PROPERTY FROM THE ESTATE OF ARTIE SHAW “SWINGS” INTO JOHN MORAN’S SEPTEMBER AUCTION Pasadena, CA – John Moran Auctioneers is proud to announce that on Tuesday, September 16, 2008 they will offer at public auction, and without reserve, select items from the estate of one of the greate
their website prior to the sale. Bidding for Moran’s evening sale is available from the floor, by absentee, phone, and internet via eBay Live Auctions / www.liveauctioneers.com. For more information about this exciting sale, please call the offices of John Moran Auctioneers at (626) 793-1833 or visit their website at www.johnmoran.com
ABOUT ARTIE SHAW (1910 – 2004) —
Rivaled only by Benny Goodman as the Swing Era’s greatest clarinetist, Artie Shaw ranks among the greatest popular musicians of the 20th century and the pre-rock era.
His professional achievements during the height of his fame from the late 1930s through the 1940s are many. Billboard Magazine’s 1939 College Survey ranked him as artist of the year. Shaw’s 1940 recording ‘Frenesi’ became the third best-selling song of the 1940s, charting at number one for thirteen weeks, also making it the third-highest ranking hit to chart during the entire pre-rock era (1890-1954).
Billboard’s 1956 nationwide disc-jockey survey placed Artie Shaw’s 1941 recording of the Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘Stardust’ as the greatest recording of all time, with his 1938 recording of Cole Porter’s ‘Begin the Beguine’ ranking third. At a time when the nation’s population was half what it is now, Artie Shaw produced a string of hits which have gone on to sell over 100 million records.
During his career in Hollywood, Shaw garnered two Academy Award nominations. In 2004, he was presented with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He also received the Smithsonian’s James Smithson Medal for lifetime achievements in music, and honorary doctorates from California Lutheran University and the University of Arizona.
Several notable musicians and singers worked for and recorded with Shaw’s orchestra, including Buddy Rich, Helen Forrest, Mel Tormé, and Ray Coniff. When Shaw hired Billie Holiday in 1938 he became the first white bandleader to employ a black female vocalist full-time. During World War II, Shaw enlisted in the United States Navy, forming a band that served in the Pacific Theatre. He reportedly played as many as four concerts a day in battle zones.
Artie Shaw led a tumultuous private life, and was married eight times. Two of his wives were screen legends Ava Gardner and Lana Turner. Shaw’s relationship to popular music and fame was equally troubling and he quit the business several times during the height of his fame, only to form a new orchestra and begin anew. He retired from music completely around 1954 and turns his attentions to writing, sport fishing, marksmanship, and various other enterprises.
Just one year before his death Artie Shaw donated two of his clarinets to the Smithsonian Institution. His music lives on into the 21st century through the still-active Artie Shaw Orchestra (which he re-launched in 1983), and in the soundtracks of major motion pictures such as Martin Scorsese’s “The Aviator”, Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Father’s”, and HBO’s “The Sopranos”.
