The Himber Magic - Selected Recordings 1933-41

This is another in Acrobat’s strand of collections featuring the “sweet” US orchestras of the 1930s, who entertained in ritzy hotel venues and on radio, and kept people’s spirits up during the Depression era. Richard Himber was a violinist who got a grounding in vaudeville and Tin Pan Alley, working with Rudy Vallee before forming his own orchestra in 1933 and getting a long-term engagement at New York’s Essex House Hotel. He was a versatile entertainer with sense of humour who had hits parodying other orchestras and was also a noted magician and illusionist. This great-value 76-track 3-CD collection comprises selected A and B sides from his releases on the Vocalion, Bluebird, Victor, Royale and Decca labels during this era, featuring his various orchestras – the Essex House Orchestra, his Ritz-Carlton Orchestra, the Studebaker Camion Orchestra, his Rhythmic Pyramids Orchestra, The Seven Stylists, and others. It features all his 16 career hits, including the No. 2 “Stars Fell On Alabama”, and the Top 10 entries “Footloose And Fancy Free”, “Just One Of Those Things”, “You Hit The Spot”, “Cling To Me, “Tormented”, “In The Chapel In The Moonlight” and “Day After Day”. The recordings feature performances by resident and guest vocalists, including Joey Nash, Stuart Allen, Johnny Mercer, Guy Russell, Marion Shaw, Bart Phillips, Harry Stanton and Johnny Johnson. It includes many early recordings of compositions which became Great American Songbook standards. It’s a thoroughly entertaining collection which admirably captures the spirit of the times.