Saturday was Record Store Day across the land, and although I participated in a more modest way than in past years, it’s hard to step foot inside a record store and walk away empty-handed, especially on RSD.
The prize among the three albums I brought home is this 1953 two-LP box set of Artie Shaw radio recordings from the late 1930s and ’40s. I once shocked my Benny Goodman-loving father by suggesting that I liked Shaw’s clarinet work even better. I’m not sure he ever recovered.
And the prize among those recordings is an amazing version of “In the Mood,” the classic big band song associated with Glenn Miller’s monster hit. It seems, according to the liner notes written by George T. Simon, Shaw’s band was playing the song at least a half-year before Miller got ahold of it. Apparently composer Joe Garland offered it to Shaw first.
“Note that this version runs over six minutes and that it contains parts unheard in the Miller record,” Simon writes. “What Glenn did, of course, was simply to cut out portions which he thought were unnecessary.” Miller also significantly increased the tempo.
Listening to this “complete” version of “In the Mood” is a fascinating exercise. I think most people are going to prefer the familiar Glenn Miller piece, but this is a really interesting bit of musical history.
And, of course, even the most obscure recording is going to have been uploaded by now. I considered making a digital copy off the vinyl album to share with you, but I checked and found that someone out there already had. See/hear below.
What were my other prizes, you ask? A 10-inch LP by the Byrds called “Birdy” and the soundtrack to the 1985 movie “Ladyhawke.” I wanted to buy one or two of the special RSD 2024 releases but came down with a case of sticker shock.
