Benny Goodman Quotes

"I think I’ve done a lot in this business, whether through screwball methods or not I don’t know, that has helped other bands. I made a kind of road for them, you might say. If I raised my price, they found out about it and raised theirs. But somebody had to start it, to make the first move. You have to have the courage and confidence in your own ability. You have to know what the hell and who the hell you are in this business. Music may change, but I don’t think that ever will." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"I don’t really stay that much in touch with it. All I’ll say is that I can’t imagine someone forty years from now reminiscing fondly about having heard Blondie, or even the Rolling Stones, or—what was the name of that group the other day—Clash. What could they say about it? “Remember the volume, the flickering lights? Remember when we got high?” I kind of doubt it." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"I always wanted to do things with style. Don’t care if it was clothes, or eating, or women. Or making music. Especially that. If you’re going to do it, do it right. Don’t take second class. You know—I’d rather have one or two good suits than a bunch of crappy ones. One of the things I think is wrong with a lot of what you see today is that it doesn’t have that sense of style, of elegance. I don’t know where it’s gone." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"If I have something I want to do, I make a business of doing it." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

“Whatever you do, don’t stop. Just keep on going. Because one way or the other, if you want to find reasons why you shouldn’t keep on, you’ll find ‘em. The obstacles are all there—there are a million of ‘em. But if you want to do something, you do it anyway, and handle the obstacles as they come." - Benny Goodman (advice to Glenn Miller, when he asked Benny how he managed an orchestra with such great success)

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"When I first arrived (in New York), it seemed to me the most terrifying city in the world… all those big buildings. I remember walking on Broadway, looking up at this huge, mountainous place—and being so lonely. But things started to clear up when I met a few people on the street whom I’d met before—all of a sudden there got to be a certain familiarity about the place, and the terror kind of evaporated. There was a lot of playing going on, and the New Yorkers, of course, were a completely different crowd from what I’d known." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"I think my first impression (of Bix Beiderbecke) was the lasting one. I remember very clearly thinking, 'Where, what planet, did this guy come from? Is he from outer space?' I’d never heard anything like the way he played—not in Chicago, no place. The tone—he had this wonderful, ringing cornet tone. He could have played in a symphony orchestra with that tone. But also the intervals he played, the figures—whatever the hell he did. There was a refinement about his playing. You know, in those days I played a little trumpet, and I could play all the solos from his records, by heart." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"We always had a Victrola in our home. It was hand-wound, and we had all sorts of records to go with it. Caruso and people like that—but also Ted Lewis, who was a big thing in those days, and even the Original Dixieland Jazz Band. [My father] discovered that the Kehelah Jacob Synagogue, not much more than a mile from where we lived, would lend instruments to youngsters and supply them with lessons, so they could play in the band at the synagogue. So we all went down, and my brother Harry, who was about twelve and the biggest of us, got a tuba. Freddy, who was a year older than I was, got a trumpet, and I wound up with the clarinet." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"Some of the guys I played with .. didn’t go around learning more about their instruments from an intellectual point of view. All they wanted was to play hot jazz, and the instrument was just a means. I’d imagine that a lot of them criticized me—said my technique was too good. Something like that. But I’ve always wanted to know what made music. How you do it, and why it sounds good. I always practiced, worked like hell." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"I started out as a clarinetist playing around Chicago, making a living, listening to other people like many other musicians did. I enjoyed playing—and I found myself really making money at age fourteen or so." - Benny Goodman

source: Interview with American Heritage Magazine (Oct/Nov, 1981)

Benny Goodman Quotes

"To this day, I don't like people walking on stage not looking good. You have to look good. If you feel special about yourself then you're going to play special." - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"Too many young musicians today want to win polls before they learn their instruments." - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"That night at Carnegie Hall was a great experience. When the thing was first put up to me I was a little dubious, not knowing just what would be expected of us." - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"Sometimes when you start losing detail, whether it's in music or in life, something as small as failing to be polite, you start to lose substance." - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"Some of the overflow audience actually sat on the stage." - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"One way or the other, if you want to find reasons why you shouldn't keep on, you'll find 'em. The obstacles are all there; there are a million of 'em." - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"I remember Glenn Miller coming to me once, before he had his own band, saying, How do you do it? How do you get started? It's so difficult. I told him, I don't know but whatever you do don't stop. Just keep on going." -Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"If a guy's got it, let him give it. I'm selling music, not prejudice." - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"As soon as it was understood that we could handle things in our own way, it was the thrill of my life to walk out on that stage with people just hemming the band in." - Benny Goodman

Benny Goodman Quotes

"After you've done all the work and prepared as much as you can, what the hell, you might as well go out and have a good time." - Benny Goodman