Search - Vera Lynn :: We'll Meet Again: The Early Years

A transporting listen!

Evan Stern | 02/16/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In my opinion, Vera Lynn reigns supreme as one of the greatest female vocalists of the WWII era, and this collection does her significant talent justice. Though I was born some forty years after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, these recordings take me back in time, and I never fail to choke up as I listen to the strains of her renditions of "We'll Meet Again," and "The White Cliffs of Dover." This album is a must for anyone in love with the music of WWII!"

Well met by moonlight, Dame Vera

L. E. Cantrell | Vancouver, British Columbia Canada | 01/20/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For those who remember her, Vera Lynn requires no more introduction than her great contemporaries, Churchill, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Montgomery. She was the British songbird whose voice was the sound of hope in the darkest of days. Even to this day, she is so much the keeper of the keeper of the flame for the World War II generation that the British press beat a path to her door for comment when a member of the UK royal family recently made an ass of himself by wearing Nazi symbols.



Lynn was a ballad singer with a strikingly pure sound, superb diction and the ability to sell even terrible material. Just listen to her in "When You Wish upon a Star." Almost unbelievably, she makes that hoary old chestnut work. When she actually had something work with, as in "We'll Meet Again" or "White Cliffs of Dover" or "Where in the World?" or even "You'll Never Know," she delivered definitive performances.



This CD offers 24 of Lynn's recordings, the ones that were actually heard in wartime Britain. Even by the standards of her time, the arrangements were hokey. By the standards of the contemporary American big bands, they were downright primitive. Nevertheless, they are exactly right for the period, for the material and for her.



Considering the age of the performances, the state of British recording technology at the time, and the multiple sources, the sound on the disc is quite good. If anything, a slight boxiness adds to the authenticity of the songs.



Vera Lynn was one of the best-loved performers of the 20th Century and is presented here in the form in which she enchanted her generation.



Five stars, with no qualifiers!

"

World War II favorites from the beloved British singer

Paul Tognetti | Cranston, RI USA | 07/30/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"If you lived in Britain during World War II she was the proverbial "girl next door". Everybody loved her. She was the musical link between the "girls back home" and their men overseas. Her music helped an entire nation survive the most difficult of times and she remains one of the most popular female vocalists in British history. I became acquainted with her music about 20 years ago when a popular talk show host in town closed his program each day with her classic rendition of "We'll Meet Again". That recording made me want to hear more. At long last I picked up this CD and I must say I enjoyed it tremendously. Her moving renditions of tunes like "Wishing (Will Make It So), "When They Sound the Last "All Clear'" and of course "The White Cliffs of Dover" nearly brought a tear to my eye. And this is 50 years later. One can only imagine what these songs meant to all those seperated guys and gals way back when. There are 24 tracks on this disc featuring the early years of Vera's career from 1936 to 1942.

While I enjoyed practically all of them I would particularly recommend to you "It's A Sin To Tell A Lie", "I Had The Craziest Dream" and her 1940 rendition of "I'll Never Smile Again". These are the original recordings in their original form. They do not appear to have been remastered in any way so the sound quality is not the best. The liner notes are acceptable but I would have appreciated more information on the career of this important British artist. Vera continued to experience modest chart success in Britain until the late 1950's. Strangely she did not appear on the American music charts at all during the war but did finally have some success in the U.S. during the early 50's. If you are a fan of the music of the World War II era this CD would certainly be a fine addition to your collection."