Born in Missouri in 1926, Champ Butler (his real name) was brought up in Los Angeles, and after service in the Second World War worked in the parking lot of Hollywood’s Mocambo nightclub, where he met many stars, and did the rounds of radio stations to find singing work. He was introduced to an agent, and secured an audition with Columbia Records, who gave him a contract, with A&R director Mitch Miller calling him “one of the most versatile lads in the business”.

That quality certainly comes across in this 59-track collection, which comprises a substantial proportion of  his A- and B-sides on the Columbia, Coral, Dot, Zephyr, Keen, Viscount, Riviera, Five-Ten and CII labels from these years, including his duets with Toni Arden. It features his Top 30 hits I Apologise, previously recorded by Bing Crosby and Nat Shilkret; Them There Eyes, previously performed by Louis Armstrong in 1931 and made famous by Billie Holiday; 1951’s Down Yonder, a song which also charted that year for Del Wood, Joe “Fingers” Carr, Lawrence (Piano Roll) Cook, the Freddy Martin orchestra, the Frank Petty Trio, and Ethel Smith; and Be Anything (But Be Mine), a song recorded by both Eddy Howard and Ruth Brown and which also signalled the debut release of Peggy Lee on Decca.

Butler was a classic example of an archetypal old-school vocalist whose career was overtaken by the changes in the pop market, but adapted to the new idioms to keep his career going into the ‘60s. This collection provides a substantial showcase for that versatility as he tackles middle-of- the-road pop, big-voiced ballads, novelty material and straight rock ‘n’ roll with equal aplomb. Champ passed away in 1992, aged 65.

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