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Hits of 52: Here in My Heart

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Hits of '52 - Here in My Heart
ASV #AJA 5452

It's hard to tell from Amazon's listing who is singing here, so I'll try to give the track listing with the artists involved (Amazon puts the composer's name next to the tracks, which isn't really helpful). This is a great selection of original artist recordings with good mastering from 1952.

1. Indian Love Call - Slim Whitman
2. Slow Poke - Pee Wee King
3. Tell Me Why - The Four Aces
4. The Wheel of Fortune - Kay Starr
5. The Blacksmith Blues - Ella Mae Morse
6. Blue Tango - Leroy Anderson
7. Any Time - Eddie Fisher
8. A Guy Is A Guy - Doris Day
9. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - Guy Mitchell
10. The Kiss of Fire - Georgia Gibbs
11. Here in My Heart - Al Martino
12. Delicado - Percy Faith
13. Walkin' My Baby Back Home - Johnnie Ray
14. Lover - Peggy Lee
15. Half as Much - Rosemary Clooney
16. Somewhere Along the Way - Nat "King" Cole
17. Sugarbush - Doris Day & Frankie Lane
18. Wish You Were Here - Eddie Fisher
19. You Belong To Me - Jo Stafford
20. High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me) - Frankie Laine
21. I Went to Your Wedding - Patti Page
22. Meet Mister Callaghan - Les Paul
23. Jambalaya (On the Bayou) - Hank Williams
24. Lady of Spain - Eddie Fisher
25. Why Don't You Believe Me? - Joni James
26. The Glow Worm - The Mills Brothers
27. Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart - Vera Lynn

If you've seen my reviews of the years 1950 and 1951 in this wonderful series from ASV Living Era of the U.K., you know that these early years of the decade were notable for the rise of the individual singers (with orchestral backing) as opposed to the 1930s and 1940s when it was mostly (but not always) the other way around, i.e., the orchestra/band was the headliner while vocalists, if any, always got second billing.

By 1952 the old-style Big Bands of the Dorseys, Miller, Lombardo, Shaw, Goodman, Herman, Krupa, James, etc., had given way to new-style orchestrations of the type delivered by Percy Faith and Leroy Anderson, with more emphasis on strings. Paul Weston was still around, but now HE was getting second billing to wife Jo Stafford (You Belong To Me - # 1 and the # 1 song for the year) and Doris Day (A Guy Is A Guy - # 1), among others. Eddie Fisher, represented here by two of his 13 - count 'em - 13 1951 hit singles, was normally backed by the Hugo Winterhalter orchestra.

Hank Williams tunes continued to be converted to Pop hits this year, with Rosemary Clooney (backed by Percy Faith), taking Half As Much to # 1 that summer and, just for good measure, they throw in Hank himself and his rendition of Jambalay (On The Bayou) which, while only reaching # 20 Pop (the top hit in that category was the # 3 by Jo Stafford), but his # 1 Country hit spent 14 solid weeks at the top spot.

Of the 16 tunes that made it to # 1 in 1952, 14 are here with the only omissions being the novelty tune It's In The Book (Parts 1 & 2) by Johnny Standley (Part 2 had the backing of another old-time Big Band, Horace Heidt & His Musical Knights), and the Christmas tune I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, by 12-year-old Jimmy Boyd. They also skipped over three pretty good # 2 hits as well: Botch-A-Me (Ba-Ba-Baciami Piccina) by Rosemary Clooney; At Last by Ray Anthony & His Orchestra (one of the few lingering Big Bands), with vocal by Tommy Mercer; and Tiger Rag by Les Paul & Mary Ford.

But what's here is just fine as representative of the third year of the Decade of the Fifties, the sound quality is excellent, and there are both detailed liner notes and a discography of the contents. If you see something you want, I would suggest grabbing a copy now because, once they're gone that's it, as Universal Music Group has bought out ASV and has reportedly decided to discontinue their oldies series.