Benny Goodman: Top 100 Songs

First posted 5/30/2012; updated 5/31/2019.

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Jazz clarinetist and bandleader known as “The King of Swing” for ushering in more dance-oriented jazz, fueled by Fletcher Henderson’s arrangements, which appealed to teens. Born Benjamin David Goodman on 5/30/1909 in Chicago, Illinois. Died 6/13/1986. Was in a band by age 14. Worked with Isham Jones, Ted Lewis, Red Nichols, Ben Pollack (25-29), and Ben Selvin. Formed his own band in 1934. He launched the careers of many other jazz musicians including guitarist Charlie Christian and drummer Gene Krupa and was one of the first to lead integrated jazz groups. His 1/16/1938 Carnegie Hall concert in New York is, as All Music Guide’s Bruce Eder called it, “the single most important jazz or popular music concert in history.”

For a complete list of this act’s songs and albums honored by the DMDB, check out the DMDB Music Maker Encyclopedia entry.

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Top 100 Songs

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Dave’s Music Database lists are determined by song’s appearances on best-of lists as well as chart success, sales, radio airplay, streaming, and awards.

MB = Mildred Bailey, HF = Helen Forrest, DH = Dick Haymes, PL = Peggy Lee, MT = Martha Tilton, LT = Louise Tobin, HW = Helen Ward. Songs which peaked at #1 on the U.S. pop charts are noted (#1).

DMDB Top 1%:

1. Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) (1938)
2. These Foolish Things Remind Me of You (w/ HW, 1936) #1
3. Taking a Chance on Love (w/ HF, 1943) #1
4. There’ll Be Some Changes Made (w/ LT, 1941) #1
5. Goody Goody (w/ HW, 1936) #1
6. And the Angels Sing (w/ MF, 1939) #1

DMDB Top 5%:

7. Moonglow (1934) #1
8. Darn That Dream (w/ MB, 1940) #1
9. Don’t Be That Way (1938) #1
10. Jersey Bounce (w/ PL, 1942) #1

11. Goodnight My Love (w/ Ella Fitzgerald, 1937) #1
12. The Glory of Love (w/ HW, 1936) #1
13. This Can’t Be Love (w/ MF, 1938)
14. Somebody Else Is Taking My Place (1942) #1
15. Why Don’t You Do Right? (w/ PL, 1943)
16. Stardust (1936)
17. Stompin’ at the Savoy (1936)
18. I Didn’t Know What Time It Was (w/ LT, 1939)
19. Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye (w/ Peggy Mann, 1945)
20. You Turned the Tables on Me (w/ HW, 1936) #1

21. St. Louis Blues (1936)
22. Gotta Be This Or That (w/ Dottie Reid, 1945)
23. Blue Moon (w/ HW, 1935)
24. Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol’ Me) (w/ PL, 1942)
25. Body and Soul (1935)
26. It’s Been So Long (w/ HW, 1936) #1
27. Blue Skies (w/ Art Lund, 1946)

DMDB Top 10%:

28. Give Me the Simple Life (w/ Liza Morrow, 1946)
29. How High the Moon (w/ HF, 1940)
30. Symphony (w/ Liza Morrow, 1945)

31. This Year’s Kisses (w/ Margaret McRae, 1937) #1
32. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart (w/ MF, 1938) #1
33. Goodbye (1936)
34. The Way You Look Tonight (w/ PL, 1942)
35. On a Slow Boat to China (1948) 36. Cabin in the Sky (w/ HF, 1943)
37. The Man I Love (1937)
38. After You’ve Gone (1935)
39. Exactly Like You (w/ Lionel Hampton, 1936)
40. How Deep Is the Ocean? (w/ PL, 1941)

41. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Means That You’r-e Grand) (w/ MF, 1938)
42. What’s New? (w/ LT, 1939)
43. Idaho (w/ DH, 1942)
44. The Japanese Sandman (1935)
45. As Long As I Live (1941)
46. Love Me or Leave Me (original, 1934)
47. Love Me or Leave Me (new recording, 1936)
48. Scatter-Brain (w/ LT, 1939)
49. You Can’t Pull the Wool Over My Eyes (w/ HW, 1936)
50. Blue Orchids (w/ LT, 1939)

DMDB Top 20%:

51. I Thought about You (w/ MB, 1939)
52. Sometimes I’m Happy (1935)
53. Flying Home (1939)
54. King Porter Stomp (1935)
55. Intermezzo (Souvenir De Vienne) (w/ HF, 1941)
56. A Gal in Calico (w/ Eve Young, 1947)
57. I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good (w/ PL, 1941)
58. It’s Only a Paper Moon (1945)
59. For Every Man There’s a Woman (w/ PL, 1948)
60. Please Be Kind (w/ MF, 1938)

61. I Know That You Know (1936)
62. You’re a Heavenly Thing (w/ HW, 1935)
63. Oh Babe! (1950)
64. China Boy (1936)
65. Afraid to Dream (w/ Betty Van, 1937)
66. The Dixieland Band (w/ HW, 1935)
67. We’ll Meet Again (w/ PL, 1942)
68. Serenade in Blue (w/ DH, 1942)
69. Yours (Quiereme Mucho) (w/ HF, 1941)
70. Basin Street Blues (1934)

71. Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?) (w/ MF, 1937)
72. Rose of Washington Square (1939)
73. I Want to Be Happy (1937)
74. I Don’t Know Enough About You (w/ Art Lund, 1946)
75. My Sister and I (1941)
76. Basin Street Blues (1934)
77. Air Mail Special (w/ HF, 1941)
78. In a Sentimental Mood (1936)
79. Solo Flight (w/ Charlie Christian, 1941)
80. I’m Gonna Love That Guy (w/ Dottie Reid, 1945)

81. It Isn’t Fair (w/ Buddy Greco, 1950)
82. Can’t Teach My Old Heart New Tricks (w/ MF, 1937)
83. Jingle Bells (1935)
84. Wang Wang Blues (1941)
85. Close As Pages in a Book (w/ Jane Harvey, 1945)
86. Bugle Call Rag (1934)
87. The Flat Foot Floogee (1938)
88. Perfidia (Tonight) (w/ HF, 1941)
89. Clouds (w/ Ray Hendricks, 1935)
90. A String of Pearls (w/ PL, 1942)

91. Lullaby in Rhythm (1938)
92. Stompin’ at the Savoy (new recording, 1937)
93. Organ Grinder’s Swing (1936)
94. Eenie Meenie Miney Mo (w/ HW, 1935)
95. My Honey’s Lovin’ Arms (w/ MF, 1939)
96. Swingtime in the Rockies (1936)
97. No Other One (w/ HW, 1935)
98. I Was Lucky (w/ HW, 1935)
99. I Have Eyes (w/ MT, 1938)
100. I Ain’t Lazy, I’m Just Dreamin’ (w/ Jack Teagarden, 1934)

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Awards:

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On This Day (1837): Benny Goodman recorded “Sing Sing Sing”

Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing) Benny Goodman

Writer(s): Louis Prima, Leon Berry (see lyrics here) Recorded: July 6, 1937 First Charted: April 9, 1938 Peak: 7 US, 12 GA (Click for codes to charts.) Sales (in millions): -- Airplay/Streaming (in millions): -- radio, 70.63 video, 45.61 streaming

Awards: Click on award for more details.

About the Song: By the start of the Swing era in 1936, Benny Goodman was its king. He started playing clarinet professionally at the age of 16 and formed his own permanent band by the time he was 25. “Sing, Sing, Sing” was the band’s most renowned performance with solos by Benny as well as drummer Gene Krupa (on his last hit before leaving the band) and trumpeter Harry James. This instrumental includes interpolation of “Christopher Columbus,” PM a Chu Berry song which was written for Fletcher Henderson. SS “Sing, Sing, Sing,” which Goodman called a “killer diller,” NPR’99 was the closer at the bandleader’s legendary Carnegie Hall concert on January 16, 1938. It was the first time jazz comprised a full concert instead of being part of a larger show SS and marked the birthplace of the legitimacy of the genre. NPR’99 “Sing, Sing, Sing” was written by Louis Prima in 1936, but was dramatically reworked as an instrumental by Goodman to become what Steve Sullivan called “the all-time house rocker of the swing era” in his book Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings. SS He credited the song with exemplifying “the sky-high excitement of Big Band jazz at its greatest.” SS Helen Ward, who was initially slated to sing on the track, noted that Gene Krupa was supposed to stop drumming at the end of the third chorus, but when he kept going, Goodman chimed in with his clarinet. The reslt was an eight-minute cut which took up both sides of a 12-inch 78 rpm record, a break from the traditional three-minute recordings which could fit on a 10-inch 78. WK The recording was immediately well-received: Down Beat magazine’s Tom Collins said the performance “will make record history.” SS Resources: NPR’99 National Public Radio (1999). “The Most Important American Musical Works of the 20th Century” SS Steve Sullivan (2013). Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings (Volumes I & II). Scarecrow Press: Lanham, Maryland. Pages 42-45. PM Joel Whitburn (1986). Pop Memories 1890-1954. Record Research, Inc: Menomonee Falls, WI. Page 179. WK Wikipedia Related Links: Last updated 9/5/2023.