From Bop Era to Hip-Hop, He Keeps the Music Swinging

Try to imagine the Rolling Stones coming on stage for a performance in 2023.

That’s the kind of time span being marked by Les Brown’s Band of Renown, which played its first notes in 1936. The group, one of the best of the great swing dance bands, has comfortably espoused the virtues of easy swing and romantic ballads through decades of bop, cool jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, fusion, disco, hip-hop and rap.

On Friday, Brown and company will mark their 60th anniversary with “Swing Alive at the Hollywood Palladium,” a celebration of swing music that will be videotaped for an August PBS pledge-drive airing.

According to Brown, 84, the key words in the production’s title are “swing alive.”

“In the last two or three years it seems as though there’s been a resurgence of interest in swing,” Brown says. “We see a lot of younger people in our audiences, out there jitterbugging. Isn’t that something? Maybe it’s a counter-rebellion against their parents. I mean, if their parents were into rock ‘n’ roll, it’s not surprising that some of the kids are going back to their grandparents’ music--swing.”

Although the show’s lineup includes swing-associated artists such as Patty Andrews (of the Andrews Sisters), Tex Beneke, Hal Linden and Brown’s longtime boss Bob Hope, there are plenty of contemporary performers as well. Among them: Kid Creole & the Coconuts, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, Johnny Pizzarelli and the Royal Crown Revue.

Suzanne Somers will sing an early Brown novelty number, “Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio,” and Sheena Easton will sing “Sentimental Journey,” the Band of Renown’s biggest hit (with Doris Day originally doing the vocal).

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Brown, who can offer chapter and verse for nearly every aspect of his organization’s six-decade existence, recalls that “Sentimental Journey” was a winner from the outset.

“We played the tune a few times before we recorded it,” he says, “and people came up and said, ‘What’s that song?’ But we had to stop playing it, because there was a recording ban at the time [due to a dispute between the musicians’ union and the record industry] and we were afraid some other band would hear it and do it first.

“Then, when the ban was over, we went in and recorded it, and it was a hit right out of the box. The only problem was that it was 1945, and there wasn’t enough shellac to press all the copies that people wanted.”

Shellac shortage notwithstanding, the record spent 23 weeks in the Top 10, 17 of them in the No. 1 position.

In addition to “Sentimental Journey” and other hit tunes such as “I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm,” the Brown band is best known for its lengthy affiliation with Hope. The relationship has lasted 49 years, with the Band of Renown continuing to be present at Hope’s now-rare performances. Along the way, there were television specials, tours and--most visibly--USO appearances at overseas Army bases.

During the Palladium program--which is a benefit for WEDU, Florida West Coast Public Broadcasting in the Tampa Bay area--Brown will be presented with the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ Presidential Award for Lifelong Achievement (he was a co-founder of the organization) and a similar award from the National Academy of Songwriters.

Brown is pleased with the recognition, but he’s even more delighted about the celebration of the music that has kept him in front of audiences for 60 years. His son, Les Brown Jr., now leads the band during the more rigorous road trips, but the elder Brown has no intention of retiring soon.

“As long as my health holds up,” he says, “and as long as there’s anyone around who wants to hear some good swing music and some romantic ballads, I’ll be out there.”

* “Swing Alive,” Friday at the Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd. 8 p.m. $100, $75 and $50 (tax-deductible). Special $20 dance pass on sale after 9:30 p.m. (213) 962-7600.