Shep Fields, born Saul Feldman in 1910, led one of the highly successful “sweet” music orchestras of the 1930s. Popular on radio, ballrooms and on record, he developed a trademark sound and style which he called his “Rippling Rhythm”.

Fields began his musical career by playing clarinet and tenor saxophone in bands during college. In 1931, Fields received his first big break when his orchestra was booked at the famed Roseland Ballroom in New York City. In 1936, he was booked at Chicago’s Palmer House hotel, and the concert was broadcast live on the radio. His highly successful society dance band was subsequently featured regularly on the hotel’s remote concerts, which were transmitted over the radio to audiences throughout the country. By the early 1940s he had re-launched “Rippling Rhythm” with a new style as Shep Fields & His New Music, and continued having hits. Although his chart career was not as long as that of some of his peers, he nevertheless racked up nearly 40 hits between his debut in 1936 and 1943, when the American Federation of Musicians recording ban seriously affected his career momentum, although he continued recording and performing into the 1960s.

This 50-track set includes selected A- and B-sides of his releases on the Bluebird label from this era, and features all his 38 career hits, including the No.1s Did I  Remember?, In The Chapel In The Moonlight, That Old Feeling, The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down, Thanks For The Memory, Cathedral In The Pines and South Of The Border.

The collection offers a substantial and entertaining showcase for the sound and style that brought him success, and which was very much part of the musical zeitgeist of the era.

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