Customer Reviews

Force's Sweetheart

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This compilation was released on ASV, a label that was closed soon after Universal bought the loss-making Sanctuary label in 2007. I can't believe that the ASV label was in any way part of Sanctuary's problems, but when takeovers happen, new owners have their own ideas about what to do. So this compilation is out of print, but new copies were still available a full year after the closure of ASV and there will no doubt continue to be a market for used copies when supplies of new copies are exhausted.

Vera's recording career began in 1936 and continued for more than forty years, but everything here was recorded during the period 1936 to 1952. Actually, this is a re-compilation of two earlier Vera Lynn compilations on the same label. The first of those compilations, We'll Meet Again: the Early Years, has been re-sequenced in chronological order, except for We'll meet again, which has been made the lead track, to create CD 1 here. The second compilation, Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart: 25 Original Mono Recordings 1936-1952, was originally released in chronological order except for A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square, which was given the status of lead track. That compilation is presented here in exactly the same order as CD 2 here. One might have thought that if they were going to re-sequence the first CD, they would have re-sequenced the entire compilation so that the early tracks were on CD 1 and the later tracks were on CD 2, not that it really matters. The booklet notes were re-written for this double CD, so you won`t find any evidence in them that this was originally two separate compilations.

As to the music itself, even the 49 tracks here don't cover everything worth hearing from Vera's early recordings, but they include the wartime songs that Vera will forever be associated with including Yours (represented by both 1941 and 1952 versions) and White cliffs of Dover as well as We'll meet again and A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square. Some of Vera's covers of other great songs of the era are featured, among them being I had the craziest dream (Helen Forrest), I'll be with you in apple blossom time (Andrews Sisters) and Cry (Johnnie Ray).

Harbour lights was first written and recorded in 1937, when separate versions made the American top ten for Claude Thornhill's Orchestra in September (though his version was actually released as a B-side) and Frances Langford later that year, but the song became much more popular in 1950 when several versions charted big in America. Later in the fifties, the Platters revived the song for the rock'n'roll generation. Yet although the song isn't one of Vera Lynn's most famous recordings, she recorded it on 10th March 1937 and may well have been the first singer to record the song. Vera's version is brilliant, but Frances Langford's version with a Hawaiian feel is my favorite version.

There are many great songs here and it's a real shame that this particular compilation is now out of print, but Vera's music has already shown that it stands the test of time and re-issues will continue to appear for a long time to come. Of the other compilations available in 2008, I'd particularly recommend two other double CD's. Vera Lynn: The Decca Years 1936-60 (not listed here) has some tracks that you'll also find here, but not a huge number as it mainly focuses on the fifties. Singles Collection covers Vera's music of the sixties and seventies, during which time she was regularly featured on TV.