Along with the likes of Kitty Kallen, Helen O’Connell and June Christy, as well as, in their early careers, Peggy Lee and Doris Day, Helen Forrest was one of the striking coterie of female vocalists who graced the dance hall stages with the great names of the swing and big band era, and who appeared on many of their most successful recordings before forging a successful solo career.

During the decade from the late 1930s through to the post-war years, Helen Forrest performed and recorded with the orchestras of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Harry James, and recorded notable duets with another former big band singer Dick Haymes, racking up a lengthy string of hits on records with those orchestras on which she provided the vocals.

This 48-track set consists entirely of such records, all of which featured in charts like the Your Hit Parade chart in the years before the Billboard record sales chart was introduced in 1940, or in one or other version of the Billboard charts after that, all of them reaching the Top 25 places.

Alongside those “featured vocalist” and duet hits, pride of place goes to her 1944 solo No. 2 Time Waits For No One. It includes seven No.1s - They Say and Thanks For Ev'rything with Artie Shaw, I Don't Want To Walk Without You, Mister Five By Five, I Had The Craziest Dream and I've Heard That Song Before with Harry James and Taking A Chance On Love with Benny Goodman.

It also features a continuous run of seven Top 10 hits with Dick Haymes. It’s not only a fine and varied showcase for Helen’s talent and versatility as a popular performer with the top bands of the day, but it’s an evocative trawl across the popular music of a significant era in both music and what was going on in the wider world.

REVIEWS

“The epitome of the versatile big band singer, Helen Forrest certainly deserves this two CD round up of her biggest successes. 50 tracks that provide a wealth of good listening with a variety of settings underlining that this is popular music at its best, with songs, arrangements, backings and vocals all perfectly matched. A worthy collection of her finest moments”  –  Gerry Stonestreet (In Tune Issue 342)