Overview

The forgotten history of the ""all-girl"" big bands of the World War II era takes centre stage in Sherrie Tucker's Swing Shift. American demand for swing skyrocketed with the onslaught of war as millions - isolated from loved ones - sought diversion, comfort, and social contact through music and dance. Although all-female jazz and dance bands had existed since the 1920s, now hundreds of such groups, both African American and white, barnstormed ballrooms, theatres, dance halls, military installations, and makeshift USO stages on the home front and abroad. Filled with firsthand accounts of more than a hundred women who performed during this era and complemented by thorough-and eye-opening-archival research, Swing Shift not only offers a history of this significant aspect of American society and culture but also examines how and why whole bands of dedicated and talented women musicians were dropped from-or never inducted into-our national memory.Tucker's nuanced presentation reveals who these remarkable women were, where and when they began to play music, and how they navigated a sometimes wild and bumpy road-including their experiences with gas and rubber rationing, travel restrictions designed to prioritise transportation for military needs, and Jim Crow laws and other prejudices. She explains how the expanded opportunities brought by the war, along with sudden increased publicity, created the illusion that all female musicians - no matter how experienced or talented -were ""Swing Shift Maisies,"" 1940s slang for the substitutes for the ""real"" workers (or musicians) who were away in combat. Comparing the working conditions and public representations of women musicians with figures such as Rosie the Riveter, WACs, USO hostesses, pin-ups, and movie stars, Tucker chronicles the careers of such bands as the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Phil Spitalny's Hours of Charm, The Darlings of Rhythm, and the Sharon Rogers All-Girl Band.

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9780822328179

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Reviews

""Swing Shift is packed with entertaining anecdotes, instances of courage, good humour and endurance, and it is a tribute to a level of musicianship which exposes George T. Simon's put-down in The Big Bands (1967)-that 'only men can play good jazz'-for the nonsense it is."" - John Mole, Times Literary Supplement ""Armed with astounding archival research and firsthand accounts from more than 100 female musicians, Sherrie Tucker ... sets the record straight in Swing Shift, which chronicles the careers of such bands as the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Phil Spitalny's Hours of Charm, the Darlings of Rhythm, and the Prairie View Co-Eds... Tucker traces the experiences of these women-from loving the music and wowing the fellas to sexual harassment and travels of a racially mixed group through a Jim Crow South."" - Publishers Weekly ""[Tucker's] accounts of these all-girl bands are noteworthy, especially when compared with major swing jazz histories by male authors who tend to diminish or dismiss contributions of female musicians."" - Nancy Ann Lee, America's Jazz Times ""[P]recious little has been written about these women who were an integral part of early-1940s America - which is what makes Sherrie Tucker's Swing Shift so invaluable. In this entertaining, exhaustively researched book, Tucker restores to glory ... all the jumpin', jivin', and wailin' women who came to be known as 'Swing Shift Maisies.'"" - Renee Graham, Boston Globe ""Swing Shift provides a counter-narrative to jazz history as we know it... [Tucker] does a tremendous service in bringing the existence of these all-girl bands to light, adding an important chapter to both jazz and women's histories."" - Kate Winslow, Thirsty Ear Magazine ""[This] may be the most significant contribution to our understanding of jazz history to see print for some time... This book is an experience that no observer of the jazz scene should be without. Swing Shift is truly a wake-up call."" - W. Royal Stokes, Jazz Notes ""[A] valuable new book on the largely forgotten history of female jazz."" - Nat Hentoff, Los Angeles Times ""Sherrie Tucker has produced a MUST READ and very relevant book for all musicians... It's a great read and an eye-opener."" - Rosalind Cron, Overture ""Swing Shift offers engaging tales of many specific bands... [A] feast of facts about the lives, drive and courage of talented women who functioned only on the fringes, at best, of the music world in peacetime, and who brought joy to Americans in the 1940s."" - Leslie Gourse, The Women's Review of Books

"""Swing Shift is packed with entertaining anecdotes, instances of courage, good humour and endurance, and it is a tribute to a level of musicianship which exposes George T. Simon's put-down in The Big Bands (1967)-that 'only men can play good jazz'-for the nonsense it is."" - John Mole, Times Literary Supplement ""Armed with astounding archival research and firsthand accounts from more than 100 female musicians, Sherrie Tucker ... sets the record straight in Swing Shift, which chronicles the careers of such bands as the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Phil Spitalny's Hours of Charm, the Darlings of Rhythm, and the Prairie View Co-Eds... Tucker traces the experiences of these women-from loving the music and wowing the fellas to sexual harassment and travels of a racially mixed group through a Jim Crow South."" - Publishers Weekly ""[Tucker's] accounts of these all-girl bands are noteworthy, especially when compared with major swing jazz histories by male authors who tend to diminish or dismiss contributions of female musicians."" - Nancy Ann Lee, America's Jazz Times ""[P]recious little has been written about these women who were an integral part of early-1940s America - which is what makes Sherrie Tucker's Swing Shift so invaluable. In this entertaining, exhaustively researched book, Tucker restores to glory ... all the jumpin', jivin', and wailin' women who came to be known as 'Swing Shift Maisies.'"" - Renee Graham, Boston Globe ""Swing Shift provides a counter-narrative to jazz history as we know it... [Tucker] does a tremendous service in bringing the existence of these all-girl bands to light, adding an important chapter to both jazz and women's histories."" - Kate Winslow, Thirsty Ear Magazine ""[This] may be the most significant contribution to our understanding of jazz history to see print for some time... This book is an experience that no observer of the jazz scene should be without. Swing Shift is truly a wake-up call."" - W. Royal Stokes, Jazz Notes ""[A] valuable new book on the largely forgotten history of female jazz."" - Nat Hentoff, Los Angeles Times ""Sherrie Tucker has produced a MUST READ and very relevant book for all musicians... It's a great read and an eye-opener."" - Rosalind Cron, Overture ""Swing Shift offers engaging tales of many specific bands... [A] feast of facts about the lives, drive and courage of talented women who functioned only on the fringes, at best, of the music world in peacetime, and who brought joy to Americans in the 1940s."" - Leslie Gourse, The Women's Review of Books"

Swing Shift is packed with entertaining anecdotes, instances of courage, good humour and endurance, and it is a tribute to a level of musicianship which exposes George T. Simon's put-down in The Big Bands (1967)-that 'only men can play good jazz'-for the nonsense it is. - John Mole, Times Literary Supplement Armed with astounding archival research and firsthand accounts from more than 100 female musicians, Sherrie Tucker ... sets the record straight in Swing Shift, which chronicles the careers of such bands as the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Phil Spitalny's Hours of Charm, the Darlings of Rhythm, and the Prairie View Co-Eds... Tucker traces the experiences of these women-from loving the music and wowing the fellas to sexual harassment and travels of a racially mixed group through a Jim Crow South. - Publishers Weekly [Tucker's] accounts of these all-girl bands are noteworthy, especially when compared with major swing jazz histories by male authors who tend to diminish or dismiss contributions of female musicians. - Nancy Ann Lee, America's Jazz Times [P]recious little has been written about these women who were an integral part of early-1940s America - which is what makes Sherrie Tucker's Swing Shift so invaluable. In this entertaining, exhaustively researched book, Tucker restores to glory ... all the jumpin', jivin', and wailin' women who came to be known as 'Swing Shift Maisies.' - Renee Graham, Boston Globe Swing Shift provides a counter-narrative to jazz history as we know it... [Tucker] does a tremendous service in bringing the existence of these all-girl bands to light, adding an important chapter to both jazz and women's histories. - Kate Winslow, Thirsty Ear Magazine [This] may be the most significant contribution to our understanding of jazz history to see print for some time... This book is an experience that no observer of the jazz scene should be without. Swing Shift is truly a wake-up call. - W. Royal Stokes, Jazz Notes [A] valuable new book on the largely forgotten history of female jazz. - Nat Hentoff, Los Angeles Times Sherrie Tucker has produced a MUST READ and very relevant book for all musicians... It's a great read and an eye-opener. - Rosalind Cron, Overture Swing Shift offers engaging tales of many specific bands... [A] feast of facts about the lives, drive and courage of talented women who functioned only on the fringes, at best, of the music world in peacetime, and who brought joy to Americans in the 1940s. - Leslie Gourse, The Women's Review of Books

Swing Shift is packed with entertaining anecdotes, instances of courage, good humour and endurance, and it is a tribute to a level of musicianship which exposes George T. Simon's put-down in The Big Bands (1967)-that 'only men can play good jazz'-for the nonsense it is. - John Mole, Times Literary Supplement Armed with astounding archival research and firsthand accounts from more than 100 female musicians, Sherrie Tucker ... sets the record straight in Swing Shift, which chronicles the careers of such bands as the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Phil Spitalny's Hours of Charm, the Darlings of Rhythm, and the Prairie View Co-Eds... Tucker traces the experiences of these women-from loving the music and wowing the fellas to sexual harassment and travels of a racially mixed group through a Jim Crow South. - Publishers Weekly [Tucker's] accounts of these all-girl bands are noteworthy, especially when compared with major swing jazz histories by male authors who tend to diminish or dismiss contributions of female musicians. - Nancy Ann Lee, America's Jazz Times [P]recious little has been written about these women who were an integral part of early-1940s America - which is what makes Sherrie Tucker's Swing Shift so invaluable. In this entertaining, exhaustively researched book, Tucker restores to glory ... all the jumpin', jivin', and wailin' women who came to be known as 'Swing Shift Maisies.' - Renee Graham, Boston Globe Swing Shift provides a counter-narrative to jazz history as we know it... [Tucker] does a tremendous service in bringing the existence of these all-girl bands to light, adding an important chapter to both jazz and women's histories. - Kate Winslow, Thirsty Ear Magazine [This] may be the most significant contribution to our understanding of jazz history to see print for some time... This book is an experience that no observer of the jazz scene should be without. Swing Shift is truly a wake-up call. - W. Royal Stokes, Jazz Notes [A] valuable new book on the largely forgotten history of female jazz. - Nat Hentoff, Los Angeles Times Sherrie Tucker has produced a MUST READ and very relevant book for all musicians... It's a great read and an eye-opener. - Rosalind Cron, Overture Swing Shift offers engaging tales of many specific bands... [A] feast of facts about the lives, drive and courage of talented women who functioned only on the fringes, at best, of the music world in peacetime, and who brought joy to Americans in the 1940s. - Leslie Gourse, The Women's Review of Books

Author Information

Sherrie Tucker is Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. A longtime jazz fan, she has conducted oral histories for the Smithsonian Jazz Oral History Program, writes a column called “Jazzwomen Jam” for Jazz Now Magazine, and was formerly a jazz radio announcer in San Francisco.

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