AccuRadio Song Of The Day-Artie Shaw

Artist:Artie Shaw
Song:Begin the Beguine
Album:Begin the Beguine





Artie Shaw was one of the top bandleaders of the swing era. The 1938 single Begin the Beguine was his first big hit. It led to much success through the 40s. Because Shaw played clarinet, he was probably overshadowed by Benny Goodman. Certainly there was enough room for both of them in the early 40s. He was born Arthur Arshawsky May 23, 1910 in New York City. He grew up in New Haven, CT. His parents were European immigrant Jews. Shaw started playing sax as a teen and then switched to the clarinet and went on the road. He was music director for Austin Wylie's band in Cleveland from 1927-29. He returned to New York in 1931 and got into session work. He recorded with Roger Wolfe Kahn's orchestra. Shaw liked to mix classical elements into his band and that distinguished him from other big bands. But he wasn't getting anywhere until Begin the Beguine was a surprise number one hit in 1938. That success allowed Shaw to experiment with classical elements. Among those who worked for Shaw were Billie Holiday, Buddy Rich and trumpeter Billy Butterfield. He played the solo on Stardust and was later replaced by Roy Eldredge. He also formed a smaller band The Gramercy Five featuring pianist Johnny Guarnieri. One Shaw habit is he formed bands and then get tired of them, split them up and go on sabbaticals usually in Mexico. He didn't seem to like touring either. Shaw could have been more successful bit he didn't like what came with the success like playing Begin the Beguine every night. Shaw was musical director on the Burns and Allen radio show in the 40s. And he continued to have hits like Stardust and Frenesi. Shaw served in the US Navy during WWII. He had a band that toured bases. And then he got a medical discharge due to exhaustion. He left music for writing after WWII and went into psychoanalysis. So for the most part Shaw was retired from music though he returned occasionally. He married eight times. He was a handful to deal with. Much of this is detailed in Brigitte Berman's 1985 documentary Artie Shaw: Time Is All You've Got. Artie Shaw died on Dec. 30, 2004 at age 94. Here's Artie Shaw and his Orchestra performing Begin the Beguine in the 1939 Vitaphone short Artie Shaw and his Orchestra.