In this captivating study of one of our most popular music genres, Sheila Tracy goes behind the scenes and talks to over sixty Americans who played with the most famous big bands - and who lived to tell the tale.

This was no mean feat: swing music's huge popularity brought the performers wild adulation and, for many, resorting to drugs and alcohol was the only way to keep up. These musicians relate their incredible experiences of life on the road, where the pressure to party every night was enormous. Sheila Tracy lets them tell their own stories, whether golden memories of good times on stage with Tommy Dorsey, Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller, or about what it meant to be part of an enduring legend, making this book an enthralling insight into a remarkable period of music history.

CONTENTS:
Acknowledgments; Foreword by Don Lusher; Introduction
The Bandleaders
Van Alexander; Charlie Barnet; Count Basie; Will Bradley; Les Brown; Cab Colloway; Benny Carter; Larry Clinton; Bob Crosby; Sam Donahue; Jimmy Dorsey; Tommy Dorsey; Sonny Dunham; Duke Ellington; Ralph Flanagan; Benny Goodman; Horace Heidt; Woody Herman; Harry James; Stan Kenton; Gene Krupa; Glenn Miller; Boyd Raeburn; Alvino Rey; Artie Shaw; Claude Thornhill; Chick Webb.
After the Ball was Over
Ray Anthony; Maynard Ferguson; Billy May; Buddy Rich; Around the Big Apple; The Studios; The Big Band Era and Beyond.
Index

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