Sold Date: March 28, 2018
Start Date: November 25, 2017
Final Price: $15.00 $10.00 (USD)
Seller Feedback: 57
Buyer Feedback: 24

The Reader's Digest ten-LP set entitled THE GREAT BAND ERA (1936-1945) (RD4-25) is arguably the finest collection of its kind.

"Every one of its 120 tracks are original recordings, dubbed from restored 78 rpm master plates or archived discs. RCA's simulated stereo effect has been sparingly used and filtration is minimal. The result: sparkling tracks that sound better over speakers than the shellac records.

Each album has a stock paper sleeve, all of different colors and finely illustrated. The ten LPs are stored in an incredibly strong box with a drop-down door to make access a snap. This box slides into an outer case of similar thickness. It's an set seemingly built to last centuries!

Also included is a 24-page 12"×12" booklet containing notes for each song, synopses of events for individual years, an essay on the Big Band era and a layman's description of how transfers from record to tape was accomplished. There's also bios for 36 band leaders and two contents list breakdowns: by bands, by songs." - Annie Van Auken

Song Listing:

Record 1: 12 Great Band Themes: I'm Gettin' Sentimental Over You (Tommy Dorsey), Take the A Train (Duke Ellington), Blossoms (Pastor), Moonlight Serenade (Miller), Stardreams (Spivak), Nighty Night (Rey), Nightmare (Shaw), Kaye's Melody (Kaye), Goodbye (Goodman), Make Believe Ballroom (Barnet), Flying Home (Hampton), Snowfall (Thornhill)

Record 2: 1936/1945: Christopher Columbus (Goodman), The Music Goes Round and Round (T. Dorsey), When Did You Leave Heaven? (Lombardo), All My Life (Waller), These Foolish Things (Goodman), Moon Over Miami (Duchin), Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe (T. Dorsey), There I've Said It Again (Monroe), Ac-cent-tchu-ate The Positive (Shaw), Symphony (Martin), It's Been a Long Long Time (Spivak), Sentimental Journey (McIntyre)

Record 3: 1937 Part 1/ 1944 Part 2: Bob White (Goodman), A Sailboat in the Moonlight (Lombardo), A Study in Brown (Berigan), Moonlight and Shadows (Duchin), Once in a While (T. Dorsey), Goodnight My Love (Fields), Blue Rain (Miller), It Had To Be You (Hines), I'm Making Believe (McIntyre), Mairzy Doats and Dozy Doats (Four King Sisters), You Always Hurt the One You Love (Kaye), Poinciana (Rose)

Record 4: 1937 Part 2/ 1944 Part 1: Dipsy Doodle (T. Dorsey), The Moon Got In My Eyes (Kemp), So Rare (Lombardo), Afraid to Dream (Goodman), Vieni Vieni (Vallee), That Old Feeling (Lombardo), I'll Be Seeing You (T. Dorsey), There Goes That Song Again (Kaye), Dance with a Dolly (Pastor), I Dream of You (T. Dorsey), Rum and Coca-Cola (Monroe), San Fernando Valley (Four King Sisters)

Record 5: 1938 Part 1/ 1943 Part 2: Music Maestro Please (T. Dorsey), Bei Mir Bist Du Schon (Lombard), I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart (Goodman), I Have Eyes (Shaw), Heart and Soul (Clinton), I've Got a Pocketful of Dreams (Kemp), For Me and My Gal (Lyman), Manhattan Serenade (T. Dorsey), All or Nothing at All (Martin Miller), Brazil (Madriguera), It's Always You (Miller)

Record 6: 1938 Part 2/ 1943 Part 1: The Flat Foot Floogee (Goodman), I Double Dare You (Clinton), You Go to My Head (Savitt), Says My Heart (Nelson), My Reverie (Clinton), You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby (T. Dorsey), Taking a Chance on Love (Kaye), Moonlight Mood (Miller), Dearly Beloved (Rey), Let's Get Lost (Powell), That Old Black Magic (Miller), Warsaw Concerto (Martin)

Record 7: 1939 Part 1/ 1942 Part 2: Blue Orchids (T. Dorsey), Don't Worry 'Bout Me (Brown), Our Love (T. Dorsey), Scatter-Brain (Martin), Wishing (Ennis), Sunrise Serenade (Kemp), Serenade in Blue (Miller), Jingle Jangle Jingle (Martin), Blues In the Night (T. Dorsey), When the Lights go On Again (Monroe), Strip Polka (Rey), Tangerine (Monroe)

Record 8: 1939 Part 2/ 1942 Part 1: Do I Love You (Shaw), And the Angels Sing (Elman), I Cried for You (Berigan), Heaven Can Wait (T. Dorsey), The Lamp Is Low (Miller), The Umbrella Man (Kaye), I Don't Want to Walk Without You (Shaw), Sleepy Lagoon (T. Dorsey), Deep in the Heart of Texas (Rey), Skylark (Hines), Rose O'Day (Martin), Moonlight Cocktail (Miller)

Record 9: 1940 Part 1/ 1941 Part 2: Blueberry Hill (Miller), All This and Heaven Too (Barnet), We Three (My Echo, My Shadow, and Me) (Chester), Ferryboat Serenade (Gordon), Fools Rush In (T. Dorsey), There I Go (Monroe), I Hear a Rhapsody (Barnet), Daddy (Kaye), Chattanooga Choo Choo (Miller), The Hut-Sut Song (Martin), I Guess I'll Have to Dream the Rest (Miller), It All Comes Back to Me Now (Kemp)

Record 10: 1940 Part 2/ 1941 Part 1: Frenesi (Shaw), The Nearness of You (Clinton), Woodpecker Song (Miller), Imagination (T. Dorsey), With the Wind and the Rain in Your Hair (Chester), Sierra Sue (Miller), Perfidia (Miller), Dolores (T. Dorsey), This Time the Dream's on Me (Shaw), The Things I Love (Savitt), You and I (T. Dorsey), Yours (Quiereme Mucho) (Cugat)

Record 11 (Bonus): Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider (Benny Goodman Quartet), I Hope Gabriel Likes My Music (Gene Krupa and His All-Star Swing Band), Dinah's Blues (NBC Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street/ Dinah Shore, Vocal), It's Only A Paper Moon (John Kirby and Orchestra), Hop, Skip and Jump (Artie Shaw and His Gramercy Five), The Sheik of Araby (Tommy Dorsey and His Clambake Seven), Bublitchki (Ziggy Elman and His Orchestra), Ochi Chornya (Wingy Manone and His Orchestra), Muskrat Ramble (Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra), Blues (A Jam Session at Victor: Tommy Dorsey, Bunny Berigan, "Fats" Waller, Dick McDonough, George Wettling