Sam played clarinet and violin while young, and in 1912 he was offered a spot playing in Victor Herbert's orchestra, where he played through World War I.
Sam Neill | Sam Cooke | Sam Shepard | Sam Phillips | Uncle Sam | Sam Raimi | Sam Houston | Sam Brownback | Yosemite Sam | Fort Sam Houston | Sam's Club | Sam Peckinpah | Sam Mendes | Sam Waterston | Sam Worthington | Sam & Dave | Sam Taylor-Wood | Sam Houston State University | Sam Kelly | Sam Bush | Sam Zell | Sam Spade | Sam Milby | Sam Wood | Sam Wanamaker | Sam Walton | Sam Snead | Sam Rockwell | Sam Phillips (singer) | Sam Malin |
Around 1924, the bandleader Sam Lanin invited Swan to join his orchestra at New York's famed Roseland Ballroom, and Swan played with leading musicians such as cornettist Red Nichols, and members of The Charleston Chasers Vic Berton (drums) and Joe Tarto (tuba), with whom he soon started composing and arranging material for the orchestra.