Search - Helen Forrest, Harry James Orchestra :: Complete Helen Forrest with the Harry James Orchestra

Something of a letdown

Robert E. Simanski | Sterling, VA United States | 04/29/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have been a fan of Helen Forrest ever since 1954, when my uncle gave me his collection of 78-rpm records. That collection included not only "I Had the Craziest Dream" and "I've Heard That Song Before," two of the best recordings that she made with Harry James during World War II, but also some of the beautiful duets that she recorded with Dick Haymes after the war. I must have worn the grooves off the discs, especially the Harry James material.Since then, I've eagerly gobbled up whatever reissues I could find--and until recently, the pickings have been slim. Helen Forrest did her best-known work with Harry James, so I eagerly awaited this disc, which includes all 19 of her recordings with the band.Why, then, do I find it less satisfying than the "I Had the Craziest Dream" collection also available at Amazon.com? That disc has seven of her best recordings with Harry James. I did not expect the remaining 12 recordings on this disc to be up to the level of the other seven. However, in my opinion, they are not even close, and this is why I am dissatisfied with the disc.The dichotomy between the two groups of recordings is very pronounced. The songs are decidedly inferior to such gems as "I Don't Want to Walk Without You" and the others mentioned above. This goes for the arrangements as well. To add insult to injury, the recording quality varies much more than I would have expected.I applaud the publisher, Collector's Choice Music, for making these recordings available. This is one case, however, where I wish that I had listened to some samples first."

The Right approach! Hats off to Gordon Anderson

Bop Man | USA | 08/02/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For decades I have been at odds with American record producers, especially when it came to compilation album reissues. They have a nasty habit of releasing albums with the same 5 songs on it over and over. They also like to mix things up, not putting the songs in the correct Chronological order. Worst of all, they would destroy the original studio sound of the records, drowning the music in cheesy sounding echo chambers, along with unlistenable fake electronic or digitalized stereo. Well, that's not the problem here! This is the complete recordings Helen Forrest made with (her love interest) Harry James during 1941-42. That means that there are all the Big Hits along with the misses, and that's the way historic music should be presented. How can anybody complain about the quality of some of the songs when it is being offered as a COMPLETE set? Come on, man..."