Title:
Mr.
&
Mrs.
Music
Artist:
Frances
Wayne
&
Neal
Hefti
Catalogue
No:
SEPIA
1083
Barcode:
5055122110835
Release
Date:
6
November
2006
It
was
Woody
Herman
who
gave
Frances
Wayne
her
big
break
in
1943
-
he
hired
her
as
his
band’s
vocalist
after
hearing
her
sing
at
a
local
club
in
Boston.
She
joined
the
Herman
band
at
a
crucial
time
as
it
was
becoming
a
leading
exponent
of
progressive
big
band
jazz
of
the
mid
1940’s.
She
also
gave
the
band
a
major
hit
record
with
Happiness
Is
A
Thing
Called
Joe.
Neal
Hefti
played
trumpet
with
a
succession
of
bands
before
joining
Woody
Herman
in
1944
and
during
his
tenure
with
Herman
scored
many
of
the
bands
most
durable
and
popular
charts.
He
married
the
girl
singer
and
the
couple
left
Herman
in
January
1946,
eventually
to
settle
in
Hollywood
with
Francis
Wayne
working
as
a
solo
attraction
(the
plaintive
Cheatin’
On
Me
is
from
this
period)
while
Hefti
maintained
a
busy
dual
schedule,
playing
and
writing.
After
retiring
for
a
while
to
raise
a
family
Frances
Wayne
returned
to
work,
recording
in
1951
the
two
sides
included
here
-
the
bright
Did’ja
Ever
which
had
the
atmospheric
Corner
To
Corner
on
the
reverse
when
issued.
Later
that
same
year
the
Neal
and
Frances
were
signed
by
Coral
records
and
their
first
session
resulted
in
three
titles.
Kissin’
Bug
Boogie
and
If
You
Hadn’t
Gone
Away
have
Frances
Wayne
blending
perfectly
with
a
vocal
trio
while
a
third
title,
the
instrumental
Coral
Reef
was
a
named
tribute
to
the
record
company.
The
catchy
arrangement
proved
to
be
a
big
seller
and
was
adopted
by
many
disc
jockeys
on
both
sides
of
the
Atlantic
as
their
theme
music.
Other
releases
included
here
are
the
light-hearted
Regular
Man,
Somebody
Loves
Me,
which
is
taken
at
a
nice
easy
tempo
with
some
mellow
trumpet
work
by
Hefti
in
between
the
vocal
choruses;
and
the
achingly
beautiful
Cabin
In
The
Cotton
sung
with
intense
feeling.
The
final
eight
vocal
selections
find
Frances
Wayne
in
a
tribute
to
Ethel
Waters.
Ranging
from
Am
I
Blue?,
first
introduced
by
Waters
in
1929,
through
her
1934
triumph
Miss
Otis
Regrets
and
Happiness
Is
A
Thing
Called
Joe
which
she
introduced
in
the
film
version
of
“Cabin
In
The
Sky“.
For
the
last
title
Wayne
takes
the
tempo
a
little
faster
than
her
1946
recording
with
Woody
Herman
while
the
Neal
Hefti
Orchestra
(augmented
with
strings
on
all
these
selections)
add
a
nice
touch
by
repeating
the
trumpet
figures
which
featured
on
the
original.
Almost
all
the
tracks
are
appearing
on
CD
for
the
first
time.
ORDER
NOW»
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Records
Ltd"
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Sepia
Records
Ltd.,
96
Tubbs
Road,
London,
NW10
4SB
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