Search - Ginny Simms :: One More Dream

Skylark

Bobby Underwood | Manly NSW, Australia | 09/14/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

""You took my heart up to heaven, out of a lonely past, but I know this is too beautiful to last..." Ginny Simms (Too Beautiful To Last)





If you mention Ginny Simms to anyone who listened to radio or went to the movies during the 1940's you'll no doubt see a smile form in their eyes as well as on their face. Ginny Simms was like sunshine in the moonlight and for a decade was one of the biggest stars in American music. Her records sold in the millions, she was regularly on radio shows and in movies, and Ginny Simms was on the top of the world.



Her family moved from Texas to Fresno, California, at a very early age. Her father ran a movie theatre there and Virginia Ellen Simms could perhaps have been a concert pianist had she not pursued singing instead. A voice like crystal clear water touched with something sweet took her from performing at proms to fronting Tom Gerun's band in not too far away San Francisco. She sung with Tony Martin and Woody Herman and in 1934 changed her stage name from Virginia to Ginny after hooking up with Kay Kyser's Orchestra.



She was a dream walking who could sing like a dream and once she struck out on her own there was no turning back for Ginny. At the zenith of her career she had a music contract with Columbia and a film contract with RKO. Abbott and Costello fans got a big dose of her in Hit the Ice and she appeared in Night and Day. She did radio shows for Borden's Milk and Coca-Cola, and appeared in many radio shows to lift the spirits of our troops and those at home during the war. Ginny was the real deal.



But like one of the finest songs on this collection, it was all Too Beautiful To Last. Changing tastes and times during the 1950's saw Ginny simply fade into a memory. According to the information on the liner notes, she bought a restaurant in Oregon and named it "Ginny Simms' Ocean Shores Restaurant." This 26 song collection from Flare is a pretty terrific way to remember her.



There is a fabulous mix of Big Band and solo stuff here. And a diverse mix of up-tempo happy songs taking their place beside Ginny's dream-like ballads. Some songs are standards which most music lovers will easily recognize. But popular songs of the era much more obscure are represented here as well. For anyone who loves music from the 1940's this is a wonderful way to remember one of it's brightest and most genuine stars.



If you've never heard Ginny Simms sing Too Beautiful To Last, June Is Bustin' Out All Over, or Wait'll I Get My Sunshine In The Moonlight, then you've missed a little bit of heaven on earth. The source is original 78 rpm recordings with most of the surface noise digitally reduced to produce some surprisingly excellent quality, all things considered. The occasional surface echo of a needle moving in a circle on vinyl only adds to the nostalgia. Heaven gets to hear her now but she left behind these wonderful recordings to bring a smile and a twinkle to our lives once again."