Colonel William A. Phillips

Smoke Rings is a compilation album of phonograph records released by Victor Records in 1944 featuring Swing-era recordings of eight bandleaders as a part of their Musical Smart Set series. The set was released in conjunction with Up Swing during the American Federation of Musicians strike and features popular recordings by the various artists.

Reception

The album's sides were titled Big Hit of, with the year released after; Smoke Rings features songs from 1936 to 1943. This could be misleading: According to Joel Whitburn, the four songs by bandleaders Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, Larry Clinton and Glenn Miller were all number one hits. Ellington's "I Got It Bad" hit only the 17th position, while Artie Shaw's "All The Things You Are" and Freddy Martin's "Intermezzo" placed inside the top ten, at numbers 8 and 7 respectively. Kaye's version of "Moon Love" did not chart.^[1]^[2]

Despite the fact sister album Up Swing charted, Smoke Rings did not. Billboard magazine described the album in April 1944 as featuring "sentimental oldies". Both releases may have been to make up for lost sales:

Victor's cancellation of the contracts to Oklahoma and Carmen Jones was a solid sock, as the Oklahoma album has sold almost 300,000 copies, the greatest album sale in the history of the disk biz.^[3]

Track listing

These previously issued songs were featured on a 4-disc, 78 rpm album set, Victor P-147.

Disc 1: (20-1557)

$Big$ $Hit$ $of$ $1936:$ "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You", recorded June 15, 1936 with Benny Goodman and His Orchestra.
$Big$ $Hit$ $of$ $1937:$ "Once In A While", recorded July 21, 1937 with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra.^[4]

Disc 2: (20-1558)

$Big$ $Hit$ $of$ $1938:$ "My Reverie", recorded July 16, 1938 with Larry Clinton and His Orchestra.
$Big$ $Hit$ $of$ $1939:$ "Moon Love", recorded May 29, 1939 by Sing and Sway with Sammy Kaye.^[4]

Disc 3: (20-1559)

$Big$ $Hit$ $of$ $1940:$ "All the Things You Are", recorded October 26, 1939 with Artie Shaw and His Orchestra.
$Big$ $Hit$ $of$ $1941:$ "Intermezzo", recorded March 26, 1941 with Freddy Martin and His Orchestra.^[4]

Disc 4: (20-1560)

$Big$ $Hit$ $of$ $1942:$ "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good", recorded June 26, 1941 with Duke Ellington and His Orchestra.
$Big$ $Hit$ $of$ $1943:$ "That Old Black Magic", recorded July 15, 1942 with Glenn Miller and His Orchestra.

References

^ Whitburn, Joel (2015). Pop Memories 1900-1940. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-216-8.
^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Pop Hits Singles and Albums, 1940-1954. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-198-7.
^ "Big 3 Diskers Album-Dough Conscious Now" (PDF). American Radio History. The Billboard. 8 April 1944. Retrieved 1 May 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "RCA Victor 20-prefix series". 78discography.com. The Online Discographical Project. Retrieved 1 May 2019.

[Pop_Memories-1] Whitburn, Joel (2015). Pop Memories 1900-1940. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-216-8.

[Pop_Hits_Singles_and_Albums-2] Whitburn, Joel (2002). Pop Hits Singles and Albums, 1940-1954. Record Research. ISBN 978-0-89820-198-7.

[3] "Big 3 Diskers Album-Dough Conscious Now" (PDF). American Radio History. The Billboard. 8 April 1944. Retrieved 1 May 2019.

[78_discography-4] "RCA Victor 20-prefix series". 78discography.com. The Online Discographical Project. Retrieved 1 May 2019.

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Benny Goodman
albums	A Jazz Holiday (1928) Swinging 34 Vols. 1 & 2 (1934) Original Benny Goodman Trio and Quartet Sessions, Vol. 1: After You've Gone (1935) Air Play (1936) From Spirituals to Swing (1938) Up Swing (1944) Smoke Rings (1944) Swedish Pastry (1948) The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert (1950) Peggy Lee Sings with Benny Goodman (1957) The Benny Goodman Treasure Chest (1959) Benny Goodman in Moscow (1962) Benny Goodman Today (1970) The Benny Goodman Sextet Featuring Charlie Christian: 1939–1941 (1989)
Songs	"Jersey Bounce" "Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)" "Sleep" "Taking a Chance on Love" "Why Don't You Do Right"
Related articles	The Benny Goodman Story The Swing Kings
Commons

Tommy Dorsey
Studio albums	The One and Only Tommy Dorsey (1961) Tommy Dorsey's Dance Party (1966) Tommy Dorsey (1937–1941) (1976) Yes Indeed! (1990)
Compilation albums	Up Swing (1944) Smoke Rings (1944) Starmaker (1944) The Dorsey/Sinatra Sessions (1982) Music Goes Round and Round (1991) Stop, Look and Listen (1994) This Is Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra, Vol. 1 (2001) It's D'Lovely 1947–1950 (2004)
Songs	"Boogie Woogie" "Dolores" "East of the Sun (and West of the Moon)" "For Sentimental Reasons" "The Hucklebuck" "I Can Dream, Can't I?" "I Dream of You (More Than You Dream I Do)" "I'll Be Seeing You" "I'll Never Smile Again" "Imagination" "In the Blue of Evening" "In the Middle of a Dream" "Indian Summer" "It's Always You" "Just as Though You Were Here" "Let's Get Away from It All" "The Morning After" "Oh! Look at Me Now" "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe" "Once in a While" "Only Forever" "Our Love Affair" "Sleep" "Stardust" "Take Me" "There Are Such Things" "This Is No Dream" "This Love of Mine" "To You" "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)" "Yes, Indeed!" "You Taught Me to Love Again"
The Dorsey Brothers	"Annie's Cousin Fannie" "Tomorrow's Another Day" "Harlem Chapel Chimes" "Dese Dem Dose"
Related articles	Jimmy Dorsey The Fabulous Dorseys Getting Sentimental over Tommy Dorsey I Remember Tommy

Sammy Kaye
Songs	"Daddy" "Remember Pearl Harbor" "Don’t Fence Me In" "I'm a Big Girl Now" "The Gypsy" "The Old Lamp-Lighter" "Red Silk Stockings and Green Perfume" "Down Among the Sheltering Palms" "Serenade of the Bells" "Room Full of Roses" "It Isn't Fair" "Harbor Lights" "Charade"
Related articles	Discography