Songs about that most universal of all emotions, love, strike a chord with anyone who has or has had stars in their eyes. Of course your partner is the most wonderful person in creation - and why not? Such a relationship heightens your awareness and you really do look at the world through rose-coloured glasses. You will therefore have an affinity with all of these songs - youve either been there, or at least you can imagine yourself in the singers place.
As the Thirties yielded to the Forties, subtle changes were taking place on the popular music front. The general trend was away from the livelier tunes to slower, more laid-back numbers. During the war years too, the personality vocalist came to the fore in a big way. On this compilation for example Frank Sinatra was to emerge from the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and Perry Como from Ted Weems unit. Ella Fitzgerald, out of respect for Chick Webb (who had died in 1939) carried on fronting his band for a while, before she too became a solo attraction in 1942. The big bands continued for a few more years until December 1946 when inside the space of a few weeks, eight American bandleaders disbanded. For some it was a temporary measure, for others it was for good. Benny Goodman and Tommy Dorsey were among the casualties, reflecting the shift in public taste. But there was no better training ground for aspiring vocalists than in the confines of a touring band - if you could survive and succeed there, the chances are that you would make it on your own.
Ella Fitzgerald had joined Chick Webbs band as a vocalist in 1935, when she was seventeen. She turned solo at twenty-four, but had to wait until 1955 and Norman Granzs classic series of song books before she became an international star. Greatly admired by Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Mel Torme, all the ingredients of greatness were there in 1940 in her warm, caressing version of Taking A Chance On Love. Synonymous with Nat King Cole was Sweet Lorraine, included here in a recording from his Trio days (the Trio disbanded in 1951). As a pianist his main influence was the great Earl Fatha Hines but it is as a matchless vocalist that we remember him best today, lost to us far too soon at the early age of forty-seven in 1965. Sy Oliver was snapped up by Tommy Dorsey when he left Jimmie Luncefords orchestra in 1939. It is Olivers bouncy ahead-of-its-time arrangement of What Is This Thing Called Love? that makes it work so well. Connie Haines sings the stylish vocal. Frank Sinatra cites his greatest teacher as Tommy Dorsey ...by the way he breathed and phrased on the trombone. An example of this can be heard on their famous recording of The Sunshine Of Your Smile; first there is Dorseys fluid trombone followed by Sinatras equally accomplished vocal. Frank Sinatra is, in many peoples view, the greatest popular vocalist of the century. After his two-and-a-half year stint with Tommy Dorsey (1940-42) he has enjoyed a phenomenally successful solo career.
June 1935 marked the beginning of the well-known rift between Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey. Until then they had been joint leaders of the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, but one evening after an altercation with his brother on the bandstand at the Glen Island Casino, Tommy picked up his trombone and walked off the stage for good. Jimmy was left in sole charge of the band while Tommy went off to start one of his own. Both units were highly successful and Jimmys long-serving vocalist Ray Eberle was joined by the personable Helen OConnell early in 1939. Listen to her sultry, Billie Holiday-influenced All Of Me. After his death in October 1977, many show business greats paid tribute to Bing Crosby. Tony Bennett summed it up nicely: Bing created a culture. He has contributed more to popular music than any other single person - he moulded popular music. Every singer in the business has taken something from Crosby. Every male singer has a Bing Crosby idiosyncrasy. When Bing recor