1944 HITS ARCHIVE: Solo Flight - Benny Goodman (Charlie Christian, gtr) (Take 1, 78 ver.) (#1 R&B )

Solo Flight (Christian-Goodman-Mundy) by Benny Goodman & his Orchestra, featuring Charlie Christian-guitar The artistry of Christian’s improvisational guitar work is the centerpiece of this famous Jimmy Mundy arrangement for the Goodman Band. Recorded March 4, 1941, but not issued by Columbia until late 1943, “Solo Flight” became a #1 record hit on Billboard’s ‘Harlem Hit Parade’ (R&B) chart in early 1944. An alternate second take has been widely reissued over the years, but this post is of the original commercial hit version. THE 1944 HITS ARCHIVE - a collection of commercial recordings and songs that proved popular during the calendar year 1944 via sales, sheet music, juke box play, and radio exposure.…plus some others that have gained increased recognition or have been shown to have had an impact during the decades that followed. You’ll note that due to the long-running ‘recording ban’ (musician’s union strike against the record companies), quite a number of this year’s best-sellers were recordings made back in 1942 or earlier ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The three* MusicProf channels are home to The HITS ARCHIVES, YouTube’s most comprehensive collection of U.S. ‘popular music’ recordings from 1925 thru 1975. Discover thousands of original hit versions, conveniently arranged in year-by-year playlists and sorted alphabetically in your choice of either song title or artist name. Simply visit this channel’s home page (here: https://www.youtube.com/@the78prof72 ), scroll down the rows of playlist categories, choose a favorite year, click on “view full playlist,” and then pick out the songs that you want to hear. Enjoy the music! * The78Prof The45Prof AnotherProf