YOU WON'T BELIEVE SOME OF THE THINGS HE SAYS! (PART ONE)

[@samking4179]

it's soooo great to hear people tell you how they really feel about things. people rarely do but when you find something like this from the likes of Artie Shaw, it's incredible. thanks for posting this!!!

[@andrewgravish6427]

I was fortunate to play in Artie's band after getting off Buddy Rich's band when he reformed it under the great Dick Johnson in 1984. Artie was there for certain gigs then and spent his time with all the cats in the band. He loved the musicians and we heard all of these reminiscences first hand. It was an honor to be in that company. An experience that lifts me to this day.

[@jz5005]

Wow. Did you ever run into a guy from my hometown of Winnipeg, Ron Paley? I believe he played in Rich’s band for a while.

[@andrewgravish6427]

@jz5005 Unfortunately no. He may have been before me on Buddy's band. I was there in '83.

[@fleebie]

⁠@@jz5005I worked with Ron Paley up in the Peg a couple of times. I think he was in Woody’s band very briefly, or maybe Maynard’s band

[@MrKlemps]

Verdi never "quit". Artie is wrong about that. He composed right up until the time of his death. Othello is arguably his greatest work.

[@emmanuelsaridakispiano]

It's one of the best and "toughest" interviews I've ever heard about the music business. It tells a lot about what was going behind the scenes back then, which still happens. Thanks for posting this!

[@Twentythousandlps]

Thanks for this. As a person Shaw always comes off as hyper, intense, exhausting. I remember when he died twenty years ago, there was little recognition from mass media - he had outlived his audience, unlike BG.

[@mootbooxle]

I’ve been a professional musician all my life and this has been absolutely incredible to listen to.

[@michaeldeloatch7461]

This man had no guile. You can hear it in his words, you can hear it in his playing. We need more Artie Shaws.

[@immaterialimmaterial5195]

Oh wow - this is so interesting and refreshing to hear! Artie is so completely open and honest and real. LOVE HIS MUSIC!!!

[@loualbano4520]

Insightful & refreshingly honest. Being a youngster, 69 Y.O, I feel a bit nostalgic listening to this because this was my parents era. Big band, Swing. Remembering when my Mom would sing in the kitchen along to the “make believe ball room radio show”. She turned down a regular gig in the city to raise her three boys while Dad worked 2 jobs to bring home the bacon. Mom complained about spending $30 for a week of groceries to feed the 5 of us. Ah, the good old days!

[@tftkadawidalle-hp8wt]

Artie’s sound on clarinet is tops.Barney Bigard too. Shaw is an expression of what a real person should be: one of integrity, originally, unique. Love this ! Thank you for posting this essential, insightful and inspiring interview. Plus he’s hilarious.

[@bobtaylor170]

@@tftkadawidalle-hp8wt it's very funny when he refers to Goodman's stupid look.

[@rexallen9970]

BarneyBigard was one of the great unheralded clarinetists whose tone, surpassed both Shaw and BG, in my opinion. I met and visited with him at the late 1970s Sacramento Dixieland jubilee. Very nice, warm and approachable.

[@tftkadawidalle-hp8wt]

@ I agree with your assessment. Still, Shaw’s honesty, humor, and idiosyncratic attitude makes for intriguing insights.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

Amazing interview thank you. Artie was brilliant.

[@clearbrain]

This is the first interview that is good for human beings as a SPECIES...not as brainwashed musicians....99 percent of jazz interview are full of exhilaration and monotonous talks that's stupid to hear ..this is the first time we have someone speak that clapping in -between a track and just before the start of solo(transition )is destructive and detrimental to the music...it's brainwashing of the listener that's going on for centuries... I always wondered why no musician spoke about it ... This interview is real shit❤

[@jeffhildreth9244]

Brilliant ! Artie was the best. Thanks.

[@farquell5782]

I keep freaking out seeing my 1st band director, who have me my first steps on the trombone sitting behind Shaw in the band. I knew Shaw was a brilliant man. More than just a musician. It's very interesting to hear him speak.

[@texchnsawdrum]

Excellent look behind the Shaw curtain.

[@gblowers]

Excellent hard hitting interview with frank answers. For a change we get a real insight into the jazz musical culture that Shaw inhabited and contributed too. Thank you for posting this.

[@gordonely3591]

Herman Hesse wrote a book called Steppenwolf in which a character called Sebastian explains why artists pander to audiences . It is about joy and responsibility , quite profound I believe .

[@simeonmaximofernandez9945]

I admire his artistry and direction in music. Frank and honest.

[@syourke3]

Very honest, insightful interview. Straight from the shoulder.

[@throckmorton3705]

artie shaw treated ava gardner like ava gardner treated frank sinatra

[@brianpite0893]

He was an absolute genius, with a dark side. Thanks for posting. Really excellent

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

You determined from this interview he had a dark side?

[@pgroove163]

yes great artist.

[@brianpite0893]

@@rudolphguarnacci197 not from this interview.

[@daveking-sandbox9263]

dark side? He is a normal, honest musician, I've been a musician for 52 years I know a lot of musicians like Artie. True, if you are a 20-year-old today then Artie wouldn't seem politically correct enough for you, but that's your problem! This is REAL history no sugar-coated BS. What I can recommend for young people today is, if they ever build a Time Machine, don't go more than 10 years into the past, otherwise you will certainly freak out!

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

@daveking-sandbox9263 I think a lot of people parrot phrases to sound hip.

[@alanosterman7130]

Thank you so much. Sorry it came to an end. Artie was one of the highlights for me, of that Ken Burns "JAZZ" series. Boils down to craft vs. spontaneous art I guess. Post war, Be bop became the cutting edge, and small combos too. But, the so fickle public needs to hear those "feel good" songs over and over. Kinda therapeutic for them. Those Kansas City "cutting sessions" would be the ultimate for an individual player. To push yourself further and grow, and surprise yourself too.

[@chriscampbell9191]

My dad was a WW2 USAAF vet (B29 gunnery teacher). He loved swing music, but when I was a kid he'd left it behind for other forms of music he liked. I was vaguely aware of some of his favorites from that era -- Harry James, Glenn Miller in particular. But Dad never really shared his enthusiasm for swing music with me. i think he just left that era behind, as he was open to new music (Elvis, Tom Jones, etc.). Although I'm a musician, I never got into swing until -- on a lark -- I saw Artie Shaw's Greatest Hits on CD where I worked in the radio industry. After giving the CD a spin, I was amazed. There was so much drive, and so much melody to the music. From tracks like 'Nightmare' to thumping rockers like 'Traffic Jam'. Instantly, I could see the appeal of swing music, and how great it was. I bought the Artie Shaw Hits' CD and played it a lot. Unfortunately, it was years after Dad passed, so I was never able to share the enthusiasm of the music with him. Naturally, i didn't know all that much about Artie Shaw, but as I bought more CDs of his music I began to understand just what the swing era gave American music, and even to a non-woodwind player like myself, his musicality was exceptional. I've heard he was a bit cantankerous, personally. Listening to this interview, he sounds about as real as it gets. When he says 'I'm still here -- they're all dead', it's pretty poignant, really. He definitely lived a full life, and American music is all that much richer for it.

[@vaughnnark1733]

Fantastic interview 👏 pure honesty 👏 most respectfully..Vaughn 🎺

[@markscountlessbarks]

GOLD!

[@rogerhare7886]

Shaw and Claude Thornhill mingled with Musicians at Honolulu Navy R&R before his “Hot zone” tour. Here they helped develop the “Navy Style” of big band dance music. At the time, Shaw was living out of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel with Jerome Kern’s Daughter, Elizabeth.

[@eleanormartinez8274]

Thanks so much for posting this! I've heard many interviews with Mr. Shaw in his later years (the 13-part series, "The Mystery of Artie Shaw" is even more in-depth), so I'm used to his intense energy (which, considering his age, is pretty amazing). He was a life-long learner, and everything interested him. I don't know if you have any more interviews with Mr. Shaw, but, if you do, I would love to be able to hear them. Thanks again!

[@onetrackjazz]

Believe or not, there is a part 2 which I will be posting very soon.

[@eleanormartinez8274]

@@onetrackjazz do tell! I'm looking forward to that!

[@thomasosborne8579]

This is a brilliant interview of a brilliant musician! Thanks for posting.

[@daveking-sandbox9263]

In the 60s I loved Artie's music, but I didn't really know why. Now when I hear this interview, after playing myself for over 50 years, the way he talks about music is exactly the way I feel about it at age 71! If Artie was alive today, I would go on the stage with him immediately! His head was really in the right place! Screw commercial music! Besides kids can make commercial music 24/7 on their computers today.

[@kevinsplinter8595]

Cool. Thanks for sharing.

[@clearbrain]

Priceless interview ❤❤❤❤

[@jaylarson3182]

Glad I have listened to this, 67 now and can't get a bite on a note. Just got my Tenor Sax working all the way to the bottom played like a dream 😅 Then I got My teeth pulled, ooops.

[@Esther3PM]

Wow, I'm honestly blown away by the energy and content of this interview! Thanks a lot for sharing such treasures!

[@FlintFandango]

Great interview - thanks for getting it out there!

[@bobtaylor170]

Poor Artie. I love the guy's work. If you do, too, I recommend "Lost Chords," by Richard Sudhalter, which I would recommend anyway to anybody who loves jazz and its history.

[@rexallen9970]

Dick’s book is a standout, and a refreshing antidote to the “only blacks can play jazz” mentality.

[@bobtaylor170]

@rexallen9970 if political correctness hadn't been running things by then - and I think the book would never have been published even five years later - he would have won a Pulitzer Prize for history, and every other award such a great book should have won.

[@rexallen9970]

@@bobtaylor170 Well, at least we have Wynton to tell us how it really is…😤

[@bobtaylor170]

@rexallen9970 😁

[@bobtaylor170]

@@rexallen9970 Rex, I recommend the KZbin channel of Andy Edwards. He has two or three long videos which take issue with the silly idea that only blacks created jazz.

[@patriceodom2553]

Incredible

[@johnspelic9861]

This is fantastic. Artie calls spades spades, but more importantly he underlines the difference between real musicians and entertainers who just play the same garbage for an audience over and over. Ultimate respect to Artie. Amazing player, musician, and entirely underrated publicly, but the real cats know his work.

[@surfrecords999]

Im happy this recording was saved. Thank you. His Tony Bennett reaction is relatable

[@matthewsnyder6127]

But Artie couldn’t understand that for Tony, singing a song he loved and pleasing an audience with it was its own form of artistry and fulfillment.

[@jayumble8390]

This is fantastic!!! Wow, I loved this!!

[@jamescox8402]

My dad's favourite musician.

[@deanchovan6604]

My favorite clarinet player. unmatched.

[@MrKlemps]

Artie has a major superiority complex and seems fixated on HIMSELF. Given a host of opportunities to talk about other musicians, he can muster only a single sentence, except for taking two to malign Duke. The real problem: music itself came second. The Tony Bennett incident displays this well. He couldn't understand how much the music and the opportunity to perform it meant to Tony. He tells the story to illustrate his superiority without a clue as to its real meaning. But anyone who could play "Begin the Beguine" the way he did cant be all bad.

[@MrTang-qo9wm]

A genius, he could never stomach boredom, not even for good money. Self-defeating. As he says, "some people don't have the problems."

[@nomadpi1]

He had his clarinet made into a lamp. He ruminated. He wasn't bored with his life as a success and wasn't more bored with his piddling around. He enjoyed the "prima donna" (quits at a $ amount yet mewls his "great artist" -"can't get no satisfaction" existence) and seekers to his spiels. He was an artist to his generation yet outlived his public's appreciation and the music made by himself and peers. His criticism of BG, et al, because they tried to keep their music known to the public (and make a living at it) was fatuous. I consider him a great musician, but no more great than his contemporaries of SWING.

[@gordonely3591]

​@nomadpi1 I think he had a mental "dis -- ease" . Maybe a habit of over -- discerning❓️ ✌️

[@lynnlobliner3933]

I've read his novels and maybe his autobio. He was only in music because he could do it and quit but went back because he needed the money. Several times. But BOY could he do it.

[@martian-sunset]

My piano teacher was a good friend of Artie's and would speak about him often. This interview confirms that he was an uncompromising, highly opinionated, cynical, arrogant guy.

[@cheri238]

My kind of guy, Artie Shaw!!! Lol 😊 He was a great mathematician! He had excellent creative critical analysis 👏 👌 "Sinatra became a lunatic" There have always been problems in the music business and Hollywood. Personal problems. That's show business folks. He forgot to mention Louie Armstrong. So what if he played a horn?😊

[@monkeyrater]

Keep in mind that Artie is a completely self taught musician. And those were the days you really had to know harmonic theory really well to be able to play sheet music the first time

[@bobtaylor170]

@@monkeyrater Shaw on the clarinet: "I had the f*cking thing in my mouth twelve hours a day for fifteen years before anybody ever heard of me."

[@peztopher7297]

My dad was a kid when Shaw was popular, but somehow he liked his parents' music and then played it when my brother and I were growing up. Our grandparents were astounded when we begged them to play their swing records when visiting them in the late 60s. My brother named his first cat Lionel after Hampton the vibraphonist. 😺

[@gordonely3591]

What a beautiful story . Thanks for sharing ‼️

[@RodneyGuitarsplat]

Fantastic Interview. Thank You for posting.

[@richardmayfair-mattingly7633]

Great content

[@EugeneONeill-pf5bj]

Wow. What a recording.

[@pjriverdale8461]

Everybody who has ever had to perform music publicly and commercially understands what Shaw is saying. It can be a terrible thing to be trapped by success at any level and have to fight to grow artistically. The audience has no clue what musicians have to deal with emotionally with respect to the music itself. It is only when you can break free and play for yourself that one can truly enjoy the actual mechanics of playing music. The true reward is achieved only by a few who can play with freedom and bring their audience along on the journey.

[@markhenderson4001]

thank you

[@jamesfaulkner-b7j]

Just telling it like he sees it.

[@7karlheinz]

I worked for a guy played saxophone who lived thru Shaw’s era. Musically, he was very commercial and musically square. I remember him stating how “weird” Artie Shaw was because he wasn’t totally commercial.

[@davidreidenberg9941]

It is not uncommon for geniuses in the creative arts to have troubled lives. If they were normal people they couldn’t do what they did.

[@marcbahn5487]

Man, I'd hate to go on a cross-country road trip with this fellow. 'Here Art, take some of these instead.'

[@tonymason7197]

As a kid in the 60s 70s Artie was on all the talk shows - as I remember a lot was about how many times he got married 😂

[@milourose2973]

My father was a professional music arranger and towards the end of his life he said that he would have been better to have been an amateur musician. He grew to hate the kind of music he had to arrange.

[@rjwoodscvi]

Miles expressed this ages ago and then pioneered the fusion genre .

[@bazojc8677]

Awesome soul, unlike the rest of the monotony crowd.

[@beagleman123456789]

He was Great 👍

[@jasonnstegall]

I have often wondered if Artie wasn’t the actual inspiration for the clarinet-playing character who is accused of murder and suffers a nervous breakdown in the last of the Thin Man movies, “Song Of…” (1947). Because from the sound of it, Artie seems to indicate that he was headed in that direction and got out of the business before it drove him really nuts (good for him, BTW).

[@johnryan3913]

@@jasonnstegall Interesting. Will have to watch that final TM movie again! Thanks!

[@paulrodberg]

wonderful honest intelligent

[@marshalmcdonald7476]

He says at 4:48 that an artist/musician is cursed with the temperament. What a load of crap. He just seems cynical, controlling and bitter. I love his music but he seems self-righteous. Ick.

[@marcyfan-tz4wj]

❤

[@Chifan71]

Shaw appeared frequently on Carson's Tonight Show.

[@geob3963]

Music, sublime. Music business, slimy grimy crime.

[@Erschophone]

He likes to appear as a 'serious intellectual' yet every sentence he speaks contradicts the previous one. He obviously had a certain standard of living and wouldn't go below that. Real musicians who are 100% dedicated to 'the music' find a way to make music so it doesn't become a 'business'. The others are just mere pop musicians. The interviewer had great comeback questions with the examples of Duke Ellington and Woody Herman (and despite the quality of Shaw's clarinet solos, his bands as a whole never attained the creative levels of those orchestras) and he didn't have a response other than to denigrate Ellington's output in the 1960s (which was so much more than just the Sacred Concerts - had Shaw even taken the time to listen to "Far East Suite", "Afro Bossa" or "And His Mother Called Him Bill?" Of course not... He whines and complains about finances but then @11:40 he lets it slip out how much money he was really making at his peak. He wasn't really dedicated to the music 100% like Jazz musicians from the 1940s to the present: for him it was business first and foremost. Nobody ever "made" him do anything: he chose the paths he took (but he's not able to even admit it to himself). All this being said, the most lucid thing he had to say in the interview was the end (27:00) when he was criticizing Goodman's artistic limitations. Thanks for making this historical document available: it helps us not only to better understand the character of Artie Shaw (whose name means "Artichoke' in French...) but to understand the enormous differences between Jazz in the Swing era of the 1930s and Jazz from the post-war period to the present.

[@Reformed_Hamburglar]

I don't disagree on his bitterness blinding himself to the great output of other cats. However, this is a fantastic glimpse into a rags to riches to rage story. You can tell once he was on top the industry pressure to do the same damn thing night in and night out really got to him. Has all the money, all the accolades and yet is totally miserable in that moment because he feels creatively bankrupt. And in turn, he becomes such a hater, lol. Hates when people scream in the audience, hates other's output, on and on. Here we are generations later wondering what it's even like for folks to scream in joy after a great jazz solo...and Artie hated it, ha!

[@sherylkatz8827]

He was a genius as a clarinetist. Better than Goodman by a long shot. Goodman was a brilliant band leader and improviser but his clarinet skill didn’t com close to Shaw. Shaw obviously had his personal and emotional issues, but his talent was monumental.

[@williamfarr8807]

@@sherylkatz8827 Well, to my way of thinking, comparing artists can be a little like comparing apples and oranges. However, Benny Goodman was the clarinetist of choice when Igor Stravinsky conducted and recorded his Ebony Concerto and when Aaron Copland conducted and recorded his Concerto for Clarinet. Goodman must have been reasonably competent on the instrument.

[@johnryan3913]

I find your distinction between pre war and post war, or so called pop and serious jazz artificial or exaggerated at least. Almost every bopper made commercial records as well. A lot of it has to do with culture and a musician's attitude, background, especially when they started insisting jazz was an art (which it was and always had been). Also musicians who grew up poor are more inclined to be insecure about money. You could say the same about to 50s rock and 60s-70s rock, some of which Christgau described as "semi popular music". A lot had to do with class and cultural context.

[@rexallen9970]

Thanks for pointing out those obvious contradictions. I loved Shaw’s band, his arrangers, etc., and his clarinet work, but he himself is the very definition of contradiction. And to borrow from Shakespeare, “methinks he doth protesteth too much!”

[@hankreus7196]

Egotistical. Opinionated. Outspoken. Difficult!!!!! Putting me in touch with the more “human” aspects contrasting little virtue in my own skin. Strong personality leads. Others follow or they don’t. Period. It takes vision. Others may contribute and boy when they do my goodness. The Beatles, The Allman Brothers, Little Feat, The Band, Pink Floyd……amazing pristine human accomplishments radiate and resonate. There is a guiding person driving the effort. Consider Joni Mitchell, John Lennon, Jimi Hendrix, all the ground breaking individuals 🎉

[@gordonely3591]

All the popular leaders of swing bands were hugely talented and hard -- working artists , but in my opinion Artie Shaw wrote the most intriguing arrangements ( scores )

[@jstevenj1]

Artie was a hot shit, I knew a few things about him, now I know him as a bright bulb in a dark business inside an insane world. My kind of American...

[@DariusJones]

Miles Davis and Andre 3000 said the exact thing.

[@peacetrain3320]

Like Dylan felt from his beginning…“He not busy being born is busy dying.” Always evolving.

[@loveaodai100]

Awesome!

[@Alsatiagent-zu1rx]

One articulate mofo!

[@noozienomore]

Thanks for this. It just cements in my mind what a superegotistical putz Mr. Warshawsky was. No one's as good as him. No one's as smart as him. No one's as creative as him. No one's as courageous as him. Considers himself the best clarinet player ever. BG: "Hold my beer." And it wasn''t close IMO. Consistently denigrates Woody Herman and his herds. Compared to how Woody's bands swung, Shaw's played "sweet music." Go back and look at the Downbeat readers polls. Goodman was a harsh taskmaster but had good things to say about other swing bands. Same with Herman... who got into IRS trouble but was a genuinely nice man. Ask any big band fan which was the greatest aggregation. I doubt even a handful will say Shaw's.

[@marshalmcdonald7476]

I love Artie Shaw's music but he just sounds neurotically restless, cynical and controlling here. He seems like one of those types of players who hates the audience. Why was he so judgmental about those GREAT musicians who LOVED music just as much as he did but who loved playing their hits?? Why is that any of his business? Sad.

[@peztopher7297]

He acknowledges he's a different type of personality. And HE was pressured to be like those others.

[@marshalmcdonald7476]

@@peztopher7297 True. He admits to being difficult. I'm a professional musician and find these 'martyr' types just insufferable. They claim to be burdened with genius and that everyone else are just 'morons'. He called the kids who loved his music morons. He also admits to regretting much of his attitude throughout his career so I give him credit there. But here's the thing, there was no law requiring him to be a musician. I have brilliant players who were grateful for the opportunity of making music. He just seems arrogant. He made plenty of money and could have gone his precious little way and made his genius artistic music at any time. But no, he's just gotta play that martyr crap. I guess I should apologize but I have to admit that I love Begin the Beguine. Sorry Artie, so sorry.

[@BobMerrill-d7u]

Shaw comes off as a bitter, ungrateful guy. He had something few ever achieve: commercial success and critical acclaim. His whining about the rigors of the business is pathetic. After he “retired’ from the big band business, he could have rested and then put together a smaller group playing whatever he wanted. People would have shown up and dug it, but he sat on his ass for decades and contributed nothing further to the music world.

[@jordymaas565]

...different strokes.

[@gingergeezer3685]

He was a pretty unpleasant guy who thought he was smarter than all of his peers. The man would argue with a Stop sign.No surprise he was awful, absolutely awful to any woman in his life. A malcontent. Talented, but a PITA.

[@clarinetowner]

At 17:20 the photo shows Benny Goodman and his band

[@mysticakhenaton1701]

those BIG bandleaders back in the day. were movie stars of the music business. Artie Shaw, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Count Basie, Quincy Jones, Chick Webb, Benny Goodman. and so many others...listening to Shaw about the music business. bring Michael Jackson to mind. now, I see why he went crazy.

[@mysticakhenaton1701]

I saw a documentary on Jazz some years back/KEN BURNS... successful as Artie Shaw's was his parents were ashamed of him being a BIG bandleader. they wanted him to be a doctor. Artie had BIG hit records he would send to his parents. they NEVER listen to any of them. they put them into their closet to collect dust, he found out later.

[@Jasper7182009]

Geezzz…. Shaw is so full of himself. He’s like a constant migraine headache!

[@michaelfinley4440]

Artie was such a grouch haha. I understand what he saying tho/ this whole repeat, repeat, repeat for money gets grotesque. like we are machines

[@James-ju3ok]

Seems to me he didn’t like it

[@soldtobediers]

Artie Artie Artie Admit it Bob Dylan will ever be the one who's Mastered the ongoing... ''Forever Giving Tour''

[@michaelcase8574]

Artie didn't like doing the same things over and over again. Probably why he was married so many times. LOL!

[@dukromeo]

Basie "very good" ☝

[@alanosterman7130]

Must add. Besides all that "Mishegoss" that he did mention, there's booze and drugs, that were quite rampant in the music biz, and still are. The same thing happened in the late 60s when bands would stretch out a number to 20, 30 minutes. I feel sorry for bands that have to play the same songs over and over, just as the record.

[@warheadsnation]

The first punk purist

[@michaelsikora6739]

Hey Artie, it really doesn't sound like you ever wanted to be a musician; maybe a dress maker?

[@okay5045]

Artie Shaw was wonderfully talented and incredibly arrogant. He always thought he was the smartest man in the room.

[@b.deville3236]

He usually was the smartest man in the room. He had a genius IQ.

[@okay5045]

​@@b.deville3236I know that but he didn't mind making others feel less than. A truly intelligent person wouldn't do that.

[@edmatzenik9858]

Great band leader, but he sounds awefully hyper. Never even listens to the end of the question, and for all his humility he does sound like he thinks he knows everything - yeah, I know, he probably does know everything but it gets hard to take pretty quick.

[@Pinkperle1]

He had good music……… but so full of himself!!!

[@hamiltonpainter]

Wow another studio executiveor non artist not understanding an artist not selling out his artistry or integrity.. a thing they do everyday and are long forgotten but not the artist....

[@skylaneav8r902]

Sorry Artie, but The Miller AAF Band’s arrangement of Begin the Beguine was better than yours regardless of how “mechanical” you think they were.

[@nomadpi1]

A great SWING musician but not greater than his contemporaries, His criticisms are carping, not pertinent to any musical knowledge.

[@James-ju3ok]

Artie didn’t know what he wanted he was rich then and complaining what didn’t like it what ???

[@sclogse1]

Not appropriate to bring up his personal life in this interview, but this fellow was married to Ava Gardner. And was a little pushy...

[@williamfarr8807]

I can separate the artist from the art, the musician from the music, but Shaw went through no less than eight marriages, including, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, and other less remembered actresses and writers, as well as dating Betty Grable, Judy Garland, and Lena Horne. By most accounts he was a difficult person. If he talked in the tone, speed, and intensity as he was talking in this interview 24, 7, 365, I can see where it might get to be a little grating after a while.

[@syingram6677]

Artie Shaw was full of SHIT and he was jealous of Duke Ellington's genius!☝ Billie Holiday was the best thing that ever happened to his band PERIOD!😑☝

[@GH-oi2jf]

I would say Porter's "Begin the Beguine" was the best thing that happened to Shaw's band. People are still listening to their version.

[@eleanormartinez8274]

@@GH-oi2jf yes. Personally, I love at least 3 of his versions: the 7/24/1938 version, the 1946 Musicraft version, and the 1953-54 version with his New Gramercy 5.

[@IndianOutlaw1870]

I honestly don't detect any jealousy here. He's extremely frank and outspoken. We can't crawl into his mind and know his motivations.

[@ohno2112]

He sounds like Edward Van Halen, these guys were geniuses at what they did! Thank god for them!

[@joeenglert]

wow,,artie shaw studied with bonade? never knew that..bonade is thought of to be the founder of the amercian school of classical clarinet