Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Night Over Shanghai - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
2. Deep in a Dream - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
3. I Won't Tell a Soul - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
4. Monday Morning - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
5. Summer Souvenirs - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
6. I Haven't Changed a Thing - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
7. Let's Stop the Clock - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
8. Supper Time - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
9. I'm in Love With the Honorable Mr. So-And-So - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
10. Deep Purple - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
11. I Poured My Heart into a Song - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
12. Two Blind Loves - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
13. Moonray - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
14. Many Dreams Ago - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
15. Day In - Day Out - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
16. Melancholy Lullaby - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
17. All the Things You Are - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
18. Last Night - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
19. Over the Rainbow - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
20. Do I Love You? - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
21. When Love Beckoned (In Fifty-Second Street) - Helen Forrest, Artie Shaw & His Orchestra
22. I'd Be Lost Without You - King Cole Trio, Helen Forrest
23. I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance With You - King Cole Trio, Helen Forrest

Disc 2:

1. I Can't Resist You - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
2. Nobody - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
3. Man I Love - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
4. More Than You Know - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
5. Yes, My Darling Daughter - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
6. Jenny - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
7. My Sister and I - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
8. I Found a Million Dollar Baby - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
9. When the Sun Comes Out - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
10. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes - Helen Forrest, Benny Goodman & His Orchestra
11. He's 1-A in the Army and He's A-1 in My Heart - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
12. Make Love to Me - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
13. I Don't Want to Walk Without You - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
14. But Not for Me - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
15. I Remember You - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
16. Skylark - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
17. You Made Me Love You - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
18. Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen - Dick Foran, Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
19. I Cried for You - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
20. I Had the Craziest Dream - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
21. Somebody Loves Me - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
22. More Than You Know - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra
23. Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me - Helen Forrest, Harry James & His Orchestra

Disc 3:

1. Long Ago (And Far Away) - Camarata and His Orchestra, Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes
2. Look for the Silver Lining - Camarata and His Orchestra, Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes
3. Time Waits for No One - Camarata and His Orchestra, Helen Forrest
4. It Had to Be You - Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Victor Young & His Orchestra
5. Together - Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Victor Young & His Orchestra
6. Every Day of My Life - Helen Forrest, Victor Young & His Orchestra
7. Strange as It Seems - Helen Forrest, Victor Young & His Orchestra
8. He's Funny That Way - Helen Forrest, Meredith Willson Orchestra
9. Anywhere - Helen Forrest, Victor Young & His Orchestra
10. Out of Nowhere - Helen Forrest, Victor Young & His Orchestra
11. Little on the Lonely Side - Helen Forrest, Gordon Jenkins
12. I'll Buy That Dream - Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Victor Young & His Orchestra
13. Some Sunday Morning - Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Victor Young & His Orchestra
14. Love, Your Magic Spell Is Everywhere - Helen Forrest, Victor Young & His Orchestra
15. What's the Use of Wond'rin' - Helen Forrest, Victor Young & His Orchestra
16. My Guy's Come Back - Helen Forrest, Manny Klein And His Orchestra
17. People Will Say We're in Love - Helen Forrest, Dick Haymes, Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra
18. I'm Always Chasing Rainbows - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
19. Tomorrow Is Forever - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
20. Oh! What It Seemed to Be - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
21. I'm Glad I Waited for You - Helen Forrest
22. You Stole My Heart - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
23. Gimme a Little Kiss, Will Ya Huh? - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
24. Baby, What You Do to Me - Helen Forrest, Les Paul & His Trio
25. Everybody Knew But Me - Helen Forrest, Les Paul & His Trio

Disc 4:

1. Till We Meet Again - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
2. Waitin' for the Train to Come In - Helen Forrest, Gordon Jenkins & His Orchestra
3. In Love in Vain - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
4. All Through the Day - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
5. Here I Go Again - Helen Forrest, Gordon Jenkins
6. Something to Remember You By - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
7. Come Rain or Come Shine - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
8. Why Does It Get So Late So Early? - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
9. Something Old, Something New - Helen Forrest, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra, Dick Haymes
10. S'posin' - Helen Forrest, Harold Mooney & His Orchestra
11. All of Me - Helen Forrest, Harold Mooney & His Orchestra
12. I'll Dance at Your Wedding - Helen Forrest, Harold Mooney & His Orchestra
13. That's All I Want to Know - Helen Forrest, Harold Mooney & His Orchestra
14. Feathery Feelin' - Helen Forrest, Four Woodsmen, Harold Mooney & His Orchestra
15. You Were Meant for Me - Helen Forrest, Four Woodsmen, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra
16. Give Me a Song With a Beautiful Melody - Helen Forrest, Four Woodsmen, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra
17. Just Got to Have Him Around - Helen Forrest, Four Woodsmen, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra
18. You Can Have Him - Helen Forrest, Four Woodsmen, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra
19. Homework - Helen Forrest, Four Woodsmen, , Earle Hagen and His Orchestra
20. You Go to My Head - Carmen Dragon and Orchestra, Helen Forrest
21. I Can't Give You Anything But Love - Carmen Dragon and Orchestra, Helen Forrest
22. Under a Blanket of Blue - Carmen Dragon and Orchestra, Helen Forrest
23. That's My Desire - Carmen Dragon and Orchestra, Helen Forrest
24. I Hadn't Anyone Till You - Carmen Dragon and Orchestra, Helen Forrest
25. My Reverie - Carmen Dragon and Orchestra, Helen Forrest
26. I Keep Telling My Heart - Carmen Dragon and Orchestra, Helen Forrest

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133825 in Music
• Released on: 2003-09-23
• Number of discs: 4
• Format: Box set
• Dimensions: .47 pounds

Customer Reviews

I love it!!
I'm not at all a Helen Forrest expert, but I picked this up
on sale not long ago, & I'm really glad I did. 4 CDs, studio, radio & 'ballroom' recordings & I think a few fairly rare.
Seems a good cross section of her recordings with Goodman, Shaw & James, as well as Nat King Cole, Gordon Jenkins, Johnny Mercer & others, including a few also from films. The sound quality is really very good overall. Warm, compelling voice that sounds great in big band setting IMO. I love Jo Stafford, & think Helen similar caliber of singer (not that they sound exactly alike).

Brilliant but not definitive
If you are looking at this set thinking that it must be the ultimate Helen Forrest collection containing all her big hits, you'll be disappointed. Nevertheless, this is a fine collection that showcases Helen's talents superbly. It is worth noting that Helen refused to sing up-tempo songs, which didn't always help her career, but she was brilliant at what she did. And while four CD's of ballads might sound a bit excessive, half of the music here was recorded in the big band era, with the other half being in a more lush, orchestral style. Thus, there is plenty of variety in the arrangements, with many mid-tempo songs among the slower songs.

Helen's earliest recordings were with Artie Shaw in 1938 and 1939. Jasmine previously released two single compilations of Helen's music with Artie Shaw, both of which I bought and reviewed some years ago. The first CD here begins with 21 of these recordings but omits their two number one hits (They say, Thanks for everything), though some of their big hits together (notably Deep in a dream, I poured my heart into a song) are here. Still, Helen's music with Artie was all brilliant so I'm not complaining for myself. Others may resent buying this then having to buy two other compilations to plug important gaps in their collection. CD 1 ends with two tracks (I'd be lost without you, A ghost of a chance) recorded in 1940 with Lionel Hampton, Nat King Cole and his trio. There is no mention of these two tracks in the liner notes, but they are worth a listen.

The first ten tracks from CD 2 are taken from Helen's recordings with Benny Goodman in 1940 and 1941. Several great female singers took their turn singing with Benny's band including Mildred Bailey, Helen Ward and Martha Tilton, but Helen didn't like just being a bit-part singer and quit after just a year in his band. It turned out well for both, as Helen signed for Harry James while Benny recruited Peggy Lee as Helen's replacement. Several of the hits that Helen had with Benny only feature Helen singing the chorus so, since this is a compilation of Helen's music rather than Benny's, they've been overlooked. The featured tracks here are those on which Benny gave Helen greater exposure (especially The man I love, More than you know, My sister and I)..For the hits where Helen was only a bit-part singer, look for a Benny Goodman compilation.

The remaining 13 tracks feature Helen's recordings with Harry James, all made between 1941 and 1943. Helen and Harry had four number one hits together but only two (I don't want to walk without you, I had the craziest dream) are included here, the other two (Mister five by five, I've heard that song before) are omitted. Some lesser hits are included (notably But not for me, Skylark, I remember you) but also noteworthy is You made me love you. Originally a million-selling top five instrumental hit for Harry James in 1941, the version here features Helen's vocals and was used in the soundtrack of Private buckaroo.

Helen subsequently pursued a solo career. Her first solo record (Time waits for no one) was a number two hit (Time waits for no one) but none of her other solo recordings charted. However, Helen recorded a lot of duets with Dick Haymes and together they charted ten hits. CD 3 and CD 4 cover Helen's solo and duet recordings from 1944, with all the charted hits included. Helen's last chart entry was in 1946 but she continued recording great music until the period covered by this set ends in 1950. Thereafter, Helen's recordings were sporadic but she had already proved that she was a brilliant ballad singer. While one might have expected her to succeed as a solo singer (especially given the quality of her solo recordings), that didn't happen, but her legacy of band recordings with Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman and Harry James, together with her duets with Dick Haymes, ensure her place in history.

While this is not a definitive collection, it is a great showcase for Helen's music. If you haven't got any of her music, start here and if you want more, look for those other Jasmine compilations with Artie Shaw and a relevant Harry James compilation.

Gold Years of Helen Forrest
I bought this for my Grandma and she loved it. It was the best gift.