The Jimmy Dorsey Hits Collection 1935-57

Clarinetist and saxophonist Jimmy Dorsey and his brother Tommy led two of the most popular and successful big bands through the swing era of the late ‘30s and through the war years into the post-war decade until popular music changed in the new socio-economic climate. Jimmy took over leadership of The Dorsey Brothers orchestra in 1935 when Tommy left to form his own band, and over the next two decades maintained a remarkably consistent presence in the pop charts, capturing the zeitgeist of the times with instrumental hits that provided the favoured style of dance music and vocal hits which encapsulated the sentimental, optimistic and escapist themes which kept people going through the difficult times of the war or reflected the upbeat mood of later years – when he died from cancer in 1957, aged just 53, his final hit was still in the charts. During this time, his band featured a number of different male and female singers, who were variously featured on most of the records, including Kay Weber, Helen O’Connell, Bob Eberly, June Richmond, Kitty Kallen, Gladys Tell, Teddy Walters, Jean Cromwell, Bob Carroll and Dee Parker. This great-value 105-track 5-CD set comprises his entries in Billboard, Cash Box and the other US charts which existed before the Billboard record sales charts began in 1940, and includes the No. 1 hits “Is It True What They Say About Dixie?”, “Change Partners”, “The Breeze and I”, “Amapola”, “Green Eyes”, “My Sister and I”, “Maria Elena”, “Blue Champagne”, “Tangerine” & “Besame Mucho”. It’s a thorough and entertaining overview of the music that made his orchestra such a fixture in the pop music landscape of the time.