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{{Short description|American jazz musician and bandleader (1913–1987)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name                = Woody Herman
| image               = Woody Herman ca.1943.jpg
| caption             = Herman in 1943
| background       = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name       = Woodrow Charles Herman
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1913|5|16|mf=y}}
| birth_place        = [[Milwaukee]], Wisconsin, U.S.
| death_date        = {{death date and age|1987|10|29|1913|5|16|mf=y}}
| death_place       =  [[West Hollywood, California]], U.S.
| genre               = {{flatlist|
*[[Big band]]
*[[swing music|swing]]
*[[cool jazz]]}}
| occupation          = {{flatlist|
*[[Bandleader]]
*musician
}}
| instrument          = {{flatlist|
*Vocals
*clarinet
*[[alto saxophone]]
*[[soprano saxophone]]
}}
}}

'''Woodrow Charles Herman''' (May 16, 1913&nbsp;– October 29, 1987) was an American [[jazz]] clarinetist, saxophonist, singer, and [[big band]] leader. Leading groups called "The Herd", Herman came to prominence in the late 1930s and was active until his death in 1987. His bands often played music that was cutting edge and experimental; their recordings received numerous [[Grammy Award|Grammy]] nominations.

==Early life and career==
Herman was born in [[Milwaukee|Milwaukee, Wisconsin]], on May 16, 1913.<ref>{{cite book |title=Leader of the Band |last=Lees |first=Gene |author-link=Gene Lees |year=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=0-19-511574-0 |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LyUvHAAACAAJ&q=leader+of+the+band}}</ref> His parents were Otto and Myrtle (Bartoszewicz) Herrmann.<ref>Lees 5</ref><ref>Woody Herman changed the spelling of the familial name.</ref> His mother was born in Poland.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jazzsight.com/jazzsightprofiles.html |title=a cordial welcome to jazzsight |website=Jazzsight.com |access-date=2016-04-10}}</ref> His father had a deep love for show business and this influenced Woody at an early age.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Woody Herman Story liner notes |last=Visser |first=Joop |author-link=Joop Visser |year=2000 |publisher=Proper |location=Kent, England |page=7}}</ref>

As a child, Woody Herman worked as a singer and tap-dancer in [[vaudeville]], then started to play the clarinet and saxophone by age 12.<ref name="Music.us">{{cite web |url=http://www.music.us/biography/artist/528/woody_herman.html |title=Woody Herman Biography – Music Artist Band Biographies – Artists Bands Bio – FREE MP3 Downloads |publisher=Music.us |access-date=2013-07-02}}</ref> In 1931 he met Charlotte Neste, an aspiring actress;<ref>{{cite book |title=Woody Herman: Chronicle of the Herds |last=Clancy |first=William D. |author-link=William D. Clancy |year=1995 |publisher=Music Sales Corp |isbn=0-8256-7244-9 |page=4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMwLAAAACAAJ&q=woody+herman+chronicle+of+the+herds}}</ref> the couple married on September 27, 1936.<ref>Visser 12</ref> Woody Herman joined the Tom Gerun band and his first recorded vocals were "[[iarchive:78_lonesome-me-solitario_tom-gerun-and-his-orchestra-woddy-herman-razaf-waller-conra_gbia0097617b|Lonesome Me]]" and "My Heart's at Ease".<ref>Clancy 15</ref> Herman also performed with the Harry Sosnick orchestra,<ref>Clancy 16</ref> [[Gus Arnheim]] and [[Isham Jones]].<ref>Clancy 17</ref> Jones wrote many popular songs (including "[[It Had to Be You (song)|It Had to Be You]]") and at some point was tiring of the demands of leading a band and wanted to live off the residuals of his songs. Herman saw the chance to lead his former band<ref>Clancy 20</ref> and eventually acquired the remains of the orchestra after Jones' retirement.

==The Band That Plays the Blues, 1936–1943==
Herman's first band became known for its orchestrations of the [[blues]], and was sometimes billed as "The Band That Plays the Blues". This band recorded for the [[Decca Records|Decca]] label, at first serving as a cover band, doing songs by other Decca artists.<ref>Visser 14</ref> The first song recorded was "Wintertime Dreams" on November 6, 1936. In January 1937, [[George T. Simon]] ended a review of the band with the words: "This Herman outfit bears watching; not only because it's fun listening to in its present stages, but also because it's bound to reach even greater stages."<ref>{{cite book |title=Simon Says: The Sights and Sounds of the Swing Era |last=Simon |first=George T. |author-link=George T. Simon |year=1971 |publisher=Galahad Books |location=New York |isbn=0-88365-001-0 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G354PAAACAAJ&q=simon+says+the+sights+and+sounds+of+the+swing+era}}</ref> After two and a half years on the label, the band had its first hit, "[[Woodchopper's Ball]]" recorded in 1939.<ref>Visser 14–15</ref> Herman remembered that "Woodchopper's Ball" started out slowly. "[I]t was really a sleeper. But Decca kept re-releasing it, and over a period of three or four years it became a hit. Eventually it sold more than five million copies—the biggest hit I ever had." Decca also used Herman to accompany its other artists and gave the band the name "Woody Herman's Woodchoppers" for such recordings. There were two notable hits using that title with [[Bing Crosby]], "The Whistler's Mother-in-law" (with Muriel Lane singing with Crosby) in 1941<ref>{{cite book |last1=Whitburn |first1=Joel |title=Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954 |date=1986 |publisher=Record Research Inc. |location=Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |isbn=0-89820-083-0 |pages=108}}</ref> and [[Deep in the Heart of Texas]]" in 1942. In January 1942, Herman would have his highest-rated single (No. 1 in the [[Billboard charts|''Billboard'' charts]]), singing [[Harold Arlen]]'s "[[Blues in the Night]]" backed by his orchestra. 
Other hits for the band include "Blue Flame" and "[[Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me]]". Musicians and arrangers that stood out included Cappy Lewis on trumpet and saxophonist/arranger [[Deane Kincaide]].<ref name="Visser 17">Visser 17</ref> "[[The Golden Wedding]]" (1941), arranged by James "Jiggs" Noble, featured an extended (34 bars) drum solo by [[Frankie Carlson]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/6108077 |title=Analysis of Drum Solos from Golden Wedding 1941 and 1976 |author=Jeremy Sibson |access-date=15 January 2015}}</ref>

==Be-bop and the First Herd, 1944–1946==
The trumpeter [[Dizzy Gillespie]] wrote three arrangements for Herman, "[[Woody 'n' You|Woody'n You]]", "Swing Shift", and "Down Under". These were arranged in 1942.<ref>Visser 19</ref> "Woody'n You" was not used at the time. "Down Under" was recorded July 24, 1942. Herman's commissioning Gillespie to write arrangements for the band and hiring [[Ralph Burns]] as a staff arranger heralded a change in the style of music the band was playing.<ref>Visser 19–21</ref>

In February 1945, the band started a contract with [[Columbia Records]].<ref>Visser 25</ref> Herman liked what drew many artists to Columbia, [[Columbia Records#Recording studios|Liederkranz Hall]], at the time the best recording venue in New York City. The first side Herman recorded was "Laura", the theme song of the [[Laura (1944 film)|1944 movie]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037008/soundtrack |title=Soundtracks For Laura |publisher=[[IMDb|Internet Movie Database]]}}</ref> Herman's version was so successful that it made Columbia hold from release the arrangement that [[Harry James]] had recorded days earlier.<ref>Visser 24–25</ref> The Columbia contract coincided with a change in the band's repertoire. The 1944 group, which he called the First Herd, was known for its [[Cool jazz|progressive jazz]]. The First Herd's music was heavily influenced by [[Duke Ellington]] and [[Count Basie]]. Its lively, swinging arrangements, combining [[bebop|bop]] themes with [[Swing music|swing]] rhythm parts, were greatly admired. As of February 1945, the personnel included [[Sonny Berman]], [[Pete Candoli]], [[Bill Harris (trombonist)|Bill Harris]], [[Flip Phillips]], [[Billy Bauer]] (later replaced by [[Chuck Wayne]]), [[Ralph Burns]], and [[Dave Tough|Davey Tough]].<ref name="Lees 109">Lees 109</ref> On February 26, 1945, in New York City, the Woody Herman band recorded "Caldonia".<ref name="Clancy 68">Clancy 68</ref>

[[Neal Hefti]] and Ralph Burns collaborated on the arrangement of "Caldonia" that the Herman band used.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-oct-15-me-hefti15-story.html |title=Ex-big band trumpeter, arranger and composer |work=Los Angeles Times |first=Dennis |last=McLellan |date=October 15, 2008}}</ref> "Ralph caught [[Louis Jordan]] [singing "Caldonia"] in an act and wrote the opening twelve bars and the eight bar tag."<ref name="Clancy 68" /> "But the most amazing thing on the record was a soaring eight bar passage by trumpets near the end." These eight measures have wrongly been attributed to a Gillespie solo, but were in fact originally written by [[Neal Hefti]].<ref name="Lees 109" /> George T. Simon compares Hefti with Gillespie in a 1944 review for ''[[Metronome (magazine)|Metronome]]'' magazine saying, "Like Dizzy [...], Hefti has an abundance of good ideas, with which he has aided Ralph Burns immensely."<ref>''Simon Says'', p. 201</ref>

In 1946, the band won ''[[DownBeat]]'', ''[[Metronome (magazine)|Metronome]]'', ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', and ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' polls for best band, nominated by their peers in the big band business.<ref>Clancy 90</ref>

Classical composer [[Igor Stravinsky]] wrote the ''[[Ebony Concerto (Stravinsky)|Ebony Concerto]]'', one in a series of compositions commissioned by Herman with solo clarinet, for this band in 1945. Herman recorded the work at Belock Recording Studio in Bayside, New York.<ref>Liner notes of the re-release by the Everest Recording Group Inc. in 1959, and released in January 1959 as SDBR 3009. The recording has been released on a CD by Everest EVC 9049.</ref> Herman called it a "very delicate and a very sad piece".<ref>Clancy 88</ref> Stravinsky felt that the jazz musicians would have a hard time with the various time signatures. Saxophonist Flip Philips said: "During the rehearsal [...] there was a passage I had to play there and I was playing it soft, and Stravinsky said 'Play it, here I am!' and I blew it louder and he threw me a kiss!"<ref>Clancy 89</ref> Stravinsky observed the massive amount of smoking at the recording session: "the atmosphere looked like Pernod clouded by water."<ref>"Jazz and Stravinsky"</ref> ''Ebony Concerto'' was performed live by the Herman band on March 25, 1946, at [[Carnegie Hall]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.centerforjazzarts.org/classical_2c.html |title=Classical Arts |publisher=Center for Jazz Arts |access-date=2013-07-02 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206053817/http://www.centerforjazzarts.org/classical_2c.html |archive-date=2012-02-06}}</ref>

Despite the Carnegie Hall success and other triumphs, Herman was forced to disband the orchestra in 1946 at the height of its success. This was his only financially successful band; he left it to spend more time with his wife and family. During this time, he and his family had just moved into the former Hollywood home of [[Humphrey Bogart]] and [[Lauren Bacall]]. One reason Herman may have disbanded was his wife Charlotte's growing alcoholism and pill addiction. Charlotte Herman joined [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] and gave up everything she was addicted to. Woody said, laughing: "I went to an AA meeting with Charlotte and my old band was sitting there."<ref name="Lees 147">Lees 147</ref> Many critics cite December 1946 as the actual date the big-band era ended, when seven other bands, in addition to Herman's, dissolved.<ref>"Finally, in December, 1946, almost a dozen years after Benny Goodman had blown the first signs of life into the big band bubble, that bubble burst with a concerted bang. Inside of just a few weeks, eight of the nation's top bandleaders called it quits-some temporarily, some permanently". George T. Simon ''The Big Bands'' Schirmer Books, New York. 1981. p. 32 {{ISBN|0-02-872420-8}}.</ref>

=="The Four Brothers Band" and more Herds, 1947–1969==
In 1947, Herman organized the Second Herd. This band was also known as "The Four Brothers Band". This derives from the song recorded December 27, 1947, for Columbia Records, "[[Four Brothers (jazz standard)|Four Brothers]]", written by [[Jimmy Giuffre]],<ref>Clancy 120</ref> featuring the saxophone section of [[Zoot Sims]], [[Serge Chaloff]], [[Herbie Steward]], and [[Stan Getz]].<ref name="Clancy 121">Clancy 121</ref> The other musicians of this band included [[Al Cohn]], [[Gene Ammons]], [[Lou Levy (pianist)|Lou Levy]], [[Oscar Pettiford]], [[Terry Gibbs]], and [[Shelly Manne]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://music.yahoo.com/search/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120711143439/http://music.yahoo.com/search/?m=artist&p=ar-251790-bio-- |url-status=dead |title=ar-251790-bio-- - Yahoo! Music Search Results |archive-date=July 11, 2012 |access-date=October 10, 2019}}</ref> Among this band's hits were "[[Early Autumn (song)|Early Autumn]]" and "The Goof and I". The band was popular enough that they went to Hollywood in the mid-1940s. Herman and his band appear in the movie ''[[New Orleans (1947 film)|New Orleans]]'' (1947) with [[Billie Holiday]] and [[Louis Armstrong]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039655/ |title=New Orleans (1947) |publisher=IMDb.com |access-date=2013-07-02}}</ref>

In 1947, Herman was Emcee and also played at the third Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at [[Wrigley Field (Los Angeles)|Wrigley Field]] in Los Angeles which was produced by [[Leon Hefflin, Sr.]] on September 7, 1947. The [[Miguelito Valdés|Valdez Orchestra]], The Blenders, [[T-Bone Walker]], [[Slim Gaillard]], [[Joe Liggins|The Honeydrippers]], [[Johnny Otis|Johnny Otis and his Orchestra]], [[Sarah Vaughan|Sarah Vaughn]], and the [[Johnny Moore's Three Blazers|Three Blazers]] also performed that same day.<ref>“Woody Herman and His Orchestra” AD Los Angeles Sentinel Aug. 28, 1947.</ref>

[[File:Woody Herman.jpg|thumb|Herman in 1976]]
Herman's other bands include the Third Herd (1950–1956) and various later editions during the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.vervemusicgroup.com/woodyherman/bio/ |title=Woody Herman |publisher=Verve Music Group |date=1999–2009}}</ref> In the 1950s, the Third Herd successfully toured Europe.<ref>Clancy 192</ref> He was known for hiring the best young musicians and using their arrangements.<ref>Clancy 275</ref> In the early and mid 1960s, Herman fronted a Herd featuring [[Michael Moore (bassist)|Michael Moore]], drummer [[Jake Hanna]], tenor saxophonist [[Sal Nistico]], trombonists [[Phil Wilson (trombonist)|Phil Wilson]] and Henry Southall and trumpeters like [[Bill Chase]], Paul Fontaine, and [[Duško Gojković]]. By 1968, the Herman library came to be heavily influenced by [[rock and roll]].<ref>Clancy 271</ref> He was also known to feature brass and woodwind instruments rarely associated with jazz, such as the bassoon, oboe, and French horn.

In concert, as the evening wore on and the crowd started dissipating, Herman would often leave the stage and let the band continue the last set on its own; but Terry Gibbs confirmed that the band never sounded the same without Herman being present.<ref name="Gene Lees">{{cite web |last1=Lees |first1=Gene |title=Pencil Pushers / JazzLetter / November 1998 |url=https://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2018/01/jazz-big-band-composer-arrangers-what.html |website=Jazz Profiles |date=12 January 2018 |publisher=Steven Cerra |access-date=7 November 2020}}</ref>

=="The Young Thundering Herds", 1970–1987==
In the early 1970s, he toured frequently and began to work more in [[jazz education]], offering workshops and taking on younger sidemen. For this reason, he got the nickname Road Father and the bands were known as the "Young Thundering Herds".<ref>{{Cite Grove |last=James |first=Michael |last2=Kernfeld |first2=Barry |title=Woody Herman}}</ref> In January 1973, Herman was one of the featured [[List of Super Bowl halftime shows|halftime performers]] at [[Super Bowl VII]].<ref>{{cite web |title=1973 Super Bowl VII |url=http://www.super-bowl-history.us/superbowl-history7.html |website=Super-bowl-history.us |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111224152450/http://www.super-bowl-history.us/superbowl-history7.html |archive-date=December 24, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjdQ7rWH5A0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/ZjdQ7rWH5A0 |archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live |title=Michigan Band Super Bowl VII halftime 1973 Remaster Part 1 of 2 |date=20 February 2011 |access-date=January 25, 2018 |via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 1974, Woody Herman's band appeared without their leader for [[Frank Sinatra]]'s television special ''[[The Main Event (Television special)|The Main Event]]'' and album ''[[The Main Event – Live]]''. Both were recorded mainly on October 13, 1974, at [[Madison Square Garden]] in New York City.<ref>Clancy 291</ref> On November 20, 1976, a reconstituted Woody Herman band played at Carnegie Hall in New York City, celebrating Herman's fortieth anniversary as a bandleader.<ref>Clancy 299</ref> 

By the 1980s, Herman had returned to more straight-ahead jazz but augmented with rock and fusion.<ref>Clancy 312–313</ref> Herman signed a recording contract with [[Concord Jazz|Concord Records]] around 1980.<ref>Wilson, 1981</ref> In 1981, [[John S. Wilson (music critic)|John S. Wilson]] reviewed one of Herman's first Concord recordings ''Woody Herman Presents a Concord Jam, Vol. I''. Wilson's review says that the recording presents a band that is less frenetic than his bands from the forties to the seventies. Instead, it takes the listener back to the relaxed style of Herman's first band of the thirties that recorded for Decca.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C06E7DD1239F936A25750C0A967948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1. |title=Woody Herman Jamming As Old |work=The New York Times |last=Wilson |first=John S. |date=March 15, 1981}}</ref>

==Timeline of Woody Herman Bands==
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:1000 height:200
PlotArea = left:150 bottom:120 top:0 right:14
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat  = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1936 till:31/12/1987
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4
ScaleMajor = increment:5 start:1936
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1936

Colors =
  id:bbb   value:black       legend:Band&nbsp;That&nbsp;Plays&nbsp;The&nbsp;Blues
  id:bebop value:red         legend:Bebop/First&nbsp;Herd
  id:fb    value:green       legend:Four&nbsp;Brothers
  id:yth   value:blue        legend:Young&nbsp;Thundering&nbsp;Herds

LineData =

 at:01/01/1936 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/1941 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/1945 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/1951 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/1956 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/1961 color:black layer:back
 at:01/01/1966 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/1971 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/1976 color:black layer:back
 at:01/09/1981 color:black layer:back
 at:31/12/1987 color:black layer:back

PlotData =
  width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4)
  bar:Band&nbsp;That&nbsp;Plays&nbsp;The&nbsp;Blues    from:01/10/1936     till: 01/10/1944 color:bbb
  bar:Bebop/First&nbsp;Herd           from:01/10/1944     till: 08/10/1947 color:bebop
  bar:Four&nbsp;Brothers               from:01/10/1947     till: 31/12/1969 color:fb
  bar:Young&nbsp;Thundering&nbsp;Herds from:08/10/1970     till: 31/12/1987 color:yth

 
 
 </timeline>

==Last years==
Herman continued to perform into the 1980s, after the death of his wife and with his health in decline, chiefly to pay back taxes that were owed because of his business manager's bookkeeping in the 1960s.<ref>Lees 272</ref> Herman owed the [[IRS]] millions of dollars and was in danger of eviction from his home.<ref name="Music.us"/> With this added stress, Herman still kept performing. In a December 5, 1985, review of the band at the Blue Note jazz club for ''The New York Times'', John S. Wilson pointed out: "In a one-hour set, Mr. Herman is able to show off his latest batch of young stars—the baritone saxophonist [[Mike Brignola]], the bassist [[Bill Moring]], the pianist Brad Williams, the trumpeter Ron Stout—and to remind listeners that one of his own basic charms is the dry humor with which he shouts the blues." Wilson also spoke about arrangements by [[Bill Holman (musician)|Bill Holman]] and [[John Fedchock]] for special attention.  Wilson spoke of the continuing influence of [[Duke Ellington]] on Woody Herman bands from the 1940s to the 1980s.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C04E2DD163BF936A35751C1A963948260 |title=Jazz: Woody Herman's Band |work=The New York Times |first=John S. |last=Wilson |date=December 5, 1985}}</ref>  Before Woody Herman died in 1987 he delegated most of his duties to leader of the reed section, [[Frank Tiberi]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.franktiberi.com/bio.html |title=Bio |publisher=Franktiberi.com |access-date=2013-07-02}}</ref> Tiberi leads the current version of the Woody Herman orchestra.<ref>[http://www.internationaljazzproductions.com/whermanorchestra.html] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050306151524/http://www.internationaljazzproductions.com/whermanorchestra.html|date=March 6, 2005}}</ref> Tiberi said at the time of Herman's death that he would not change the band's repertoire or library.<ref>Clancy 397</ref> Herman died on October 29, 1987,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Rogers |first1=John |title=URGENT Band Leader Woody Herman Dies at 74 |url=https://apnews.com/article/132a13e472645b3ccc598286d592c7f8 |access-date=29 October 2021 |work=Associated Press News}}</ref> and had a Catholic funeral on November 2 at St. Victor's in [[West Hollywood, California]].<ref>Lees 368</ref> He is interred in a niche in the columbarium behind the Cathedral Mausoleum in the [[Hollywood Forever Cemetery]].

Awards won by the Woody Herman orchestras with major publications: "Voted best swing band in 1945 ''DownBeat'' poll; Silver Award by critics in 1946 and 1947 ''Esquire'' polls; won [[Metronome All-Stars|''Metronome'' poll]], band division, 1946 and 1953.

A documentary film titled ''Woody Herman: Blue Flame – Portrait of a Jazz Legend'' was released on DVD in late 2012 by the jazz documentary filmmaker Graham Carter, owner of Jazzed Media, to salute Herman and his centenary in May 2013.

==Gold records and charts (singles and albums)==

'''Gold Records'''
*1939 ''[[At the Woodchopper's Ball|Woodchopper's Ball]]'' ([[Decca Records]]) instrumental
*1945 ''[[Laura (1945 song)|Laura]]'' ([[Columbia Records]]) vocal by Woody Herman

=== Hits as charted singles ===
(Songs that reached the top of the US or UK charts)

Between 1937 and 1956, Herman had numerous hits on ''Billboard''{{'}}s charts.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Woody+Herman+and+His+Orchestra |title=Woody Herman and His Orchestra Songs ••• Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography |website=Musicvf.com |access-date=October 10, 2019}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align:center; margin:auto;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! style="width:400px;" rowspan="2"| Title
! colspan="5"|Chart peak position
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:40px;"| US
! style="width:40px;"| US<br/>R&B
|-
| 1937
| style="text-align:center;"| "I Double Dare You" 
| 18
|
|-
| 1939
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Woodchopper's Ball|At the Woodchopper's Ball]]"
| 9
|
|-
| 1939
| style="text-align:center;"|"Blue Evening"
| 9
| 
|-
| 1941
| style="text-align:center;"|"There I Go"
| 13
|
|-
| 1941
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Frenesi]]"
| 16
| 
|-
| 1941
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[The Golden Wedding]]"
| 23
| 
|-
| 1941
| style="text-align:center;"|"Blue Flame"
| 5
|
|-
| 1941
| style="text-align:center;"|"G'bye Now" (sung by Muriel Lane)
| 10
|
|-
| 1941
| style="text-align:center;"|"By-U By-O" (sung by Muriel Lane)
| 20
|
|-
| 1942
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Blues in the Night]]" (sung by Woody Herman)
| 1
|
|-
| 1942
| style="text-align:center;"|"Rose O'Day" (sung by Carolyn Grey & Woody Herman)
| 18
|
|-
| 1942
| style="text-align:center;"|"Amen"<ref>{{cite journal |author=Gilliland, John. |url=https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1633237/m1/#track/6 |title=Pop Chronicles 1940s Program No. 7 - All Tracks UNT Digital Library |journal=UNT Digital Library |publisher=Digital.library.unt.edu |date=2020-04-16 |access-date=2020-04-22}}</ref>
| 5
|
|-
| 1943
| style="text-align:center;"|"Four or Five Times"
| 17
|
|-
| 1944
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me]]"
| 7
| 4
|-
| 1944
| style="text-align:center;"|"The Music Stopped" (sung by [[Frances Wayne]])
| 10
|
|-
| 1944
| style="text-align:center;"|"By the River of the Roses" 
| 12
|
|-
| 1944
| style="text-align:center;"|"Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet" 
| 10
|
|-
| 1944
| style="text-align:center;"|"Let Me Love You Tonight" (sung by [[Billie Rogers]])
| 18
|
|-
| 1945
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night in the Week)]]" (sung by Frances Wayne)
| 18
|
|-
| 1945
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Laura (1945 song)|Laura]]" 
| 4
|
|-
| 1945
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Caldonia]]" 
| 2
|
|-
|1945
| style="text-align:center;"|"A Kiss Goodnight" 
| 9
|
|-
| 1945
| style="text-align:center;"|"Northwest Passage"
| 13
|
|-
| 1946
| style="text-align:center;"|"Fan It" 
| 
| 4
|-
| 1946
| style="text-align:center;"|"Gee, It's Good to Hold You" (sung by Frances Wayne)
| 17
| 
|-
| 1946
| style="text-align:center;"|"Everybody Knew but Me " 
| 11
| 
|-
| 1946
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!]]" 
| 7
| 
|-
| 1946
| style="text-align:center;"|"Atlanta, G.A." 
| 11
| 
|-
| 1946
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Surrender (Perry Como song)|Surrender]]" 
| 8
|
|- 
| 1946
| style="text-align:center;"|"Mabel! Mabel!" 
| 12
| 
|-
| 1947
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Across the Alley from the Alamo]]" 
| 12
| 
|-
| 1947
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[That's My Desire]]" (Woody Herman & the Four Chips) 
| 13
| 
|-
| 1948
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Civilization (Bob Hilliard and Carl Sigman song)|Civilization (Bongo, Bongo, Bongo)]]"  
| 15
|
|-
| 1948
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Sabre Dance]]"  
| 3
| 
|-
| 1955
| style="text-align:center;"|"[[Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (song)|Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing]]"  
| 79
| 
|-
| 1956
| style="text-align:center;"|"I Don't Want Nobody (To Have My Love but You)"  
| 75
| 
|}

=== Hits as charted albums===
(Albums charting history with ''Billboard'' magazine)

{| class="wikitable"  style="text-align:center; margin:auto;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! style="width:400px;" rowspan="2"| Album 
! colspan="5"|Chart peak/<br/>year end 
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:40px;"| Peak, US
! style="width:40px;"| Year end
|-
| 1963
| style="text-align:center;"| ''Encore: Woody Herman – 1963''
| 136 (Aug.<br/>1963)  
|
|-
| 1964
| style="text-align:center;"|''Woody Herman: 1964''
| 148 (March<br/>1963)  
|
|}

==Grammy Awards==
'''Grammy Awards (albums)'''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/artists/woody-herman |title=Woody Herman |date=June 4, 2019 |website=Grammy.com |access-date=October 10, 2019}}</ref>
{{awards table}}
|-
|rowspan="2"|{{grammy|1963}}
|rowspan="2"|''[[Encore (Woody Herman album)|Encore: Woody Herman, 1963]]'' 
|[[Grammy Award for Best Performance by an Orchestra or Instrumentalist with Orchestra|Best Performance by an orchestra – for dancing]]
|{{nom}}
|-
|rowspan="14"|[[Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album|Best Jazz Performance – Large Group (Instrumental)]]
|{{won}}
|-
|{{grammy|1964}}
|''Woody Herman '64''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1966}}
|''Woody's Winners'' 
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1967}}
|''Woody Live – East And West''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1968}}
|''Concerto For Herd''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1969}}
|''Light My Fire''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1971}}
|''Woody''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1973}}
|''Giant Steps''
|{{won}}
|-
|{{grammy|1974}}
|''Thundering Herd''
|{{won}}
|-
|{{grammy|1977}}
|''The 40th Anniversary, Carnegie Hall Concert''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1982}}
|''Live At The Concord Jazz Festival 1981''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1984}}
|''World Class''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1986}}
|''50th Anniversary Tour''
|{{nom}}
|-
|{{grammy|1987}}
|''Woody's Gold Star''
|{{nom}}
{{end}}

'''Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award'''
{{Awards table}}
|-
|| 1987 |||  Woody Herman || Lifetime Achievement Award || {{won|Inducted}}

{{end}}

==Further awards and honors==
*Honored on the [[List of stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame#H|Hollywood Walk of Fame]] (Recording – 6805 Hollywood Blvd.)
*Woody Herman Music Archives established at the [[Moores School of Music|University of Houston School of Music]], 1974 
*Honorary doctorate, [[Berklee College of Music]], 1977

==Discography==
=== Studio albums ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''Blues On Parade'' ([[Decca Records|Decca]], 1940)
* ''Sequence In Jazz'' with the First Herd ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]], 1948)
* ''Swinging with the Woodchoppers'' with the First Herd ([[Dial Records (1946)|Dial]], 1950)
* ''Blue Prelude'' ([[Coral Records|Coral]], 1950)
* ''Woody Herman Goes Native'' ([[London Records|Mars]], 1953)
* ''Four Shades of Blue'' ([[Columbia Records|Columbia]], 1953)
* ''The 3 Herds'' (Columbia, 1954)
* ''Men From Mars'' ([[London Records|London]], 1954)
* ''Music For Tired Lovers'' (Columbia, 1955)
* ''Ridin' Herd'' (Columbia, 1955)
* ''The Woody Herman Band!'' ([[Capitol Records|Capitol]], 1955)
* ''Road Band!'' (Capitol, 1955)
* ''HI FI-ing Herd'' ([[MGM Records|MGM]], 1955)
* ''Jackpot!'' (Capitol, 1956)
* ''Blues Groove'' (Capitol, 1956)
* ''Hi-Fi Drums'' (Capitol, 1956)
* ''Twelve Shades of Blue'' (Columbia, 1955)
* ''Songs For Hip Lovers'' ([[Verve Records|Verve]], 1957)
* ''Woody Herman '58 featuring The Preacher'' (Verve, 1958)
* ''Jazz, The Utmost!'' (Columbia, 1958)
* ''Moody Woody'' ([[Everest Records|Everest]], 1958)
* ''Herman's Heat & Puente's Beat!'' (Everest, 1958)
* ''The Herd Rides Again – in Stereo'' (Everest, 1958)
* ''The Fourth Herd'' ([[Jazzland Records (American record label)|Jazzland]], 1960)
* ''The New Swingin' Herman Herd'' ([[Crown Records|Crown]], 1960)
* ''Swing Low, Sweet Clarinet'' ([[Philips Records|Philips]], 1962)
* ''[[Woody Herman–1963]]'' (Philips, 1962)
* ''Hey! Heard The Herd?'' (Verve, 1963)
* ''Woody's Big Band Goodies'' (Philips, 1965)
* ''Woody's Winners'' (Columbia, 1965)
* ''My Kind of Broadway'' (Columbia, 1965)
* ''The Jazz Swinger'' (Columbia, 1966)
* ''Jazz Hoot'' (Columbia, 1967)
* ''Light My Fire'' ([[Cadet Records|Cadet]], 1968)
* ''Somewhere'' (Cadet, 1969)
* ''Heavy Exposure'' (Cadet, 1970)
* ''Woody'' (Cadet, 1970)
* ''Brand New'' ([[Fantasy Records|Fantasy]], 1971)
* ''The Raven Speaks'' (Fantasy, 1972)
* ''Giant Steps'' (Fantasy, 1973)
* ''Thundering Herd'' (Fantasy, 1974)
* ''Children of Lima'' (Fantasy, 1975)
* ''King Cobra'' (Fantasy, 1976)
* ''Road Father'' ([[Century Records|Century]], 1978)
* ''Flip Phillips/Woody Herman – Together'' (Century, 1978) 
* ''Chick, Donald, Walter, and Woodrow'' (Century, 1978) 
* ''Feelin' So Blue'' (Fantasy, 1981)
* ''Presents Volume 2 ...Four Others'' (Concord, 1982)
* ''[[My Buddy (album)|Rosemary Clooney/Woody Herman – My Buddy]]'' (Concord, 1983)
* ''World Class'' (Concord, 1984)
* ''Woody's Gold Star'' (Concord, 1987)
* ''Ebony'' (RCA Victor Red Seal, 1988) (Richard Stoltzman & Woody Herman's Thundering Herd)
{{div col end}}

=== Live albums ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* ''At Carnegie Hall, 1946 Vol. I'' with the First Herd ([[MGM Records|MGM]], 1952)
* ''Woody Herman Sextet At The Roundtable'' ([[Roulette Records|Roulette]], R-25067 Forum F 9016 1959)
* ''Woody Herman's Big New Herd – At The Monterey Jazz Festival'' ([[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]], 1960)
* ''[[Encore Woody Herman–1963]]'' (Philips, 1963)
* ''Woody Herman: 1964'' (Philips, 1964)
* ''The Swinging Herman Herd-Recorded Live'' (Philips, 1964)
* ''Woody Live East And West'' (Columbia, 1967)
* ''Concerto for Herd – At the Monterey Jazz Festival'' (Atlantic, 1968)
* ''Herd At Montreux'' (Fantasy, 1974)
* ''The 40th Anniversary, Carnegie Hall Concert'' ([[RCA Records|RCA]], 1977)
* ''Woody Herman Presents A Concord Jam Volume 1'' ([[Concord Records|Concord]], 1981)
* ''Aurex Jazz Festival '82'' (Eastworld/Toshiba, 1982)
* ''Live At The Concord Jazz Festival'' (Concord, 1982)
* ''50th Anniversary Tour'' (Concord, 1986)
{{div col end}}

===As sideman===
;With [[Buck Clayton]]
*''[[How Hi the Fi]]'' (Columbia, 1954)
*''[[Jumpin' at the Woodside (album)|Jumpin' at the Woodside]]'' (Columbia, 1955)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20010129032400/http://www.pbs.org/jazz/biography/artist_id_herman_woody.htm PBS – JAZZ A Film By Ken Burns]
*[http://music.yahoo.com/ar-251790-bio--Woody-Herman Woody Herman Biography]
*[http://www.jazzsight.com/jazzsightprofiles.html Woody Herman: ''Leader of the Thundering Herds'', by John Twomey]
*{{Find a Grave|2211}}
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/204456 Woody Herman recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]].
*''[https://www.mosaicrecords.com/the-great-jazz-artists/woody-herman/ The Complete Columbia Recordings of Woody Herman And His Orchestra & Woodchoppers 1945-1947 (Mosaic Records) Loren Schoenberg]'' 
*''[https://www.mosaicrecords.com/the-great-jazz-artists/woody-herman/ Doug Ramsey-The Complete Capitol Recordings of Woody Herman(Mosaic Records)]'' 
*[[iarchive:completecapitolrecordingswoodyherman|The Complete Capitol Recordings Of Woody Herman (listen at Archive.org)]] 
*[[iarchive:CompleteColumbiaWoodyHerman|The Complete Columbia Recordings Of Woody Herman 1945-1947 (listen at Archive.org)]]

{{Woody Herman}}
{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:American big band bandleaders]]
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