Customer Reviews

Betty's Hits -- Vol. 1

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Betty Johnson's, The Little Blue Man, has been a favorite of mine since I was a young girl. My mother, sister and I remembered this particular song for a long time and wanted to try to find a copy of it. It turned out that I was able to surprise my mother with a copy for her birthday. Everyone in the family was excited to finally hear The Little Blue Man.

I was recently introduced to the music of Betty Johnson by a friend, and am I glad he told me about her. She has an extremely versatile vocal style, which ranges from sweet to bluesy. "I Dreamed" is one of the most fun songs I have ever heard. I am also very fond of "I'll Wait," "1492," and "I Guess I'm Really in Love." I liked this CD so much that I bought a few other CDs of Ms. Johnson's work, which focus on standards with a jazzier setting. She is equally at home in that milieu as she is with the lighter pop ditties. She is an excellent interpreter who really infuses the lyrics with meaning.

As a Radio Dee-Jay for over 48 years, I was putting together a radio program and was missing a tune called "I DREAMED" from 1956. I found it on Amazon.com and bought it. I played the CD as I was writing up my show and have forgotten just how good this lady really was, because I remembered several of the other tunes on it. There was a phone number on the CD to order others.

When I called, I explained the above and got a big "Thank You". It was none other than Betty Johnson, herself. I asked if she would like to do an hour show and she agreed. I am pleased with all of her recordings and am sure my listeners will be, also. There is not a bad song in the lot.. Thanks Betty.

Brian Lee Hart
WVUD Radio
Newark Delaware

As an oldies station programmer I sought out this CD because of the rarity of the tracks, a good handful of '50s hits. Insert is 4 panel insert with little info, and you would be hard pressed to track down all of these tunes. Downside is that these are off vinyl, fair quality, and indeed "Dream" is not on this as listed. Nonetheless, these are hard to find tracks on a decent collection that probably will not appear elsewhere off masters.

As you can see, the producer did come up with a Volume 2 of "Betty's Hits" in which he corrected one of the major oversights in Volume 1, i.e., the exclusion of her big 1958 hit Dream (# 19 Billboard Pop Top 100 late that summer b/w How Much? The problem is, that is the ONLY legitimate hit on that volume, and so neither it nor this one contains three of her 10 charted hit singles. Or, to put it another way, 30% of her successful A-sides are omitted in a release of two separate CDs claiming to be "Betty's Hits." Hmmmmmm.

It;s really too bad because not many female vocalists who systematically avoided R&R managed to get consistently onto the pop charts in the mid- to late 1950s. Offhand I can think of eight: Sarah Vaughan, Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day, Dinah Shore, Jane Morgan, Patti Page, Jaye P. Morgan - and Betty Johnson.

I remember Betty from both The Breakfast Club and The Tonight Show with Jack Parr, and always thought she had an appealing way of putting over old standards and novelty tunes - something like Teresa Brewer, although the latter did dabble in quasi-R&R tunes like Sweet Old-Fashioned Girl.

One reviewer is wrong when pointing out that You Can't Get To Heaven On Roller Skates is omitted here. Actually this, her last charted hit which barely made it into the Hot 100 in early 1959 at # 99, can be found at track 8. But her first hit, I Want Eddie Fisher For Christmas, a # 22 in late 1954 b/w Show Me for the New Disc label, and with Jimmy Leyden's orchestra backing, is left out of both volumes. As are Clay Idol, a # 72 Top 100 in August 1956 b/w Why Do You Cry?, with the backing of the Lew Douglas orchestra on the Bally label, and Hoopa Hoola, a # 56 Hot 100 in late 1958 with husband Charles Randolph Grean's orchestra on Atlantic.

In fact, not one of the B-sides to her hit singles is included in either volume. All the other seven hits are here, however, including her second, I'll Wait, which JUST made it in March 1956, settling for a # 94 Top 100 b/w Please Tell Me Why for Bally and again with Lew Douglas & His Orchestra backing. Her biggest, I Dreamed, again on Bally and with the Douglas orchestra, became a # 9 Top 100 late in 1956/early 1957 b/w If It's Wrong To Love You, after being featured on an episode of NBC's Modern Romances.

Her final hit for Bally, which came in 1957, was a two-sided success as the old standard, Little White Lies, reached # 25 Top 100 in May, while the flipside, 1492, reached # 70. On this [and all her subsequent hits] she was backed by her husband's orchestra.

In 1958 they moved over to Atlantic where they had a # 17 with the novelty tune, The Little Blue Man on which, incidentally, the voice of the "little blue man" was none other than Hugh Downs, later the host of TV's 20/20. The B-side was Winter In Miami. Another oldie, Dream, followed in July and after that came Hoopa Hoola and You Can't Get To Heaven On Roller Skates which was backed by I Want A Good Home For My Cat.

I have a hard time believing we're ever going to see a Volume 3, unless they decide to give us, in addition to the three missing charters, all the B-sides, none of which - save 1492 - are included. For that reason I too had to knock off three stars.

I've been looking for a disc that had Betty Johnson's hits for a long time. Amazon was the first site that was able to deliver. I'm thrilled.

Anyone who likes the music of the Fifties will play this one over and over.

Having heard "I Dreamed" on Bob Moke's XM "Moments to Remember", we re-discovered what a fabulous songtress Betty Johnson is. It's a breath of "fresh air" to hear the supreme clarity and warm deliveries that she brings to these forgotten (by us) standards. We have to have Volume II; and more. /s/ S. & C. H. - Atlanta

I was so excited to find this recording of Betty Johnson singing "Littl
share with her 19 grand children. This was her favorite song and we bought her a children's electric record player for her 3rd birthday so she could play it herself. She will be SO surprised and happy when she opens it. Now I want to buy it and the Vol.2 for my own memories. Thank you Amazon, from an 82 year old Mom, grand and great grandmother!Betty's Hits -- Vol. 1

I had purchased this cd for 1 song, but the whole cd is very good.