Sing Sing Sing – 1937

“Sing Sing Sing” was originally a decent swing song written by Louis Prima that had a vocal and had the potential to be completely forgotten.

That changed when Benny Goodman, who as the King of Swing had the most popular jazz orchestra of 1935-38, adopted the piece as a vehicle for Gene Krupa’s drumming

Krupa, who was one of the most colorful of all drummers (and had the ability to thrill audiences), became a superstar due to his playing on this piece, whether in the original studio recording, the spectacular version at Goodman’s famous 1938 Carnegie Hall concert, or here, immortalized in the film Hollywood Hotel.

In addition to Krupa, Benny Goodman and trumpeter Harry James take solos and one gets a chance to see the classic Goodman Orchestra (augmented by a ringer or two).

But as was often the case, Gene Krupa steals the show.

-Scott Yanow