross |title=Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life and Times of Benny Goodman |url=https://archive.org/details/swingswingswingli00fire |url-access=registration |date=1993 |publisher=Norton |location=New York |isbn=0-393-03371-6 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/swingswingswingli00fire/page/18 18–24] |edition=1st}}</ref>

Money was a constant problem. On Sundays, his father took the children to free band concerts in [[Douglass Park]], the first time Goodman experienced live professional performances. Believing that music might be a ticket out of poverty for his sons, Goodman’s father enrolled ten-year-old Goodman and two of his brothers in free music classes, from 1919, at the Kehelah Jacob Synagogue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/benny-goodman|title=Benny Goodman|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref> His older brothers were given a tuba and a trumpet, while Benny, the smallest, got a clarinet. Benny also received two years of clarinet lessons from the classically trained clarinetist and [[Chicago Symphony Orchestra]] member, Franz Schoepp.<ref name="oxfordmusiconline">{{Cite web |last=Wang |first=Richard |year=2001 |title=Goodman, Benny |url=https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-0000011459 |url-access=subscription |access-date=May 6, 2020 |website=Grove Music Online |doi=10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.article.11459 |isbn=978-1-56159-263-0}}</ref><ref name="pbs-biography">{{cite web |url= https://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_goodman_benny.htm |title=Jazz: A Film By Ken Burns Selected Artist Biography — Benny Goodman |date=January 8, 2001 |access-date=March 29, 2007 |publisher=PBS}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7d7NfKMhPeMC&q=Franz+Schoepp+Kehelah+Jacob+Synagogue&pg=PA71|title=Swingin' the Dream: Big Band Jazz and the Rebirth of American Culture|first=Lewis A.|last=Erenberg|date=September 8, 1999|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=9780226215181|access-date=May 6, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref> During the next year Goodman joined the boys club band at [[Hull House]], where he received lessons from director James Sylvester. By joining the band, he was entitled to spend two weeks at a summer camp near Chicago. It was the only time he could get away from his bleak neighborhood.<ref name="Firestone" /> At 13, he got his first union card.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v1999R6lT2AC&q=Benny+Goodman+union+card&pg=PA48|title=45 Profiles in Modern Music|first1=Elmer Richard|last1=Churchill|first2=Linda R.|last2=Churchill|date=May 6, 1996|publisher=Walch Publishing|isbn=9780825128530|access-date=May 6, 2020|via=Google Books}}</ref> He performed on Lake Michigan excursion boats, and in 1923 played at Guyon's Paradise, a local dance hall.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/music-popular-and-jazz-biographies/benny-goodman|title=Benny Goodman &#124; Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com|access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref>

In the summer of 1923, he met [[cornetist]] and composer [[Bix Beiderbecke]].<ref name="oxfordmusiconline"/> He attended the Lewis Institute ([[Illinois Institute of Technology]]) in 1924 as a high-school sophomore and played clarinet in a dance hall band. When he was 17, his father was killed by a passing car after stepping off a streetcar,<ref name="collier">{{cite book |title=Benny Goodman and the Swing Era |first=James Lincoln |last=Collier |year=1989 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bennygoodmanswin00coll/page/48 48] |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-505278-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/bennygoodmanswin00coll/page/48 }}</ref> which Goodman called "the saddest thing that ever happened in our family".<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|42}}

== Career ==
===Early career===
His early influences were New Orleans jazz clarinetists who worked in Chicago, such as [[Jimmie Noone]],<ref name="Swing">{{cite book |last1=Yanow |first1=Scott |title=Swing |date=2000 |publisher=Miller Freeman Books |location=San Francisco |isbn=978-0-87930-600-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/swing00yano/page/59 59] |url=https://archive.org/details/swing00yano/page/59 }}</ref> [[Johnny Dodds]], and [[Leon Roppolo]]. He learned quickly, becoming a strong player at an early age, and was soon playing in bands. He made his professional debut in 1921 at the Central Park Theater on the West Side of Chicago. He entered [[Harrison Technical High School]] in Chicago in 1922. At fourteen he became a member of the musicians' union and worked in a band featuring Bix Beiderbecke.<ref name="bennygoodman.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.bennygoodman.com/about/biography.html |title=The King of Swing |publisher=Benny Goodman |date=January 16, 1938 |access-date=December 27, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102161128/http://www.bennygoodman.com/about/biography.html |archive-date=January 2, 2013 }}</ref> Two years later, in 1926, he joined the [[Ben Pollack]] Orchestra and made his first recordings.<ref name="Swing" />

===From sideman to bandleader===
Goodman moved to New York City and became a session musician for radio, Broadway musicals, and in studios.<ref name="Ruhlmann">{{cite web |last1=Ruhlmann |first1=William |title=Benny Goodman |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/benny-goodman-mn0000163133/biography |website=AllMusic |access-date=November 26, 2018}}</ref> In addition to clarinet, he sometimes played alto saxophone and baritone saxophone.<ref name="Swing" /> His first recording pressed to disc (Victor 20394) occurred on December 9, 1926, in Chicago. The session resulted in the song "When I First Met Mary", which also included [[Glenn Miller]], Harry Goodman, and Ben Pollack.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Connor|first=D.|title=Benny Goodman: Listen to His Legacy|publisher=Scarecrow Press|year=1988|isbn=0-8108-2095-1}}</ref> In a [[Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor]] recording session on March 21, 1928, he played alongside Miller, [[Tommy Dorsey]], and [[Joe Venuti]] in the All-Star Orchestra directed by [[Nathaniel Shilkret]].<ref name=connorhicks>{{cite book |title= BG on the Record: A Bio-Discography of Benny Goodman |last1= Conner |first1= D. Russell |last2=Hicks |first2=Warren W. |year= 1969 |edition=2nd |url=https://archive.org/details/bgonrecordbiodis00conn |publisher= Arlington House |location= New Rochelle, New York |isbn=0-8700-0059-4 }}</ref><ref name="Shilkret">{{cite book |last1=Shilkret |first1=Nathaniel |editor1-last=Shilkret |editor1-first=Barbara |editor2-last=Shell |editor2-first=Niel |title=Nathaniel Shilkret: Sixty Years in the Music Business |date=2005 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=0-8108-5128-8}}</ref><ref name="Stockdale">{{cite journal |last1=Stockdale |first1=Robert |title=Tommy Dorsey on the Side |journal=Studies in Jazz |date=1995 |volume=19 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Metuchen, New Jersey }}</ref> He played with the bands of [[Red Nichols]], [[Ben Selvin]], [[Ted Lewis (musician)|Ted Lewis]], and [[Isham Jones]] and recorded for [[Brunswick Records|Brunswick]] under the name Benny Goodman's Boys, a band that featured Glenn Miller. In 1928, Goodman and Miller wrote "[[Room 1411]]", Miller's first known composition, which was released as a Brunswick 78.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://syncopatedtimes.com/benny-goodmans-boys/ |title=Benny Goodman's Boys |date=May 6, 2020 |publisher=Red Hot Jazz Archive |access-date=May 6, 2020}}</ref>

He reached the charts for the first time in January 1931 with "He's Not Worth Your Tears", featuring a vocal by [[Scrappy Lambert]] for [[Melotone Records (US)|Melotone]]. After signing with [[Columbia Records|Columbia]] in 1934, he had top ten hits with "Ain't Cha Glad?" and "I Ain't Lazy, I'm Just Dreamin{{'"}} sung by [[Jack Teagarden]], "Ol' Pappy" sung by [[Mildred Bailey]], and "Riffin' the Scotch" sung by [[Billie Holiday]]. An invitation to play at the Billy Rose Music Hall led to his creation of an orchestra for the four-month engagement. The orchestra recorded "[[Moonglow (song)|Moonglow]]", which became a number one hit and was followed by the Top Ten hits "Take My Word" and "[[Bugle Call Rag]]".<ref name="Ruhlmann" />

NBC hired Goodman for the radio program ''[[Let's Dance (radio)|Let's Dance]]''.<ref name="Ruhlmann" /> [[John Hammond (record producer)|John Hammond]] asked [[Fletcher Henderson]] if he wanted to write arrangements for Goodman, and Henderson agreed.<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|114}} During the Depression, Henderson disbanded his orchestra because he was in debt.<ref name="Schuller1991">{{cite book |last=Schuller |first=Gunther |title=The Swing Era: The Development of Jazz, 1930–1945 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zc4Lh9KC2MIC&pg=PA3|access-date=November 25, 2018 |year=1991 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-507140-5|pages=3–}}</ref> Goodman hired Henderson's band members to teach his musicians how to play the music.<ref>Charters, Murray (2009). "The Road to Carnegie Hall". ''Brantford Expositor''.</ref>

Goodman's band was one of three to perform on ''Let's Dance'', playing arrangements by Henderson along with hits such as "[[Get Happy (song)|Get Happy]]" and "[[Limehouse Blues (song)|Limehouse Blues]]" by [[Spud Murphy]].<ref name="Vallance">{{cite web |last1=Vallance |first1=Tom |title=Spud Murphy |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/spud-murphy-308792.html |website=The Independent |access-date=November 26, 2018 |date=August 29, 2005}}</ref>

Goodman's portion of the program was broadcast too late at night to attract a large audience on the east coast. He and his band remained on ''Let's Dance'' until May of that year when a strike by employees of the series' sponsor, [[National Biscuit Company|Nabisco]], forced the cancellation of the radio show. An engagement was booked at Manhattan's Roosevelt Grill filling in for [[Guy Lombardo]], but the audience expected "sweet" music and Goodman's band was unsuccessful.<ref name=Clarke/>

Goodman spent six months performing on ''Let's Dance'', and during that time he recorded six more Top Ten hits for Columbia.<ref name="Ruhlmann" />

===Catalyst for the swing era===
{{main|Swing era}}
[[File:Oakland, California. Hot Jazz Recreation. A crowd of young people at the concert of the Benny Goodman Band which took... - NARA - 532264 (cropped).jpg|thumb|right|250px|Goodman's [[Swing era|swing]] fans in [[Oakland, California]] in 1940<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oakland, California. Hot Jazz Recreation. A crowd of young people at the concert of the Benny Goodman Band which took place in a local dance hall |url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/532264 |access-date=24 May 2024 |website=National Archives Catalog|series=Records of the National Youth Administration }}</ref>]]

On July 31, 1935, "[[King Porter Stomp]]" was released with "[[Sometimes I'm Happy]]" on the B-side, both arranged by Henderson and recorded on July 1.<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|134}} In Pittsburgh at the [[Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh|Stanley Theater]] some members of the audience danced in the aisles.<ref>{{cite book |first=James Lincoln |last=Collier |title=Benny Goodman and the Swing Era |year=1989 |page=[https://archive.org/details/bennygoodmanswin00coll/page/163 163] |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-505278-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/bennygoodmanswin00coll/page/163 }} This information is attributed to writer and historian James T. Maher.</ref> But these arrangements had little impact on the tour until August 19 at McFadden's Ballroom in Oakland, California.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historicsweetsballroom.com/pages/info_pages/Information.PDF |website=www.historicsweetsballroom.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070723130918/http://www.historicsweetsballroom.com/pages/info_pages/Information.PDF |archive-date=July 23, 2007 |title=Historic Sweet's Ballroom |access-date=July 6, 2010 |quote=Originally a dance studio built in 1923, the ballroom was managed by Bill Sweet and turned into one of Oakland's best ballrooms. It was known as McFadden's in the 1930s and as Sands Ballroom in the 1970s.}}</ref> Goodman and his band, which included trumpeter [[Bunny Berigan]], drummer [[Gene Krupa]], and singer [[Helen Ward (jazz singer)|Helen Ward]] were met by a large crowd of young dancers who cheered the music they had heard on ''Let's Dance''.<ref name="Selvin1996">{{cite book|last=Selvin|first=Joel |title=San Francisco: The Musical History Tour: A Guide to Over 200 of the Bay Area's Most Memorable Music Sites |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hxCLmGXGuHIC&pg=PA138 |access-date=November 25, 2018 |date=April 1996 |publisher=Chronicle Books |isbn=978-0-8118-1007-4 |pages=138–}}</ref> [[Herb Caen]] wrote, "from the first note, the place was in an uproar."<ref>{{cite news |newspaper=SFGate.com |date=May 26, 2009 |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?type=music&f=/c/a/2009/05/26/DDTT17PT3G.DTL |title=Benny Goodman's music still swings |first=Jesse |last=Hamlin |access-date=June 18, 2009 }}</ref> One night later, at [[Pismo Beach, California|Pismo Beach]], the show was a flop, and the band thought the overwhelming reception in Oakland had been a fluke.<ref name="Clarke">{{cite web |last1=Clarke |first1=Donald |title=The Rise and Fall of Popular Music |url=http://www.donaldclarkemusicbox.com/rise-and-fall/detail.php?c=10 |website=www.donaldclarkemusicbox.com |access-date=November 26, 2018}}</ref>{{efn|1=Collier, in his book ''Benny Goodman and the Swing Era'' (page 164), listed both a "McFadden's Ballroom in San Francisco" and "Sweet's in Oakland" as separate engagements for Goodman, with Pismo Beach in between. However, there was never a McFadden's or a Sweet's Ballroom in San Francisco, and the trip from there to Pismo Beach was inconveniently long. Oakland and San Francisco are about {{convert|15|mi|km}} apart, but Pismo Beach is more than {{convert|235|mi|km}} south of both of them. Pismo Beach is only {{convert|175|mi|km}} from Los Angeles and would have been a more convenient place for Goodman to have played while traveling from Oakland to L.A.}}

The next night, August 21, 1935, at the [[Palomar Ballroom]] in Los Angeles, Goodman and his band began a three-week engagement. On top of the ''Let's Dance'' airplay, Al Jarvis had been playing Goodman's records on [[KFWB]] radio.<ref name="Coleman2006">{{cite book|last=Coleman|first=Rick|title=Blue Monday: Fats Domino and the Lost Dawn of Rock 'n' Roll|url=https://archive.org/details/bluemondayfatsdo00colem |url-access=registration|access-date=November 25, 2018 |date=April 24, 2006 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=978-0-306-81491-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bluemondayfatsdo00colem/page/36 36]–}}</ref> Goodman started the evening with stock arrangements, but after an indifferent response, he began the second set with arrangements by Fletcher Henderson and Spud Murphy. According to Willard Alexander, the band's booking agent, Krupa said, "If we're gonna die, Benny, let's die playing our own thing."<ref name=Spink>{{cite web |last=Spink |first=George |website=Tuxedo Junction |url=http://www.tuxjunction.net/bennygoodman.htm |title=Benny Goodman Launches Swing Era in Chicago |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090209021911/http://tuxjunction.net/bennygoodman.htm |archive-date=February 9, 2009 |access-date=June 18, 2009}}</ref> The crowd broke into cheers and applause. News reports spread word of the exciting music and enthusiastic dancing.<ref name=Clarke/> The Palomar engagement was such a marked success that it is often described as the beginning of the [[swing era]].<ref name=Clarke/> According to [[Donald Clarke (writer)|Donald Clarke]], "It is clear in retrospect that the Swing Era had been waiting to happen, but it was Goodman and his band that touched it off."<ref name=Clarke/>

The reception of American swing was less enthusiastic in Europe. British author [[J. C. Squire]] filed a complaint with [[BBC Radio]] to demand it stop playing Goodman's music, which he called "an awful series of jungle noises which can hearten no man."<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|243}} Germany's Nazi party barred jazz from the radio, claiming it was part of a [[International Jewish conspiracy|Jewish conspiracy]] to destroy the culture. Italy's fascist government banned the broadcast of any music composed or played by Jews which they said threatened "the flower of our race, the youth."<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|244}}

In November 1935, Goodman accepted an invitation to play in Chicago at the [[Joseph Urban]] Room at the Congress Hotel. His stay there was extended to six months, and his popularity was cemented by nationwide radio broadcasts over NBC affiliate stations. While in Chicago, the band recorded "[[If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight)]]", "[[Stompin' at the Savoy]]", and "[[Goody Goody]]".<ref name=Clarke/> Goodman also played three concerts produced by Chicago socialite and jazz aficionado [[Helen Oakley Dance|Helen Oakley]]. These "Rhythm Club" concerts at the Congress Hotel included sets in which Goodman and Krupa sat in with Fletcher Henderson's band, perhaps the first [[Racial integration|racially integrated]] big band appearing before a paying audience in the United States.<ref name=Clarke/> Goodman and Krupa played in a trio with [[Teddy Wilson]] on piano. Both combinations were well received, and Wilson remained.

In his 1935–1936 radio broadcasts from Chicago, Goodman was introduced as the "[[Raja|Rajah]] of Rhythm".<ref name=Spink/> [[Slingerland Drum Company]] had been calling Krupa the "King of Swing" as part of a sales campaign, but shortly after Goodman and his crew left Chicago in May 1936 to spend the summer filming ''[[The Big Broadcast of 1937]]'' in Hollywood, the title "King of Swing" was applied to Goodman by the media.<ref name=Clarke/>

At the end of June 1936, Goodman went to Hollywood, where, on June 30, 1936, his band began CBS's ''[[Camel Caravan]]'', its third and (according to Connor and Hicks) its greatest sponsored radio show, co-starring Goodman and his former boss Nathaniel Shilkret.<ref name=connorhicks /><ref name="Shilkret" /> By spring 1936, Fletcher Henderson was writing arrangements for Goodman's band.<ref name="bennygoodman.com"/>

=== Carnegie Hall concert ===
{{main|The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert}}
In late 1937, Goodman's publicist Wynn Nathanson suggested that Goodman and his band play [[Carnegie Hall]] in New York City. The sold-out concert was held on the evening of January 16, 1938. It is regarded as one of the most significant concerts in jazz history.<ref name="Eder" /> After years of work by musicians from all over the country, jazz had finally been accepted by mainstream audiences—according to Stan Ayeroff, "the concert helped jazz evolve from being strictly dance music to music worthy of a discerning listening audience. It was the start of jazz being recognized as an art form on a par with classical music."<ref>{{Citation |last=Ayeroff |first=Stan |title="Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert"—Benny Goodman (1938) |year=2003 |url=https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/Carnegie-Hall-Jazz-Concert_Ayeroff.pdf |access-date=13 May 2024 |archive-url= |publisher=National Recording Preservation Board, [[Library of Congress]]}}</ref>

Recordings of the concert were made, but even by the technology of the day the equipment used was not of the finest quality. These recordings were made on [[Acetate disc|acetate]], and aluminum studio masters were cut.<ref name="Joyce-carnegie-hall">{{cite web |title=Benny Goodman's 1938 Carnegie Hall Concert |url=http://www.jitterbuzz.com/carcon.html |last=Joyce |first=Mike |work=jitterbuzz.com | access-date=March 29, 2007 }}</ref> The idea of recording the concert came from Albert Marx, a friend of Goodman's, for the purposes of a gift for his wife Helen Ward, as well as gifting a second set to Goodman. Sometime in or before 1950, Goodman recovered the acetates from his sister-in-law's closet, who had informed him about them, and took them to the audio engineer [[William Savory]]. The pair took them to Columbia, with Goodman realising the recordings could be used as leverage to make a recording contract with Columbia (having been eager to end his contract with Capitol). A selection was then released as an LP entitled ''[[The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert]]''.<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|365–367}}

=== Charlie Christian ===
[[File:Benny Goodman and Charlie Christian (1941-04 photo at Carl Fischer studio).jpg|thumb|Goodman with Christian in a recording studio, April 1941]]

In 1939, pianist and arranger [[Mary Lou Williams]] suggested to John Hammond, who was responsible for finding new talent for Goodman, that he see guitarist [[Charlie Christian]]. Hammond had seen Christian perform in Oklahoma City on July 10, 1939, and recommended him to Goodman, but Goodman was uninterested in electric guitar and was put off by Christian's taste in gaudy clothing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/hansen/Charlie/ccbio4.htm |title=Part Four: Who the hell wants to hear an electric-guitar player? |first=Craig R. |last=McKinney |work=Charles Christian: Musician |access-date=July 21, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927042018/http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/hansen/Charlie/ccbio4.htm | archive-date=September 27, 2006 }}</ref> Unbeknownst to Goodman, at an August 16 concert at the Victor Hugo Restaurant in [[Beverly Hills, California|Beverly Hills]], Hammond inserted Christian onto the stage. Goodman started playing "[[Rose Room]]" on the assumption that Christian didn't know it, but his performance impressed the audience immensely.<ref>{{cite web |last=McKinney |first=Craig R. |title=Part Five: From one good thing to another |url=http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/hansen/Charlie/ccbio5.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927042022/http://www3.nbnet.nb.ca/hansen/Charlie/ccbio5.htm |archive-date=September 27, 2006 |access-date= |work=Charles Christian: Musician}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Rosson |first=Chester |date=May 1997 |title=The Swing Era 1930–1945: Charlie Christian |url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/ranch/source/86379445627770/86379445927770.php |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930012936/http://www.texasmonthly.com/ranch/source/86379445627770/86379445927770.php |archive-date=September 30, 2007 |access-date=March 22, 2007 |work=Texas Monthly}}</ref> According to Hammond, "before long the crowd was screaming with amazement. 'Rose Room' continued for more than three quarters of an hour and Goodman received an ovation unlike any even he had before. No one present will ever forget it, least of all Benny."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hammond |first1=John |url=https://archive.org/details/johnhammondonrec0000hamm |title=John Hammond on record: an autobiography |last2=Townsend |first2=Irving |date=1981 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-005705-8 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/johnhammondonrec0000hamm/page/228/mode/1up 226] |url-access=registration}}</ref>

Christian was a member of the Benny Goodman Sextet from 1939 to 1941, and during these two years he turned the electric guitar into a popular jazz instrument.<ref name="duke1">{{cite web |url=http://www.duke.edu/~tnp/biograph2.html |title=Charlie's Biography – Part 2 |website=Duke.edu |access-date=July 21, 2017}}</ref>

===Decline of swing===
[[File:BennyGoodmanStageDoorCanteen.jpg|thumb|Goodman in ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]'' (1943)]]
Goodman continued his success throughout the late 1930s with his [[big band]], his trio and quartet, and the sextet formed in August 1939, the same month Goodman returned to Columbia Records after four years with [[RCA Records|RCA Victor]]. At Columbia, John Hammond, his future brother-in-law, produced most of his sessions. By the mid-1940s, however, big bands had lost much of their popularity. In 1941, [[ASCAP]] had a licensing war with music publishers. From 1942 to 1944, and again in 1948, the musicians' union went on strike against the major record labels in the United States, and singers acquired the popularity that the big bands had once enjoyed. During the 1942–44 strike, the War Department approached the union and requested the production of [[V-Disc]]s, a set of records containing new recordings for soldiers, thereby boosting the rise of new artists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.swingmusic.net/Big_Band_Era_Recording_Ban_Of_1942.html |title=Big Band Era Recording Ban of 1942 |website=Swingmusic.net |access-date=July 21, 2017 |archive-date=August 9, 2003 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030809234911/http://www.swingmusic.net/Big_Band_Era_Recording_Ban_Of_1942.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Also, by the late 1940s, swing was no longer the dominant style of jazz musicians.<ref>{{cite web |author=Doug Ronallo |url=http://www.allaboutjazz.com/timeline.htm |website=All About Jazz |title=History of Jazz Time Line |access-date=July 21, 2017|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070320094403/http://www.allaboutjazz.com/timeline.htm |archive-date=March 20, 2007}}</ref>

=== Exploring bebop ===
[[File:Benny Goodman rehearsal NYWTS.jpg|thumb| Goodman (third from left) with some of his former musicians, seated around piano left to right: Vernon Brown, George Auld, [[Gene Krupa]], Clint Neagley, Ziggy Elman, Israel Crosby and [[Teddy Wilson]] (at piano); 1952]]
By the 1940s, some jazz musicians were borrowing from classical music, while others, such as [[Charlie Parker]], were broadening the rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic vocabulary of swing to create [[bebop]] (or bop). The bebop recordings Goodman made for [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] were praised by critics. For his bebop band he hired [[Buddy Greco]], [[Zoot Sims]], and [[Wardell Gray]].<ref name="schoenberg">{{Cite AV media notes |title=Benny Goodman: Undercurrent Blues |first=Loren |last=Schoenberg |others=Benny Goodman |date=1995 |publisher=Capitol }}</ref> He consulted his friend Mary Lou Williams for advice on how to approach the music of Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. Pianist [[Mel Powell]] was also an adviser in 1945.<ref name="schoenberg" /> Goodman enjoyed bebop. When he heard [[Thelonious Monk]], he said, "I like it, I like that very much. I like the piece and I like the way he played it&nbsp;... I think he's got a sense of humor and he's got some good things there."<ref name="schoenberg" /> He also admired Swedish clarinetist [[Stan Hasselgård]]. But after playing with a bebop band for over a year, he returned to his swing band because he concluded that was what he knew best.<ref name="Guidry">{{cite web |last1=Guidry |first1=Nate |title=A Life in Tune: New works trumpet Doc Wilson's longevity on the music scene |url=http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/05128/499780.stm |website=old.post-gazette.com |access-date=November 26, 2018 |date=May 8, 2005 |archive-date=January 15, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160115015249/http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/05128/499780.stm |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1953, he said, "Maybe bop has done more to set music back for years than anything&nbsp;... Basically it's all wrong. It's not even knowing the scales&nbsp;... Bop was mostly publicity and people figuring angles."<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|354}}

=== Classical repertoire ===
In 1949 he studied with clarinetist [[Reginald Kell]], requiring a change in technique: "instead of holding the mouthpiece between his front teeth and lower lip, as he had done since he first took a clarinet in hand 30 years earlier, Goodman learned to adjust his [[embouchure]] to the use of both lips and even to use new fingering techniques. He had his old finger calluses removed and started to learn how to play his clarinet again—almost from scratch."<ref>{{cite book |url=http://cms.westport.k12.ct.us/cmslmc/music/jazzbios/goodman.htm |chapter=Benny Goodman |via=Coleytown Middle School |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016230244/http://cms.westport.k12.ct.us/cmslmc/music/jazzbios/goodman.htm |archive-date=October 16, 2007 |title=Current Biography |date=1962 |publisher=H. W. Wilson}}</ref>

Goodman commissioned compositions for clarinet and chamber ensembles or orchestra that have become standard pieces of classical repertoire. He premiered works by composers, such as ''[[Contrasts (Bartók)|Contrasts]]'' by [[Béla Bartók]]; [[Clarinet Concerto No. 2 (Arnold)|Clarinet Concerto No. 2, Op. 115]] by [[Malcolm Arnold]]; ''Derivations for Clarinet and Band'' by [[Morton Gould]]; [[Clarinet Sonata (Poulenc)|Sonata for Clarinet and Piano]] by [[Francis Poulenc]], and [[Clarinet Concerto (Copland)|Clarinet Concerto]] by [[Aaron Copland]]. ''[[Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs]]'' by [[Leonard Bernstein]] was commissioned for [[Woody Herman]]'s big band, but it was premiered by Goodman. Herman was the dedicatee (1945) and first performer (1946) of [[Igor Stravinsky]]'s ''[[Ebony Concerto (Stravinsky)|Ebony Concerto]]'', but many years later Stravinsky made another recording with Goodman as the soloist.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.compactdiscoveries.com/CompactDiscoveriesArticles/Yeh.html |title=Three Cheers for Yeh! |website=Compactdiscoveries.com |date=December 1, 1945 |access-date=July 21, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229161139/http://www.compactdiscoveries.com/CompactDiscoveriesArticles/Yeh.html |archive-date=December 29, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{ external media |width= 150px |audio1= Benny Goodman in Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, K. 622 <br> [https://archive.org/details/clarinet-concerto/01+Allegro.mp3 '''Here on Archive.org''']|audio2=Benny Goodman & the [[Columbia Symphony Orchestra]] in [[Aaron Copland]]'s Clarinet Concerto [https://archive.org/details/lp_clarinet-concerto-old-american-songs_aaron-copland-benny-goodman-william-warfie_0/disc1/01.01.+Clarinet+Concerto.mp3 <br> '''Here on Archive.org''']}}

He made a recording of Mozart's [[Clarinet Quintet (Mozart)|Clarinet Quintet]] in July 1956 with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra|Boston Symphony String Quartet]] at the [[Berkshire Festival]]; on the same occasion he recorded Mozart's [[Clarinet Concerto (Mozart)|Clarinet Concerto in A major]], K. 622, with the [[Boston Symphony Orchestra]] conducted by [[Charles Munch (conductor)|Charles Munch]]. He also recorded the clarinet concertos of [[Carl Maria von Weber|Weber]].<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|324}} In 1972, he was a soloist with the [[Naumburg Orchestral Concerts]], in the Naumburg Bandshell, Central Park, in the summer series. <ref>{{Cite web |title=Notable Events and Performers |url=https://naumburgconcerts.org/notable-events-and-performers |access-date=2025-02-26 |website=Naumburg Orchestral Concerts |language=en-US}}</ref>

After forays outside swing, Goodman started a new band in 1953. According to Donald Clarke, this was not a happy time for Goodman. He reunited the band to tour with Louis Armstrong. But he insulted Armstrong and "was appalled at the vaudeville aspects of Louis's act...a contradiction of everything Goodman stood for".<ref name=Clarke /> Armstrong left Goodman hanging during a joint performance where Goodman called Armstrong back onstage to wrap up the show. Armstrong refused to perform alongside Goodman, which led essentially to the end of their friendship.

Goodman's band appeared as a specialty act in the films ''[[The Big Broadcast of 1937]]''; ''[[Hollywood Hotel (film)|Hollywood Hotel]]'' (1938); ''[[Syncopation (1942 film)|Syncopation]]'' (1942); ''[[The Powers Girl]]'' (1942); ''[[Stage Door Canteen (film)|Stage Door Canteen]]'' (1943); ''[[The Gang's All Here (1943 film)|The Gang's All Here]]'' (1943); ''[[Sweet and Low-Down]]'' (1944), Goodman's only starring feature; ''[[Make Mine Music]]'' (1946)<ref>{{Cite book |title=Disney A to Z: The Official Encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Dave |isbn=9781484737835 |edition=Fifth |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Disney Editions |year=2016 |oclc=935196174}}</ref> and ''[[A Song Is Born]]'' (1948).

== Later years ==
[[File:Benny Goodman1.1971.JPG|thumb|upright|Goodman in concert in [[Nuremberg]], West Germany (1971)]]
He continued to play on records and in small groups. In the early 1970s he collaborated with [[George Benson]] after the two met taping a PBS tribute to John Hammond, recreating some of Goodman's duets with Charlie Christian.<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|434}} Benson appeared on Goodman's album ''Seven Come Eleven''. Goodman continued to play swing, but he practiced and performed classical pieces and commissioned them for clarinet. In 1960 he performed Mozart's Clarinet Concerto with conductor [[Alfredo Antonini]] at the Lewisohn Stadium in New York City.<ref name="Stern">{{cite thesis |last1=Stern |first1=Jonathan |title=Music for the (American) People: The Concerts at Lewisohn Stadium, 1922–1964 |url=https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2239/ |type=PhD dissertation |publisher=City University of New York (CUNY) |access-date=November 26, 2018 |date=2009}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archives.nyphil.org/index.php/artifact/88df7760-4348-4430-b1a9-0ce7b01e6f95-0.1|title=New York Philharmonic Program (ID: 11410), 1960 Jul 19|first=New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital|last=Archives|date=July 19, 1960|website=New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives}}</ref> Despite health problems, he continued to perform, his last concert being six days before his death. Goodman died on June 13, 1986, from a heart attack while taking a nap at his apartment in [[Manhattan House]].<ref name="Weitsman" />

==Personal life==
One of Goodman's closest friends was Columbia producer John Hammond, who influenced Goodman's move from Victor to Columbia.<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|259}} Goodman married Hammond's sister, Alice Frances Hammond Duckworth (1905–1978), on March 20, 1942.<ref name="wed">{{cite web |title=Goodman Is Wed to Alice Hammond| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FgwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT5 |access-date=January 9, 2019 |date=March 28, 1942 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media (Billboard) |pages=5–}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/10/archives/obituary-3-no-title.html|title=BENNY GOODMAN'S WIFE, ALICE IL, IS DEAD AT 72|work=The New York Times|date=February 10, 1978|access-date=February 23, 2024}}</ref> They had two daughters and raised Alice's three daughters from her first marriage<ref name="Weitsman">{{cite news |last1=Weitsman |first1=Madeline |title=Quiet Service Marks Benny Goodman Burial |work=Stamford Daily Advocate |date=June 16, 1986 |pages=A1, A6}}</ref> to British politician [[Arthur Duckworth]]. Goodman's daughter Rachel became a classical pianist.<ref name="recital">{{cite news |title=Top Goodmanship Displayed at Father, Daughter Recital |work=Boston Herald |date=May 4, 1964 |page=22}}</ref> She sometimes performed in concert with him, beginning when she was sixteen.<ref name="debut">{{cite news |title=Benny Goodman Acts as Accompanist for Daughter's Debut |work=Arkansas Democrat |date=August 8, 1959 |location=Little Rock, Arkansas |page=12}}</ref>

Goodman and Hammond had disagreements from the 1930s onwards. For the 1939 Spirituals to Swing concert Hammond had placed Charlie Christian into the Kansas City Six to play before Goodman's band, which had angered Goodman. They disagreed over the band's music until Goodman refused to listen to Hammond. Their arguments escalated, and in 1941 Hammond left Columbia.<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|311}} Goodman appeared on a 1975 PBS tribute to Hammond but remained at a distance. In the 1980s, after the death of Alice Goodman, Hammond and Goodman reconciled. On June 25, 1985, Goodman appeared at [[Avery Fisher Hall]] in New York City for "A Tribute to John Hammond".<ref name="tribute">{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=John S. |title=Jazz Festival; Benny Goodman Joins John Hammond Tribute |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/29/arts/jazz-festival-benny-goodman-joins-john-hammond-tribute.html |website=The New York Times |access-date=November 26, 2018 |date=June 29, 1985 }}</ref>

Goodman was regarded by some as a demanding taskmaster, by others as an arrogant and eccentric martinet. Many musicians spoke of "The Ray",<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|173}} the glare that Goodman directed at a musician who failed to perform to his standards. After guitarist [[Allan Reuss]] incurred Goodman's displeasure, Goodman relegated him to the rear of the bandstand where his contribution would be drowned out by the other musicians. Vocalists [[Anita O'Day]] and [[Helen Forrest]] spoke bitterly of their experiences singing with Goodman: "The twenty or so months I spent with Benny felt like twenty years," said Forrest. "When I look back, they seem like a life sentence." He was generous and funded several college educations, though always secretly. When a friend asked him why, he said, "Well, if they knew about it, everyone would come to me with their hand out."<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|296, 301, 302, 401}}

{{quote box|width=23em|"As far as I'm concerned, what he did in those days—and they were hard days, in 1937—made it possible for Negroes to have their chance in baseball and other fields."|—Lionel Hampton on Benny Goodman<ref name="Firestone" />{{rp|183–184}}}}

Goodman helped racial integration in America. In the early 1930s, black and white musicians could not play together in most clubs and concerts. In the Southern states, [[racial segregation]] was enforced by [[Jim Crow law]]s. Goodman hired Teddy Wilson for his trio and added vibraphonist [[Lionel Hampton]] for his quartet. In 1939 he hired guitarist Charlie Christian. This integration in music happened ten years before [[Jackie Robinson]] broke Major League Baseball's six-decade-long color line. According to ''[[Jazz (TV series)|Jazz]]'' (Episode 5) by Ken Burns, Lionel Hampton states that when someone asked Goodman why he "played with that [[nigger]]" (referring to Teddy Wilson), Goodman replied, "If you say that again to me, I'll take a clarinet and bust you across your head with it".<ref>{{cite episode|title=Swing: Pure Pleasure|series=Jazz|time=1:06:05|url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?aid=1942&xtid=43717|access-date=24 May 2022}}</ref>

In 1962, the Benny Goodman Orchestra toured the Soviet Union as part of a cultural exchange program between the two nations after the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] and the end of [[Cold War (1953–1962)|that phase of the Cold War]]; both visits were part of efforts to normalize relations between the United States and the USSR.<ref name="Hine">{{cite book |last1=Hine |first1=Darlene |title=Crossing Boundaries: Comparative History of Black People in Diaspora |url=https://archive.org/details/crossingboundari0000hine |url-access=registration |date=1999 |publisher=Indiana University Press |page=[https://archive.org/details/crossingboundari0000hine/page/297 297]|isbn=9780253335425 }}</ref> Members of the band included [[Jimmy Knepper]], Jerry Dodgion, and Turk Van Lake (Vanig Hovsepian).<ref>Feather, Leonard (2007). ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. Oxford University Press. e-book.</ref> Bassist [[Bill Crow]] published a very colorful view of the tour and Goodman's conduct during it under the title "To Russia Without Love".<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.billcrowbass.com/billcrowbass.com/To_Russia_Without_Love.html|title=To Russia Without Love|first=Bill|last=Crow|author-link=Bill Crow|work=Jazzletter|date=August–November 1986|access-date=October 28, 2019|archive-date=September 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914003734/http://www.billcrowbass.com/billcrowbass.com/To_Russia_Without_Love.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Awards and honors==
[[File:Los Angeles (California, USA), Hollywood Boulevard, Benny Goodman -- 2012 -- 4977.jpg|thumb|Goodman's star on [[Hollywood Walk of Fame]]]]

Goodman was honored with the [[Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.grammy.com/Recording_Academy/Awards/Lifetime_Awards/| title=Lifetime Achievement Award |access-date=April 2, 2007 |publisher=Recording Academy}}</ref>

After winning polls as best jazz clarinetist, Goodman was inducted into the ''DownBeat'' [[DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame|Jazz Hall of Fame]] in 1957.

He was a member of the radio division of the [[National Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite news|title=NAB Hall of Fame|url =http://www.nab.org/events/awards/pastAwardWinners.asp?id=1926 |work=National Association of Broadcasters |access-date= August 1, 2012 }}</ref>

His papers were donated to Yale University after his death.<ref name="pbs-biography" /> He received honorary doctorates from Union College, the [[University of Illinois]], [[Southern Illinois University Edwardsville]],<ref>{{cite web |title=A Chronology of Speakers and Person Honored |url=http://www.siue.edu/ugov/faculty/hdegree/commence.shtml |publisher=Southern Illinois University Edwardsville |access-date=April 18, 2013 |date=September 2, 1976 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528015711/http://www.siue.edu/ugov/faculty/hdegree/commence.shtml |archive-date=May 28, 2013}}</ref> [[Bard College]], Brandeis University, Columbia University, Harvard University, and Yale University.<ref name="bennygoodman.com"/>

== Partial discography ==
{{anchor|Discography}}
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2020}}
* ''Swinging 34 Vols. 1 & 2'' ([[Melodeon Records|Melodeon]], 1934)
* ''[[Original Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Sessions, Vol. 1: After You've Gone]]'' (Bluebird, 1935)
* ''Stomping at the Savoy'' (Bluebird, 1935)
* ''[[Air Play]]'' (Doctor Jazz, 1936)
* ''[[Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)]]'' (Columbia, 1937)
* ''Roll 'Em, Vol. 1'' ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]], 1937)
* ''Roll 'Em, Vol. 2'' (Columbia, 1937)
* ''Don't Be That Way'' (Columbia 1938)
* ''[[From Spirituals to Swing]]'' ([[Vanguard Records|Vanguard]], 1938)
* ''[[The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert]]'' Vols. 1–3 (Columbia, 1938)
* ''Mozart Clarinet Quintet'', with the Budapest String Quartet (RCA Victor, 1938)
* ''Eddie Sauter Arrangements'' (Columbia, 1940)
* ''Swing into Spring'' (Columbia, 1941)
* ''Benny Goodman Sextet'' (Columbia, 1944)
* ''Undercurrent Blues'' ([[Capitol Records|Capitol]], 1947)
* ''[[Swedish Pastry]]'' ([[Dragon Records|Dragon]], 1948)
* ''Session for Six'' (Capitol, 1950)
* ''The Benny Goodman Trio Plays'' (Columbia, 1951)
* ''Goodman & Teagarden'' (Jazz Panorama, 1951)
* ''Easy Does It'' (Capitol, 1952)
* ''Benny at the Ballroom'' (Columbia, 1955)
* ''BG in Hi-Fi'' ([[Capitol Records|Capitol]], 1955)
* ''Mozart Clarinet Concerto'' with the Boston Symphony Orchestra (1956)
* ''Mostly Sextets'' (Capitol, 1956)
* ''The Great Benny Goodman'' (Columbia, 1956)
* ''[[Peggy Lee Sings with Benny Goodman]]'' ([[Harmony Records|Harmony]], 1957)
* ''Benny Rides Again'' (1958)
* ''Benny Goodman Plays World Favorites in High Fidelity'' (1958)
* ''Benny in Brussels'' Vols. 1 and 2 (Columbia, 1958)
* ''In Stockholm 1959'' (Phontastic, 1959)
* ''[[The Benny Goodman Treasure Chest]]'' ([[MGM Records|MGM]], 1959)
* ''The Hits of Benny Goodman'' (Capital Records, 1961)
* ''[[Benny Goodman in Moscow]]'' (RCA Victor, 1962)
* ''[[Weber Clarinet Concertos Nos. 1 and 2]]'' with the Chicago Symphony (RCA, 1968)
* ''London Date'' ([[Philips Records|Phillips]], 1969)
* ''[[Benny Goodman Today]]'' ([[London Records|London]], 1970)
* ''This Is Benny Goodman'' (RCA Victor, 1971)
* ''Benny Goodman – A Legendary Performer'' (RCA, 1977)
* ''Benny Goodman Live at Carnegie Hall: 40th Anniversary Concert'' (1978)
* ''Benny Goodman – Live in Hamburg 1981'' (Stockfisch, 2019)<ref>{{Cite web |title=Benny Goodman – Live in Hamburg 1981 – Analog Pearls Vol 5 |url=https://www.stockfisch-records.de/pages_art/sf12_anaprl_e.html |access-date=June 13, 2020 |website=Stockfisch Records}}</ref>

===Posthumous===
* ''Sing, Sing, Sing'' ([[Bluebird Records|Bluebird]], 1987)
* ''And His Orchestra 1935–1939'' (Giants of Jazz, 1990)
* ''His Orchestra and His Combos 1941–1955'' (Giants of Jazz, 1990)
* ''[[The Benny Goodman Sextet Featuring Charlie Christian: 1939–1941]]'' (Columbia/[[Legacy Recordings|Legacy]], 1989)
* ''16 Most Requested Songs'' (Columbia/Legacy, 1993)
* ''Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert '38'' (1998)
* ''Bill Dodge All-star Recording'' (1999)
* ''Live at Carnegie Hall'' (1999)
* ''Carnegie Hall: The Complete Concert'' (2006)
* ''The Yale University Music Library, Vol. 2: Live at Basin Street'' ([[Musical Heritage Society]], 1988)
* ''[[The Complete RCA Victor Small Group Recordings]]'' (RCA Victor, 1997)
* ''[[Lausanne 1950]]'' (Swiss Radio Days [[Theatre De Beaulieu, May 13, 1950]]/TCB, 2005)

==See also==
{{Portal|Music|Jazz}}
*''[[The Benny Goodman Story]]''

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |title=Swing, Swing, Swing: The Life & Times of Benny Goodman |url=https://archive.org/details/swingswingswingli00fire |url-access=registration |first=Ross |last=Firestone |year=1993 |location=New York |publisher=Norton|isbn=0-393-03371-6 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Benny Goodman}}
* {{Official website}}
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/119698/Goodman_Benny_leader Discography of American Historical Recordings] as leader
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php/talent/detail/119132/Goodman_Benny_director Discography of American Historical Recordings ] as director
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111023193443/http://www.newark.rutgers.edu/~danadml/IJS/MellonProject/index.html Benny Goodman Audio Collection], Rutgers University
*[https://archives.libraries.rutgers.edu/repositories/6/resources/237 D. Russell Connor collection of Benny Goodman audio recordings], Institute of Jazz Studies
* [http://digital.utsa.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p15125coll4/id/1349 Audio interview], May 8, 1980, University of Texas at San Antonio
* [http://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/music.mss.0053 Benny Goodman papers], Yale University
* [http://www.nypl.org/ead/2549 Benny Goodman scores], New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
* [https://syncopatedtimes.com/benny-goodman-1909-1986/ Biography at RedHotJazz]
* [http://www.touchoftonga.com/DavidMulliss/benny-goodman.html Benny Goodman biography with audio]
*[https://archives.yale.edu/repositories/6/resources/5856 D. Russell Connor collection of Benny Goodman interviews], Gilmore Music Library of Yale University.
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/103384 Benny Goodman recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]].
{{Benny Goodman}}
{{American Music Award of Merit}}
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 1980s}}
{{Clarinet}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Benny}}
[[Category:Benny Goodman| ]]
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1986 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American clarinetists]]
[[Category:American classical clarinetists]]
[[Category:American jazz bandleaders]]
[[Category:American jazz clarinetists]]
[[Category:American people of Lithuanian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Polish-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent]]
[[Category:Benny Goodman Orchestra members| ]]
[[Category:American big band bandleaders]]
[[Category:Capitol Records artists]]
[[Category:Chess Records artists]]
[[Category:Columbia Records artists]]
[[Category:DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members]]
[[Category:RCA Victor artists]]
[[Category:Vocalion Records artists]]
[[Category:Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Jewish American classical musicians]]
[[Category:Jewish jazz musicians]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Jazz musicians from Chicago]]
[[Category:People from Westchester County, New York]]
[[Category:Swing bandleaders]]
[[Category:Swing clarinetists]]
[[Category:American vaudeville performers]]
[[Category:The Charleston Chasers members]]
[[Category:Biograph Records artists]]
[[Category:Stockfisch Records artists]]