"A String Of Pearls"

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Haydn
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"A String Of Pearls"

#1 Post by Haydn » Tue Jan 27, 2009 5:19 pm

Has anyone ever played or heard this at a dance? (The best version I've found is Glenn Miller's one from 1944 on this CD set)

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Eyeball
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#2 Post by Eyeball » Tue Jan 27, 2009 6:18 pm

I've never heard it at a dance in the 21st century.

btw - B. Goodman did a decent cover version around the same time in 41. It's faster.

*Some little if ever seen AAF band photos with Ray McKinley mis'id'd as Glenn Miller

http://images.google.com/images?q=glenn ... rce%3Alife

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trev
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Re: "A String Of Pearls"

#3 Post by trev » Tue Jan 27, 2009 7:10 pm

Haydn wrote:Has anyone ever played or heard this at a dance?
Yes! I've DJed it before... It worked just fine ;)

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Matthew
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#4 Post by Matthew » Tue Jan 27, 2009 10:52 pm

I think I've played the Benny Goodman one. IIRC, it's around 180 or 185. I'd be more likely to play it for an older crowd, because they'd be more likely to know and appreciate the melody.

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Eyeball
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#5 Post by Eyeball » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:18 pm

Matthew wrote:I think I've played the Benny Goodman one. IIRC, it's around 180 or 185. I'd be more likely to play it for an older crowd, because they'd be more likely to know and appreciate the melody.
You mean a younger crowd would not? How come?

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Eyeball
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Re: "A String Of Pearls"

#6 Post by Eyeball » Tue Jan 27, 2009 11:25 pm

Haydn wrote:Has anyone ever played or heard this at a dance? (The best version I've found is Glenn Miller's one from 1944 on this CD set)
btw - the GM AAF selections on that CD set were not 'secret' or 'lost'. And they were not done in England.

Many of those performances are the identical performances that were issued on RCA in a famous 5 LP box set back in the 1950s. They are mostly from the "I Sustain the Wings" broadcasts that the GM AAF ork did *before* they shipped out to the UK. No telling why RCA felt the need to lie. Not sure why Scott Yanow compounded the lie.
Will big bands ever come back?

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anton
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#7 Post by anton » Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:31 am

I have played it a few times - it's probably my fave slow Miller. It has an interesting structure too - first a couple of 8-bar sections, then a 12-bar blues in the middle, then back to the 8-bar sections again.

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Mr Awesomer
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#8 Post by Mr Awesomer » Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:56 am

I've performed "A String of Pearls" in a few movies.
Reuben Brown
Southern California

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