Customer Reviews

This Is Toni Arden

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

 

 

Toni Arden had a career like many of her contemporaries, starting in the 1940s as a big band singer and striking out on her own in the late 1940s, with most of her recording done in the 1950s. But she differed from most in that she made record after record in the early 1950s, none of which scored particularly high in the charts, and then had her only really big hit, a million-seller called "Padre," in the late 1950s when her type of singer, in general, was being replaced on the record charts by rock'n'roll singers.

This CD does not include "Padre," as it is restricted to 1949-1954. What it does include are some songs that were hits for other artists, but with minor chart success for Toni Arden, and a whole lot of songs that never charted for anyone. And yet, I wonder, after listening to this CD, why she didn't do very well before "Padre." Certainly her voice was pleasing, as good as the voices of some much better-known contemporaries. In fact, her version of "Kiss of Fire" sounds better to me than Georgia Gibbs' big hit version. And I like her version of "I Can Dream, Can't I" at least as well as, possibly better than, the Andrews Sisters'. Even on such songs as "Too Young" and "I'm Yours," where I give the edge to the more popular versions by Nat Cole and Eddie Fisher, The Toni Arden version is still pleasant. So why she was ignored evades me.

I enjoyed this CD. I'd happily recommend it to anyone who likes early-50s pop music.

At the beginning of the 1950s, before the runaway bus known as Rock `N' Roll wiped out all but the very best Pop vocalists, Columbia Records boasted some of the best female warblers such as Dinah Shore, Doris Day, Jo Stafford, Rosemary Clooney and Sarah Vaughan, each of whom had one thing in common: hit after hit in the period 1950 to 1954.

Also at Columbia at the time was one Antoinette Aroizzone, born of Italian immigrant parents in New York City, probably in the mid- to late 1920s, although she seems to have kept the actual date a closely-guarded secret (and, at this writing, is apparently still with us). She had a beautiful voice ideally suited to the Big Bands that were trying to extend the life of the phenomenon that ruled the airwaves and record sales from about 1935 to 1943, and she gained her earliest professional experience with the Al Trace, Joe Reisman and Ray Bloch bands, under the less-of-a-mouthful name Toni Arden, in the late 1940s.

Signed to Columbia in 1949, her first appearance on record there came with Xavier Cugat on Latin Magic (the flip featured a different vocalist) but unfortunately that is not included in this volume from Sepia Records of the U.K. which concentrates on her solo efforts with the label from 1950 to 1954, backed by the likes of the Hugo Winterhalter, Percy Faith (on most of her records) and Paul Weston orchestras. And in that period she had no less than 26 singles released, some sides of which are in this volume which features very good sound quality and liner notes by Ossie Dales.

Certainly that total put her in the same class as the ladies mentioned above but, unlike them, all she could attain were four lonely hits. And I really think this had less to do with the quality of her voice and more with the material she was handed, most of which were covers, and where original material was concerned, let's be frank - a lot of it was pretty weak stuff. Her first solo release was also to be her best hit as the cover of I Can Dream, Can't I? finished at # 7 in late 1949/early 1950 on Columbia 38612 with the backing of the Hugo Winterhalter orchestra (well back of the # 1 smash on Decca by The Andrews Sisters).

Her next hit wouldn't come until mid-1951, despite 8 releases, and here you get these 7 of the 16 sides: Rain - Col. 38739; Don't Ever Leave Me/It's Love - Col. 38905; My Tears Won't Dry/And You'll Be Home - Col. 39003; I'm Praying To St. Christopher - Col. 39080; and My Man (Mon Homme) - Col. 39117. Shortly after that last release, her cover of the Nat "King" Cole # 1 hit for Capitol, Too Young, finished at # 15 in June 1951 on Col. 39271 b/w Too Late Now, with the packing of Percy Faith.

That was followed by another long period in which she had another 8 failed releases before clicking again in mid-1952, and of those 16 sides, here you get these 7: Wonder Why/Dark Is The Night - Col. 39427; If You Turn Me Down/Invitation To A Broken Heart - Col. 39440; Once - Col. 39577; and (All The Apple Trees) When The World Was Young - Col. 39605. In this period, her cover of the Georgia Gibbs # 1 hit Kiss Of Fire for Mercury got as high as # 14 in July 1952 on Col. 39737, again with the Faith orchestra, b/w her cover of the Don Cornell (Coral) and Eddie Fisher (RCA Victor) # 3 hit, I'm Yours, which made it to # 21. And that would be insofar as Columbia hits were concerned.

Some 10 more Columbia releases came out to 1954, and of those 20 sides, here you get these 6: Tell Your Tale Nightingale - Col. 39768; Kiss - Col. 39911; F'r Instance - Col. 39978; In Paris And In Love - Col. 40196; and Three Coins In The Fountain/Where The Rolling Mountains Meet The Rolling Sea - Col. 40225.

Toni would go on to register two more hits, the first with RCA Victor when her cover of the Sheb Wooley 1955 # 95 Top 100 entry for MGM, Are You Satisfied, surpassed his original by reaching # 78 in February 1976, but finished well back of the Rusty Draper # 11 for Mercury, and the second for Decca when her original rendition of Padre peaked at # 13 in June 1958. Both were backed by the Jack Pleis orchestra.

Here's another wonderful CD (remastered, I believe) of Toni Arden. I only wish I could hear her when she performs from time to time with her sister. This was another good purchase, thanks to a friend who suggested it.

This was actually for my Dad. I appreciate the fast delivery and he is enjoying his CD! He has become very nostalgic lately and it is wonderful to find just want he wants on Amazon- Thanks again.