So, as I said before, "Paducah" from The Gang's All Here is a really stupid song and Benny Goodman shouldn't be singing. But it's all worth it, somehow, to see the two-minute extended take that begins the number. Busby Berkeley, like many great directors of musicals, liked long takes and camera movement, but at Warner Brothers he didn't always have the budget or the resources to do really long, fluid takes. At M-G-M, he could do long takes (that was the house style when it came to musicals), but he couldn't express his own creative personality. The Gang's All Here shows Berkeley finally working with the budget he dreamed of and the creative freedom he needed, and the result is something like this: two minutes in which, without a cut, the camera swoops in, up and around, individualizing every member of Benny Goodman's band before circling back and returning to Goodman for the song.
Can't believe a blog about "Paducah" the song from Gang'a All Here". Yes i agree with your comments. Don't forget the Carmen Miranda contribution and the combination of swing and latin to such a silly (but so catchy song). Found the sountrack version on a Carmen M CD, and now have the sheet music via the web in England, and I am singing it in my cabaret act in Tasmania. Cheers The Dame
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