Helen Ward

HELEN WARD - THE QUEEN OF BIG BAND SWING (1998)

1. Blue Moon
2. I Was Lucky
3. Night Wind
4. The Dixieland Band
5. Restless
6. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
7. Eeny Meeny Miney Mo
8. It's Been So Long
9. Goody Goody
10. Mutiny In The Parlour
11. You Can't Pull The Wool Over My Eyes
12. The Glory Of Love
13. Tese Foolish Things
14. There's A Small Hotel
15. You Turned The Tables On Me
16. Here's Love In Your Eye
17. You Came To My Rescue
18. Smoke Dreams
19. How Am I To Know?
20. Feelin' High And Happy
21. Day In-Day Out
22. I Cover The Waterfront
23. I've Got A Crush On You
24. But Not For Me
25. Don't Cry Baby

by William Ruhlmann

This British compilation traces Helen Ward's work as female vocalist with the orchestras of Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Teddy Wilson, Bob Crosby, Joe Sullivan, and Harry James between 1936 and 1943. Of course, Ward's most prominent association was with Goodman from 1934 to 1936, a pairing that resulted in the chart-toppers "It's Been So Long," "Goody Goody," "The Glory of Love," "These Foolish Things," and "You Turned the Tables on Me." They show Ward as a strong rhythm singer with a bluesy tone who can also handle ballads, and she is more reminiscent of jazz-oriented contemporaries like Mildred Bailey than such smooth successors as Helen Forrest. A few of her Top Ten hits are missing, and the tracks have been transferred from 78s, so the sound is only adequate, but the breadth of the collection, which features such rarities as her only recordings with Crosby and Sullivan and an airchcheck with James, makes up for its lapses, so that this is the best collection of Ward's recordings as a big band singer yet released.