That all these leaders were temperamental and difficult mattered little to the fans who loved them. Goodman was called "an ornery SOB" by more than one sideman. His icy stare, "the Goodman ray," was usually a prelude to termination. Miller was considered cold and distant. His demeanor kept his men at bay and uneasy. Dorsey could be openly combative. Some stories had it that he and his brother Jimmy sometimes settled disputes with fists in the old days of the Dorsey Brothers band. And Artie Shaw had serious bouts of nervous depression, walking out on his great 1939 band and escaping to Mexico.
( John Dunning )
[ On the Air: The Encyclopedia ]
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