I am 80 years old now and my mother always listen to big band music so as a kid, I learned to enjoy it. It’s so beautiful to this day. I have it in my shop my phone, my iPad, my vehicles and my TV and really enjoy it..k
My precious mom was only 19 when this was done. She was on the road in a bus with all men, the band supporting her family. It’s hard to imagine! She was strong, polite, always a hatred working lady. She gave me the world but my times with her were the best!
I'm 80 now, I've always been sad, there is so much I have missed before I was born, and so much I would have missed if I wasn't. It seems to me now, I must have known it all along, "For so many have passed before their time". And I miss them all. I've been a fan since (1957 Katz 1620 AM Rhythm And Blues, St Louis, Mo,) had nothing to do with the theme of the song I just liked the way the singer and the arrangement sounded, I guess. I haven't changed. And I'm not a fan of most songs my favorite singers sang. It's usually only three or four out of every other 10. They were hard to get used to, but so is with most special people, some I believe, live only within themselves, and that, I think confuses them.
A lot of the band singers were very young, Helen O., Ella Mae Morse, Goodman's first singer (darnn I can't think of her name off hand) was only sixteen when she went on tour with the band. It's why so many of them had that girl next door sound I think.
Outstanding! Helen was a real class act. I think she was 19 y.o. when she started with Dorsey. A great stage personality, easy to listen to and easy to look at, she sings some of my all-time favorite songs. Thanks for a great post!
Put the words "All Of Me" in the search machines and you come to know world's best performers and musicians, another great artist to fall in love with! Seems that we all like this song true the years over and over again, in every music style!!!
I have always loved this song - and Helen. These pictures show why so many fellows called her luscious. She had a very distinctive sweet voice I feel and with the big band behind her it's a match made in heaven. Oh how I miss all of the great music like this - back when it was talent and done in good taste. Song writing like this is such a treat and I do wish we had more like it from today's writers and artists. Thank you for posting this winner. - Paula
incomparable. listen and hear the life, the soul in this music. orchestra sparkle, vocal velvet. nothing today comes close. such a pity the recording tech back then was so primitive. O'Connell was beautiful and talented and genuine. after 80 years of gmo foods, the human genome is changed, and we may have lost forever what we had in the '40s.
I don't know what it is about this type of music I've been captivated by it since I heard this type of music something in it just resonates with me so well it's all a masterpiece I must say ❤
i gotta day i’m not as old as a lot of you folks here, i’m 15, but this age of music is so truly magical and so pleasant to hear, glad to see it’s easy to access.
It took brains to dream up words that were actually mindful of more than one thing, then you had to have a melody that 'fit' the words like a glove, and a melody that made sense harmonically, so the entertainment value was immediate as well as eternal, so quality was expected, that's why we are listening still, and to make it all come together, you had to have a performer who was gifted from the start to make something unforgettable. Those were the days!
Is it just me or did Marilyn Monroe have a similar look to Helen O'Connell? Beautiful voice, by the way! No one from the last 30 odd years has talent to compare to the 30s-50s.
Exactly Gene! They looked like very feminine women and weren't embarassed of that fact. It seems that so many women in the last 20 odd years either try and compete with men (they want six pack abs or very muscular arms) or they have an androgynous look. I was a teen in the 80s and it's seems to have been going on for awhile now It could also just be what Hollywood and the music industry decide to promote.
I couldn't agree more Gene. I have always liked men that looked and acted like men and I've always been a more feminine women. We are supposed to complement what the other sex lacks (Men have strength and are the more aggressive - Women are more nuturing and emotional). I know that we don't have "politically correct" views, but I know we have the CORRECT views! (;
Jennifer Shelley we arent supposed to do anything Thts wht the government made u believe back thn and it was an awful time despite how beautiful it looks Women were treated like complete items
For some reason (which evades me at the moment) Big Band historian George T. Simon was NOT crazy about Helen's singing style. For once (he was usually pretty "right on") Simon was DEFINITELY in the minority. The whole world loved this beautiful lady and her supreme vocals!
Michael Klein, I am glad that you had an opportunity to interview these two fine performers; I am sure that this was an interview that you will treasure for a very long time. Roger Plafkin-Plafkin Farms, Ada, Michigan
One of the best renditions ive heard of the song She actually sounds amazingly similar to ella in this song but more of that classic big band sound as opposed to jazz but her voice and key notes were on point with ella
Also, Helen just had the type personality that didn't just sing it she romanced it better than almost anyone then and since. And Jimmy and the "players" boy could we do with some great music like this today! Wonder if the new crowd would listen to it?
Donald Vice Thanks Donald. Just added "One Sweet Letter From You" from 1939, recorded around the same time as "All Of Me". Which might just be the band's top jazz recording from this time.
I'm only 22 and absolutely adore this music. Jazz, big band, swing. The more I listen to the more I love it. I'm finding it hard to listen to anything else because this music is just far superior. I do listen to the newer bands that do this music. The Hot Sardines are fantastic and Pink Martini also produces some great jazz.
I don’t think so. Today the kids are so musically dumb downed that I don’t think so. For everyone who says they love this music, thousands of others will cling to the noise they listen to today.
All of me, why not take all of me? Can't you see I'm no good without you? Take my lips, I want to lose them. Take my arms, I'll never use them. You're good-bye left me with eyes that cry. How can I get along without you? You took the part that once was my heart, So why not, why not take all of me? All of me, come on, get all of me. Can't you see I'm just a mess without you? Take my lips, I want to lose them. Get a piece of these arms, I'll never use them. You're good-bye left me with eyes that cry. How can I ever make it without you? You know, you've got the part used to be my heart, So why not, why not take all of me...?
if i heard just part of this and tried to remember who sang it i would guess--you know who-- the song was perfect. nothing out of place. and ms oconnell....oh my gracious that voice those inflections. every thing. the choice of microphones, preamps, the band, she was using the proximity effect,very close to the microphone. like shes singing in just your ear. oh goodness. thank you very much uploader
DICK HAYMES: Gran amigo,y compañeros de interpretaciones melódicas, junto a HELEN FORREST, marcaron un hito en la música de una época de gustos refinados y atracciones nocturnas,tanto en teatros,cabarets y fiestas de salón. ¡ Un recuerdo imborrable ! ¡ GRACIAS !
Very true. These are the American classics.....when there was NO bad music. Hell, I don't even think there were any ugly people in America then. lol The men were handsome and sharp, the women were Ladies...all the time. I will be the optimist and say "past is prologue".....
You know these bands are still around today Tommy Dorsey band they are Glenn Miller band the Jimmy Dorsey band thank God they will never die out we just have to look and see where that playing I said dance these bands in the thirties and forties and I saw the Dorsey band Tommy Dorsey actually about a month ago the real of this music as much as I do look them up and see what they're playing because they they probably everywhere so look up on RU-vid Google you'll find out where they are God bless still around I've been new bands today the new music is lousy God bless everybody have a wonderful holiday and a Happy New year
Nobody can do a number like this anymore, at least not without pitch correction. As much as I like the way technology put music at everyone's fingertips, I hate the way it eliminated the truly talented singers, and nearly all of the musicians. I live in Las Vegas, and when I was young all of the casinos had their own orchestras, now it's all canned music. So sad. The great talents like Helen O'Connell will never be seen again.
When I compare this with the rendition of Billie Holiday, this later is better : Helen makes of this song a "sweet thing", whereas Billie gives it the feeling and the depth it deserves.
