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LET
THERE BE MUSIC
by Neil Stevens
initially published in the Greater London Pensioner
DICK HAYMES
Several
marriages including to film beauties Joanne Dru and Rita
Hayworth not to mention the sultry Fran Jeffries kept his name
in the press but after a short term contract with Capitol
Records in the middle 1950s failed to interest the public or
music industry his career faltered. In the early 1960s after the
failure of his marriage to Fran Jeffries he left the USA and
headed for Europe, which was to be his home for almost a decade.
Many saw him in cabaret or theatre shows and on a good night he
was great but on a bad night that was another thing.
Had he lived,
singer-entertainer-actor Dick Haymes would
have turned 90 this autumn. Once a Hollywood stunt
swimmer (Mutiny on The Bounty 1935), he also wrote songs.
He
impressed Bandleader Harry James, not as composer but a
singer with a rich baritone voice. Harry signed him and then
he followed Frank Sinatra into the Tommy Dorsey Band, to
Hollywood and world- wide fame.
He
married several beauties, had trouble with immigration (bom
Argentina) and introduced in easy style a string of
sensational standard. So much so on this 90th anniversary
relish gorgeous CDs from EMI (Gold 371 3892) and The
Ultimate Collection (Prism Plat CD645).
Great
hearing standard successes, just the ticket for 'Let There
Be Music' enthusiasts. Check out the massive selling
Little White Lies, You'll Never Know, In My Arms, Mamselle,
Laura and separate scintillating duets with Judy
Garland and Ethel Merman.
Once cherished Capitol Albums Rain or Shine and Moondream.
Dick Haymes singing style still superb!
Among
the selection Jerome Kem's favourite songs from -Centennial
Summer (1946) - In Love In Vain, and the still
sought after Swingtime (1936) family favourite
The Way You Look Tonight
Other much acclaimed songs are the popular / Wish I
Knew and The More I See You (Diamond Horseshoe 1945)
and the never to be forgotten Rodgers and Hammerstein
State Fair (1945) from It Might As Well Be
Spring, That's For Me and showing off a vocal
virtuosity that is Dick Haymes - the
incredible, scintillating It's A Great Night For
Singing.
Neil Stevens
