From the dusty recesses of my jazz history archives, I recently came across a slim 32-page pamphlet published in 1942 entitled “America’s Band Leaders” by Lawrence Wynn. It sold for 25 cents and purported to tell the “life stories of 26 of America’s greatest bandleaders,” with a center spread depicting the photographs of another two dozen under the heading “Music’s Hall of Fame.”
A tall order, you say, for such a small publication. Some 25 years later, the esteemed jazz writer George Simon required 600 pages to profile 72 of the top bandleaders from that era, plus giving brief mention to another 200 in his book, “The Big Bands,” with forward by Frank Sinatra. Both publications brought back great memories when the sounds of the Big Bands dominated the airwaves and filled the dance halls.
The Dedication
Lawrence Wynn conveyed a sense of the times and how the music impacted the followers of popular music some 80 years ago when he dedicated his booklet to:
The homebodies, who while doing their daily housework, have the radio tuned to the recorded music of their favorite bands;
The jitterbugs, who disdaining fears of bodily injury, need only the rhythm of a ‘jump’ band to send them into gyrations which defy all the laws of gravity;
Lovers the world over who find themselves brought together closer whenever they are within earshot of a sweet romantic orchest
