Those Swinging Years: The Autobiography of Charlie Barnet

Rating:
Summary: this is a good start for this artist
Review: this book was great for info on charlie and life in the big band swing era .I really injoyed the stories .The disaponting item i found in this book is that it has a discography in it that is only of favorite recordings of charlie and not complete,but it has every song he recorded as far as who wrote it, ect.ect.

Rating:
Summary: Barnet Remembers
Review: This rather thin volume recounts Charlie Barnet's recollections of his years in the spotlight leading his more-or-less third echelon (in importance) orchestra. Much of it documents assorted adventures on the road along with recollections of various singers and sidemen he worked with over the years. In an apparent attempt to make this rather boring bio more spicy, quite a bit of space is devoted to facts that tend to tarnish his legendary status. They play up his more immature, irresponsible nature and present a seemingly endless parade of Barnet's less-than-honorable activities -- mean stunts, one night stands, quickie marriages and a whole lot of boozing it up (and drugs, too). Remarkably, such "hot" text is more tedious than anything and only lowers one's opinion of the man. As another review points out, the discography included in this book is woefully incomplete -- and, incredibly -- ignores nearly every one of Barnet's 26 1936-46 chart hits! It's too bad that Barnet did not write this with someone who could have adjusted the book's focus and eliminated it's shortcomings. Barnet was probably an interesting guy to know -- and while this slim book does give some insight into his thought process and life one can not get anywhere else, it's a shame that this volume is all we'll ever have from Barnet's perspective. I'm just sorry that, overall, it lowered my opinion of him.