Artie Shaw, King of the Clarinet: His Life and Times

by Tom Nolan

Overview

"The two sides of Shaw…are at the center of…[this] compulsively readable biography." —Daniel Akst, Wall Street Journal

During America’s Swing Era, no musician was more successful or controversial than Artie Shaw: the charismatic and opinionated clarinetist-bandleader whose dozens of hits became anthems for “the greatest generation.” But some of his most beautiful recordings were not issued until decades after he’d left the scene. He broke racial barriers by hiring African American musicians. His frequent “retirements” earned him a reputation as the Hamlet of jazz. And he quit playing for good at the height of his powers. The handsome Shaw had seven wives (including Lana Turner and Ava Gardner). Inveterate reader and author of three books, he befriended the best-known writers of his time.

Tom Nolan, who interviewed Shaw between 1990 and his death in 2004 and spoke with one hundred of his colleagues and contemporaries, captures Shaw and his era with candor and sympathy, bringing the master to vivid life and restoring him to his rightful place in jazz history.

Originally published in hardcover under the title Three Chords for Beauty's Sake.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393082036
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	05/16/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Tom Nolan, the author of the critically acclaimed and Edgar Award–nominated Ross Macdonald: A Biography, is a frequent contributor to the Wall Street Journal’s Leisure & Arts page. He lives in Los Angeles, California.

Table of Contents

Preface xiii

1 Avenue C 1

2 Dreamy Melody 8

3 I'm Sitting on Top of the World 17

4 Why Was I Born? 23

5 The Girl Friend 28

6 Just One More Chance 37

7 A Deserted Farm 44

8 Broadway Rhythm 52

9 There's Something in the Air 58

10 No Regrets 62

11 It Ain't Right 67

12 I Got Rhythm 74

13 If It's the Last Thing I Do 79

14 Green Key Jump 88

15 Begin the Beguine 92

16 Non-Stop Flight 99

17 Indian Love Call 102

18 King for a Day 107

19 One Foot in the Groove 114

20 Nightmare 121

21 Over the Rainbow 131

22 Summit Ridge Drive 139

23 In the Mood 147

24 Concerto for Clarinet 156

25 This Time the Dream's on Me 162

26 Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat 170

27 I Ask the Stars 176

28 Dearly Beloved 183

29 Jumpin' on the Merry-Go-Round 187

30 Little Jazz 192

31 The Grabtown Grapple 200

32 The Glider 210

33 Bedford Drive 216

34 A Table in a Corner 223

35 It's the Same Old Dream 228

36 Changing My Tune 236

37 Innuendo 243

38 Mucho de Nada 248

39 The Shekomeko Shuffle 255

40 Blue Again 261

41 He's Gone Away 266

42 It Could Happen to You 274

43 Sunny Side Up 279

44 Stop and Go Mambo 284

45 Yesterdays 288

46 More Than You Know 295

47 Connecticut 302

48 I've Got Beginner's Luck 308

49 I Was Doing All Right 314

50 (Would You Like to Be the) Love of My Life 322

51 Imagination 328

52 Dancing in the Dark 333

53 Autumn Leaves 339

54 That Old Feeling 344

55 Hop Skip and Jump 350

56 Don't Take Your Love from Me 356

57 Long Ago and Far Away 363

Acknowledgments 371

Notes 377

Select Bibliography 407

Permissions 409

Index 411

Editorial Reviews

"Enthralling…[Artie Shaw] gives the satisfactions of a true rags-to-riches story…and plausibly accounts for Shaw’s huge character faults without obscuring his charm and prodigious talent."

Booklist - Ray Olson

"Tom Nolan proves himself valiantly…It’s not simply the first-hand research, the careful investigation of the facts, the easy, approachable prose style…The portrait is thorough, providing a deep study of a man both complicated and coarse, creating beauty through his clarinet and creating turmoil through his actions."

Jazz Lives - Michael Steinman

"Makes sense of a turbulent life that even Artie Shaw himself had given up on explaining."

San Francisco Chronicle - Ted Gioia

"At last, the lively, continually imaginative life of the most creative clarinetist in jazz history."

Nat Hentoff

"Compelling…scented with understanding and charm."

Buffalo News - Michael D. Langan

It is a real tribute to Nolan’s ability as a writer and shaper of narrative that the reader is able to admire and dislike Shaw at once.

Michael Steinman - Jazz Lives

In this riveting biography, Tom Nolan recovers the genius, the legend, the ego and blocked emotions of an enigmatic American icon.

Kevin Starr

Enthralling… [Nolan] gives the satisfactions of a true rags-to-riches story, complete with the spice of glamorous marriages and flings (with Lee Wiley, Lana Turner, Ava Gardner, etc.), and plausibly accounts for Shaw’s huge character faults without obscuring his charm and prodigious talent.

Booklist

Absorbing… fascinating.

David Gates - The New York Times Book Review

[Nolan] follows Shaw’s various zigzags with aplomb.... The book is well paced and never lags, while the author addresses everything from litigation to personal rivalries with fairness and a deft touch.

Ted Gioia - San Francisco Chronicle

Tom Nolan has a great story to tell and he knows precisely how to tell it, fast and deadpan, abetted by the irascible Shaw himself—a serial husband, detached father, and full time autodidact who may have been the finest clarinet virtuoso of all time.

Gary Giddins

Absorbing… fascinating.— David Gates

The New York Times Book Review

[Nolan] follows Shaw’s various zigzags with aplomb.... The book is well paced and never lags, while the author addresses everything from litigation to personal rivalries with fairness and a deft touch.— Ted Gioia

San Francisco Chronicle

It is a real tribute to Nolan’s ability as a writer and shaper of narrative that the reader is able to admire and dislike Shaw at once.— Michael Steinman

Jazz Lives