Can we talk about WWII era music?

And by that I mean up until the late 40's as well. I've been discussing and learning about WWII as of recently and for the first time have been made aware of the music from that era. We're all aware of what the soldiers in Vietnam were listening to but what about the WWII soldiers?

This past week I've been listening almost non-stop to the Ink Spots, Perry Comp, Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, The Andrew Sisters, Ella Fitzgerald and other various bands/artists of the time.

You had the Big-band era then, and orchestras were in because a look at the charts tells you that almost every #1 record was credited to So-and-so 'And his orchestra' . This was years before Rock 'n Roll and The Rhythm and Blues so a lot of the music is slower, it's almost exclusively romance music and I will admit a lot of the artists sing in the same style (not much diversity). BUT it's great music. I'd take some of the tunes by The Ink Spots over some music of the 70's-now, seriously.

What would you say are your favorite songs from this era, the 1940's.

 

I love the harmonies of The Andrews Sisters

 

You're forgetting Swing daddy-o! It was part of the roots of what got called Rock 'n' Roll in the 50s :

 

In these pre bop days, there were places all over the US where the big bands would play. many would be in amusement parks, which of course don't exist now. My mother would go to see many of the big bands when they passed through. The one nighters were probably as crazy as what Rockers went through, more so with all those people and instruments. I get the sense from her that Bing was out of fashion by then. For her, the charts were all about the big bands.

 

Yeah I was gonna say the same - the swing and the jump music of the 40's is just smokin' hot. There would be no rock & roll without it. I also loved the 'Can-Do' attitude of the pop music of the time, created to keep the troops motivated and the home fires burning. Der Bingle was a master of that stuff - we're gonna go kick Hitler's ass and then we're gonna come home and plonk our sweethearts and that is what makes America great!

 

Lots of great blues going on of course.

 

…and jazz

 

A lot of the music is better than today's, h ell pretty much all of it is. The Dorsey's, Tex Beneke, Benny Goodman, Glen Miller etc. The dancing more romantic, or more frantic if you did the jitter bug, black bottom etc. The styles classier less revealing. Yeah the 40s were nice, uh minus the little conflict in Europe & Japan. The music? Superb. Peace Iam

 

I've always loved this era of music, since my parents both grew up then and the love of it was passed on to me. I'll listen to the 40's Junction on Sirius XM most of the time as well.

I love that you can play this music on vinyl or CD and the clarity of a nicely mastered recording is astonishing! I've had friends borrow some of my original 40's Big Band vinyl for them to work out their speakers, EQ, etc.

In fact, since my model train layout is set in that period as well (US near end of steam era, early diesel or the UK peak of steam power) I'll sometimes play this music on the stereo while running the trains. It's a complete time warp.

 

This music is best on original 78 RPM.

 

Check out a song is born with danny kaye. Very entertaining with some musical greats.

A Song Is Born - Wikipedia

 

I love Bing's radio shows of that era. There was a great mix of humor, sentiment, and rallying support during the war years. Many great guests. And his recordings with the Andrew Sisters were really fun (especially the few flub/outtakes that survived).

 

Lots of great country music! Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, Hank Williams, Johnny and Jack, Molly O'Day, blue grass infancy with Bill Monroe, western swing with Bob Will and the Texas Playboys, Milton Brown, Cajun music with Harry Choates, Happy Fats, the "return" of the accordion.

 

I love the music of the era. the popular tunes all had a sentimental tone for the good ol days when they could've back with their sweetheart. I thought the Ken Burns The War box set was good, minus the classical stuff used for scene backgrounds.

 

The impression I get is that the hip music for teens in that era was mostly made by the hottest swing orchestras, and with a limited number of exceptions the white bands were dominant as they took advantage of the privileges afforded them by Jim Crow. Namely Woody Herman (almost his whole band was under 25 at one point), Benny Goodman, and to a lesser degree Artie Shaw and Stan Kenton (the latter helped by heartthrob saxophonist Art Pepper and singer June Christie).

Guys like Glen Miller and Guy Lombardo were more popular with a slightly older crowd.

 

This outtake has a pretty funny blooper ending:

 

You make an interesting profile of that time, and some of the unifying attitudes in the country at the time. Understand that the United States did a lot to keep out of World War II. At the point that we did enter the war had been going on for two full years. If not for Germany declaring war on the U.S. after Pearl Harbor. there is still a chance that we stay out of the European theater. The war ends and due to pent up demand the country enters a period of almost unparalleled economic growth that only was curtailed by a recession in 1958.

You also state that without the music of the World War II era there is no rock and roll. I agree with this, and that combined with ability and willingness of the returning soldiers to spend money. The war also began path toward an integration of the armed forces, so the idea of black and white interacting became a more real prospect. An early example of this merging of WWII swing with newer blues based forms in T-Bone Walker's 1947 T-Bones Shuffle

 

I like The Pied Pipers, Kay Kyser, Spike Jones, Helen Forrest, Bing, Les Paul, Andrews Sisters, Mills Bothers, Django Reinhardt, Johnny Mercer, Nat Cole best myself, plus all the big swing bands!

This 2CD set was a great starting place for me, really excellent sound and opened my ears...

 

My wife is starting to like Big Band music. I have NO CLUE where to start on music from this era. Any suggestions for Big Band music CD's?

 

Don't forget the nascent bebop movement:

 

I'd think The Essential Glenn Miller and The Essential Benny Goodman 2CD sets, which are easy enough to find reasonably priced, would be a great foundation.

 

Not forgetting all the great sides from Louis Jordan:



...more Rock 'n' Roll in gestation.

 

Thread title immediately made me think of "Al Bowlly's in heaven" by richard thompson. Great discussion on post ww2 UK and the song here: Al Bowlly’s in Heaven, by Richard Thompson

 

Right you are. My then teenage mother was a devotee of Kenton, Artie Shaw, Woody Herman, and Harry James. Her 'second tier' would be Benny Goodman, Jimmy Dorsey. She never saw Glenn Miller.