Complete Helen Forrest with the Harry James Orchestra

Helen Forrest | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 21, 1999)
• Original Release Date: September 21, 1999
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Collector's Choice
• ASIN: B00000K54Q
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #148,919 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Devil Sat Down and Cried

2. He's 1-A in the Army and He's A-1 in My Heart

3. Make Love to Me

4. J.P. Dooley III

5. I Don't Want to Walk Without You

6. But Not for Me

7. I Remember You

8. Skylark

9. You're Too Good for Good-For-Nothing Me

10. You're in Love With Someone Else (But I'm in Love with You)

11. He's My Guy

12. That Soldier of Mine

13. I Cried for You

14. I Heard You Cried Last Night

15. Manhattan Serenade

16. My Beloved Is Rugged

17. I Had the Craziest Dream

18. Mister Five by Five

19. I've Heard That Song Before

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Something of a letdown, April 28, 2002

By 

Robert E. Simanski (Sterling, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Complete Helen Forrest with the Harry James Orchestra (Audio CD)

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.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helen Forrest - the very best of all female jazz performers, June 20, 2000

By 

Thomas Hornick (Tacoma, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Helen Forrest with the Harry James Orchestra (Audio CD)

I have listened to this CD at least 50 times since I purchased it three months ago. My two personal favorites are "Skylark" and "That Soldier of Mine" even though they are not her biggest hits. I became a fan of Helen Forrest by accident. I am a recent fan of Big Band music even though it was before my time. A friend introduced me to this kind of music about five years ago. In the course of listening to this music from a New York radio station I heard for the first time the station playing Helen Forrest's biggest hits. Wow! What a performer. She became my favorite performer of all time.

I have tried without success to find out if there is a fan club devoted to her music. In visiting various music stores I see more CD's devoted to Helen Forrest than previously.

Once you purchase this tape I believe you will start looking for more CD's of this Big Band star.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Right approach! Hats off to Gordon Anderson, August 2, 2010

By 

Bop Man (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Complete Helen Forrest with the Harry James Orchestra (Audio CD)

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...