Flying Home

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"Flying Home"
Song by Benny Goodman Sextet
RecordedNovember 6, 1939
Genre Jazz
Composer(s) Lionel Hampton, Benny Goodman
Lyricist(s) Sid Robin
Official audio
"Flying Home" on YouTube

"Flying Home" is a jazz and jump blues composition written by Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton with lyrics by Sid Robin. [1]

Contents

Background

Hampton conceived the melody while playing in the Benny Goodman band. While waiting for a plane to travel from Los Angeles to Atlantic City, on what would be Hampton's first flight, he began whistling a tune to relieve his nerves. Goodman asked for the tune's name and Hampton replied; "I don't know. We can call it 'Flying Home,' I guess." The Goodman Quartet played it for the first time that evening, and later recorded the first version of the full song, with a guitar solo by Charlie Christian. Hampton subsequently adopted the song as his musical signature. [2] [3]

Other musicians on the original recording were Fletcher Henderson on piano, Artie Bernstein on bass and Nick Fatool on drums.

Recordings

It was first recorded by the Benny Goodman Sextet on November 6, 1939, featuring solos by Hampton and Charlie Christian. Several other groups recorded the tune:

Accolades and other uses

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References

  1. "Original versions of Flying Home". Secondhand Songs. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  2. 1 2 Rickert, David (22 August 2005). "Lionel Hampton: "Flying Home"". All About Jazz. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  3. Hampton, Lionel; Haskins, James (1989). Hamp: An Autobiography. Robson Books. p. 68.
  4. Holden, Stephen (16 June 1996). "Ella Fitzgerald, the Voice of Jazz, Dies at 79". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  5. "GRAMMY Hall of Fame". 18 October 2010.
  6. Ellison (1998). Flying home and other stories (1st Vintage International ed.). New York: Vintage Books. ISBN   9780679776611.
  7. Lurie, Morris (1978). Flying home. Victoria: Outback Press. ISBN   9780868880594.