The Real Benny Goodman

[mjzee]

I had been looking for a good collection of Benny Goodman's work. This one, part of the Sony Euro "The Real..." series, fits the bill. With shipping, it's $5.82 from Amazon, for 3 discs. Sound quality to my ears is very good. It lacks a discography, though; anyone know of one? Also, CDDB returned some tracks as "Rechanneled stereo version," but I don't hear it.

[Ted O'Reilly]

I don't know this series. Is it a continuation of the one that issued the lovely 4-CD budget-priced Ellington set of a few years back?

Now that Sony is able to mix Columbias and Victors as they wish, have they really created a 'best of' Goodman from those labels? Are they new masterings at all?

[crisp]

That Ellington set was part of a series called Original Masters. Others in the series covered Fats Waller, Glenn Miller, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday and Memphis Minnie.

This one is from a different line, as mjzee says, called The Real... Each one is three CDs in a Digipak. Titles so far are Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Miles Davis, Billie Holliday, Perry Como, Andy Williams, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington, Bob Dylan, Louis Armstrong, Doris Day and "Christmas".

Some are just random comps, some focus on a particular period, others (such as the Johnny Cash) are complete albums strung together. The Real Duke Ellington is an abridged version of the Original Masters release.

They are all very cheap at about £5 or less in the UK.

[mjzee]

Now that Sony is able to mix Columbias and Victors as they wish, have they really created a 'best of' Goodman from those labels? Are they new masterings at all?

The set doesn't have a discography, so I can't say if it's a mix of Columbias and Victors; also no mention of mastering info. Here's the track list: