It’s simply bewildering how many excellent vocalists have been overlooked over the years. Each of these single disc reissues of two albums is chock full of wonderful and personal singing that is going to make you wonder “how did I ever not know about this music?”. Well, wonder no more.
Renee Raff has a bedroom eyes of a voice and milks it with these 1964 West Coast Cool big band arrangements by Billy Byers and including JJ Johnson/tb, Jerome Richardson/fl, Hank Jones/p, Milt Hinton/b and Osie Johnson/dr. She gives a Left Bank bohemia to “Jan Pierewit” and is coy on “April Fool” while sizzling on a samba’d “Let there Be Love”. A slinky “Little Girl Blue” and breathy “Starting Tomorrow” percolate, while “Butterfly With Hiccups” is an absolute ringer. Who let her off her leash?
Pat Dahl is a kind of English version of Astrud Gilberto, wispy and come hither on “Stout-Hearted Men” and clever as she carries a torch on “Lollipop”. She’s backed by a 1966 collection of orchestras arranged and conducted by the likes of Billy May, Shorty Rogers, Benny Carter and Marty Paich, with the bands including Harry Edison/tp, Buddy Collette/reeds and Shelly Manne/dr. There’s a twinkle in her eye on “I’m In Love With The Honorable Mr. So & So” and is luscious as she boils over on “Lonely Woman”. A hum dinger-any phone numbers come with this one?
Cathi Hayes coos with a West Coast 1959 orchestra led by famed bop guitarist Barney Kessel and including Hollywood session masters Conte Condoli/tp, Bud Shank/asfl, Bill Perkins/ts, Shelly Manne/dr and Jimmy Rowles/p. Her teaming with Kessel is gloriously desultory on “You Don’t Know What Love It” tenderly intimate for “Last Night When We Were Young” and cozy on ”You Smell So Good”. A dash of June Christy gives an icy hot “My Old Flame” as well as a dreamy “What Is This Thing Called Love”. Ooh la la!
Lu Ann Sims has a poppish voice on this doo-woppy session from 1958 with Dave Terry’s Orchestra featuring Joe Wilder/tp and Hank Jones/p. She is wanderlust with strings on “The More I See You” and “I Only Have Eyes For You” and is sweet as cider on “Ooh That Kiss” while teaming up well with Jones on “I Wish I Knew”. The chorus on “Separate Tables” and “There Will Never Be Another You” along with “Separate Tables” give a bit of a date to the session, but it works well.
I’m consistently startled as to how many great male singers have had careers and albums under the radar. This album by Dick Williams (not the famed baseball manager, but then, you never really know), brother of Andy Williams, swings harder and better than anything that the younger sibling released. His voice is a darker shade of Sinatra, and it is late night hip on the patient “I Cried For You”, noirish on “Love IS Nothing But The Blues” and swaggers like Ol’ Blue Eyes” for “The Blues Don’t Care”. On the uptempo “Blue” Williams swaggers like it’s a night at the Copa, and the Nelson Riddle-ish charts of “Love Is A Serious Thing” and the ultra hip “There’s No Fool Like An Old Fool” will make you think this 1960 session is a secret 50s Capitol recording. WHOA!
But the real hoot is a 1959 session by Larry Hovis, who is best known for his role in the hit TV show “Hogan’s Heroes”. Who knew that this POW sounded like a boy-next-door version of Mel Torme’, teaming with reeds on a lovely “My Heart Beongs To You”, re-assuring on the upbeat bopper “’Deed I Do” and cozy on “S’posin” and “Polka Dots and Moonbeams”. He’s got a wide eyed sincerity for “Love Wise” and is finger snapping cool for “As Long As I Live,” particularly strong for “But Beautiful”. All that’s missing is a series of duets with co-star Robert Clary (who also sang a bit) to make this absolute perfection. Perfect for a captive audience-badda boom!