Art Lund was a singer with the big bands of Benny Goodman, with whom he had several hits, and Harry James before embarking on a solo career and scoring a No. 1 in 1947 with his first release “Mam’selle”. He had several more hits during the 1940s and ‘50s until, as a middle-of-the-road crooner, his music was overtaken by rock ‘n’ roll and its aftermath and he turned to TV and movie acting.

Featured here are a number of recordings with the Benny Goodman Orchestra from his early career, including duets with Peggy Lee, and also with The Harry James Orchestra, but mainly comprises selected A and B sides from his solo releases for the MGM and Coral labels, with at least one side included from a significant proportion of of fifty or so releases during these years. It features all his ten career chart entries, including the No. 1 “Mam’selle”, the No. 4 “Peg O’ My Heart” and the Top 20 hits “And Mimi”, “Hair Of Gold, Eyes Of Blue”, “On A Slow Boat To China” and “Mona Lisa”, plus three Top 20 hits with Benny Goodman, including the No. 5 “Blues Skies”. It’s an entertaining cross-section of his recordings across the best part of two decades, showcasing the breadth of his talent, and very much capturing the zeitgeist of the popular music of the era.

REVIEWS

“A most enjoyable set - it's always a pleasure to make a new discovery at this late stage as many of these tracks I had not heard before.” -  Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 343)