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At long last a record company has taken the plunge and released some of the Decca gems from the 1940's that Denny recorded with the orchestras of Stanley Black, Bob Farnon and Phil Green. Well done Sepia Records and sincere thanks.
The CD is available on the Sepia website. www.sepiarecords.com
The CD includes excellent restorations of some 26 titles, 18 of which have not seen any re release in sixty years, the other 8 being completely unavailable anyway. The CD also features a booklet with excellent liner notes from Mike Carey, Denny's biographer, outlining Denny's career, plus full recording details and dates. This is a CD not to be missed. Its been a long time coming. It is an absolute gem.
The tracks included are:
'Let's Call The Whole Thing Off '(Live - with Jack Wilson and his Versatile Five - Radio Normandy 1939) 'It's You That I Love', 'How Blue The Night', 'How Little We Know', 'There's No You', 'There Must Be A Way', 'I'll Always Love You', It's A Beautiful Day', 'Mary Lou', 'It's The Bluest Kind Of Blues', 'Make Believe World', 'But Beautiful', 'A Fella With An Umbrella', 'Stepping Out With My Baby', 'Every Time I Meet You', 'By The Way', 'Glen Echo' (Will Ye No Come Home) 'I'd Love To See You Home Tonight', 'After All', 'Judaline', 'Feelin' Low', 'My Golden Baby', 'The Four Winds And The Seven Seas', 'I'll Always Love You', Bolero'.
Here is the review (by Allen Pollock) of the Sepia CD from the April 2008 issue of 'INTUNE' magazine:
Sepia's THE BLUEST KIND OF BLUES (1108) is an appropriate appraisal of the somewhat neglected balladeer Denny Dennis (1913-1993) which will please many as such reissued have been few and far between. Despite being rated one of the top singers of the late '30s and into the '40s, and working with Roy Fox, Ambrose and Tommy Dorsey, Denny's share of bad luck was exacerbated by changing vocal styles and the emergence of younger talent during the early '50s. However, these excellent Decca sides showcase his talent during the '40s with the exception of Denny's opening song LET'S CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF, a Radio Normandy broadcast of 1939. HOW BLUE THE NIGHT, BUT BEAUTIFUL, BY THE WAY and THE FOUR WINDS AND THE SEVEN SEAS are amongst the remaining rare twenty-five smoothly applied selections with a preponderance of ballads broken by easy-going songs like A FELLA WITH AN UMBRELLA. The album's title song, recorded with an orchestra conducted by Stanley Black, and based on the Django Reinhardt composition NUAGES, remains his most identifiable songs and apart from Black, Robert Farnon and Phil Green take good care of Denny's orchestral needs to maximum effect with good sound, recording dates and thorough notes by Denny's biographer Mike Carey
SILHOUETTE - DENNY DENNIS - HENRY JACQUES AND HIS DANCELAND ORCHESTRA.mp3
Danceland DL645V Circa 1951.
Lost Denny Dennis Record Found.
A Lost Denny Dennis recording. This record was all but forgotten by Denny, but upon hearing it many years later he identified himself as the singer.
The record was made with Henry Jacques and His 'Correct Tempo' Orchestra. Henry Jacques was a well known dance teacher and he lent his name and reputation to amalgamations of bands that performed in strict tempo dance time. As the advertisement suggests, ballrooms could play the records for dancers free of the constraints of the 'Performing Rights Society'. The records, made in unbreakable plastic, came with a stroboscopic pattern in the outer edge of the label, to ensure precise speed when played.
Here Denny performs a waltz number. The recording does not rank among Denny's finest, but he is as always professional and competent. It dates from a time when Denny was struggling to find regular work and in which he took all kinds of work that he would not have needed to a few years before.
New Denny Dennis CD - November 2010.
Memory Lane magazine have recently ventured successfully into the CD market with some marvellous CD’s from the dance band era. This new Roy Fox / Denny Dennis CD features many very rare recordings and some favourites from the mid 1930s.
The CD is avalable from the Memory Lane website: