Search - Frances Langford :: Sweet Heartache

Excellent singer actress from a bygone age

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 05/11/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Frances mainly recorded ballads in an age dominated by swing band music and Hollywood musicals. She played in some of those musicals, but singing was her real passion. There are only two up-tempo songs here - Nasty man and You hi-de-hi-ing me - both of which she does well and which provide a contrast with the ballads. More variation is provided via three duets with Tony Martin and one with Rudy Vallee, the singer who first discovered her.Of the other songs, When you wish upon a star (from the Walt Disney film Pinocchio), At last and Serenade in blue (both big hits for Glenn Miller) are perhaps the most famous - and Frances sings them as well as anybody. However, there are many other excellent songs here. Whatever other problems the world faced, many brilliant songs were written back then, so many that they haven't all become standards. Listen to Frances sing songs that have only rarely been covered but which are just as good as the famous ones if you need any proof.Her recorded legacy is limited - not much more than 100 songs - but a lot of it is available on CD. This CD is a companion to the CD Serenade, also on the Flare label, but there is a CD on the Jasmine label, So many memories, which makes a good companion to both of the them, as it has very little overlap (only three songs) with the other two. I've already reviewed both of those. All three are of an extremely high quality."