I’m an aging widower of 87, had the pleasure of hearing Benny Goodman in live concert back in the 1950s. Wish the big band era were still with us today.
Like you I grew up with this melody. My grown-ups listened to this music all the time. But it’s just a memory. Those times will never come back, that way of life will never be part of us, the simple heart inside each of us back then now transformed into a piece of metal. I long for the gone-by era, the times when we knew the value of the constitution and all else which represented our way of life. I’m sorry it’s gone, as I will too one day. I hope remembering this music helps you cope.
I envy my elders who had the opportunity to see these bands in concert. Nearly all of these great band leaders have passed on by now, but in a way the big band era is still with us today with these recordings. If it were not so I, at a relatively young 44, would not be so in love with this music. On a rare occasion I will revisit the music of my youth, but I always go right back to the music of the 30's and 40's.
I can picture my late parents dancing to this. Dad looking smart in his dark blue suit, white shirt, dark blue tie and dancing pumps. Mum in a lovely cream silk blouse, black pleated skirt. Black stocking and black dancing shoes. Both are young, healthy and happy. Life is good for them!
This is one of my favorite still photo videos & recordings. I was born in 1948 and am now 75 but my father raised me on just about all of the big bands and helped cultivate , encourage & manage my interests in music. I have played the Tenner Sax for the last 60 years & the Alto Sax 3 years before that. In addition I performed in numerous bands & fronted my own group. To me this recording showed the beauty of a young Helen Forest with a lovely voice to match her beauty along with the great sound of the celebrated sound of Benny Goodman. I have often wished that I wasn't so young and could have played in one Big Band Great Orchestras. Thank you for letting me see this again.
82 years old and this song brings tears to my eyes reminds me of my dad he use to sing it in Spanish to my mom it was writen in spanish by ALBERTO DOMINGUEZ a Mexican composer in 1939
The perfect sounds of a better world. I remember as a schoolboy playing the big bands on my uncle's 78 rpm wind up gramophone. I'm almost 82 and still enjoy some of the greatest sounds ever! Lifts the soul. Great times, great memories. Cheers
“Perfidia” has stood as one of the most cherished and enduring songs in the Latin American songbook. Composed more than 80 years ago by Mexico’s Alberto Dominguez, it is enshrined as one of those timeless standards that continues to inspire artists and resonate with music lovers, young and old.
Helen has the type of voice from the 1940s that makes singing sound so easy and understandable without the yelling or high pitched shrieks heard nowadays. What a perfect recording from the big band era. 👍🥳😜
The music was plaid in a different tone as well. Then some "music experts" changed the tone frequency for instruments, and ever since the orchestra music (and every other music) is playing in a higher frequency, and THAT IS WHY today the singers also sing on a "high-pitch voice". I found that people got so used to this "changed system" that they not only sing, but also speak in a high-pitched voice! It's really annoying. Women had beautiful voice way back than. They talked on a much lover voice, they did sing on a lower voice, everything was just natural, until the "music experts" came and intervened. If you have old vinil records from the 20s 30s and early 40s, they have to be plaid on a different speed on your gramophone. If you have classical music from before the "change", and you have also the same classical music in a later addition (after the music experts...), play both of them, one after the another, and you will hear the difference! a very huge difference. The old system is very pleasant to listen, the new one is... something else, to put it mildly.
The exact difference made when a singer is trained for band work, plus simple talent. There has been a terrible trend for a few years to sound like, for instance Mariah Carey. There started a trend for yelling. Another was Janis Joplin. You could hardly imagine any of those singing successfully in any of the 40s big bands. A style was created and it overtook what had been previously known as musical skill.
I was born in '59, and therefore was too young to be in on the age of swing. However - as a child - many radio stations still played a LOT of big band, which I loved. I slept in the lower unit of a bunk-bed, and would strap my tiny transistor radio to the spring of the upper and play big band very low at bed time. If I fell asleep before turning in off, my batteries would be dead in the morning!
I’m now 63, love music of all genres and decided to try listening to tunes from my Dad’s era. He was an excellent drummer and played in a band in the 1930s. I really love the purity of this type of music and wished I had listened to it with him when he was still alive.
I feel the same with this music I have been discovering throughout 2020, now at 62 I go from one gem to another thanks to YT ! Your father as a musician was part of something fantastic !
Along with the amazing artistry of Goodman's clarinet and the singer, listen at about 2:07 to the drummer kick in with that high hat cymbol. The trap set just pushed the whole orchestra forward and made everyone want to dance! These orchestras had huge competition, and they really had to have Snap in thier arrangements.
Ms.Forest sang with the three foremost Bands in the Swing Era, viz, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James. No other singer could compare with that. She was immensely popular with audiences, and even the Band players loved her, referring to her as "one take Helen", thereby making recordings a delight, rather than a chore. This is a stunning recording, by the way. One of my favourite's.
Happily agree with everything you said about the timeless talent and achievements of Helen Forrest. Another immensely gifted singer I rate up there with Ms. Forrest is Jo Stafford, my all-time favorite.
i thank my dad a ww11 veteran who used to play swing music while i was growing up. i love swing , boogie woogie etc as they say the greatest generation, i agree. swing will never die
What a great arrangement this is, very full and muscular. And of course, the great singing of Helen Forrest, the best of the big band singers, just makes this a wonderful treat for the ears.
I never knew the meaning of Perfidia. So......."Perfidia" (Spanish for "perfidy", meaning faithlessness, treachery or betrayal) is a song written by Alberto Domínguez (1911-1975), a Mexican composer and arranger born in the state of Chiapas. Composer: Alberto Domínguez" Now I know.
Back in the 60's I had the great pleasure of performing with Helen Forrest, when I was backing Mary Beth Hughes in her lounge work. Helen would sit in with us, and she always insisted she be introduced as "Hele Twelvetrees". She wa a doll! And so easy to work with. Great natural musician.
Helen and I were very close friends for more than 25 years. Of course I am prejudiced--but virtually all the notable writers and critics of era consider her the greatest of all the band singers--a moniker she often regarded with ambivalence in her later years. Knowing her as intimately as I did I'm certain she was unaware of the true extent of her talent and the impact she had on her listeners. Artie Shaw--a man not known for his compliments--who was the 1st of her three big band leaders said: "I love the way Helen interprets any song...she never got the credit she deserved". Her tenure with Benny Goodman (approx. 20 months) ranks among the highest of all his notable singers. There is much evidence in the form of commentaries from several musicians and singers who worked for him--that he was a strange man--as Helen described him--to say the least. He was not given to sharing the spotlight with any member of his band who would threaten his top dog status. And he would not hesitate to take appropriate measures to remedy such matters accordingly--often leaving the victim of his apparent disapproval wondering what they did or didn't do to displease him. He would regularly "noodle" behind Helen while she sang--making it difficult for her to concentrate on the melody line--all the while fighting to be heard over a 17 piece powerhouse orchestra behind her! This all notwithstanding--it is Benny Goodman's band during the period when Helen Forrest with him (1939-1941)--that I contend to be his most skilled, innovative and brilliant. Benny Goodman's foremost historian D. Russell Connor concurs. For substantiation all one needs to do is listen to their recording of "When The Sun Comes Out". After listening to it one day with Helen I remarked I thought it was the best record she AND Benny ever made...and the finest interplay between band and singer bar none. But her heart, happiness and fulfillment came at the peak of her career when she was with Harry James. So she discarded her years with Goodman--as he did her--shortly after she left the band. It did not end well. However, she gave the man his due the true professional she was. "Everyone wanted to play with Benny's band--it was never anything less than great and I gained a lot of experience and recognition during my time with him. In retrospect--the quality of the music is still indisputably outstanding and I hold no regrets or grudges". Aside: I have been writing "The Big Band Singer...The Helen Forrest Story" for many years and my conclusion is it would thrive best in a screenplay format. It's full of lovely and moving vignettes including related interactions and commentaries from Billie Holiday, Dinah Shore, Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Peggy Lee, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, etc. Anyone out there interested and qualified with the resources to bring this project to life? I'll be waiting....
Helen Forrest is able to sing an uptempo tune with all the relaxation and space of a rubato number, always with exquisite diction and phrasing.. She's a giant. The trick with doing a film is. who would you get to play all the stars, let alone find someone to sing anything as they do or even in the vein?
@@teresaguerra7532 There were so many beautiful songs by Latin-American composers in those days. "You are Always In My Heart", "South of the Border", "Time Was (Duerme)", "Orchids in the Moonlight", etc., etc. Such gorgous music to dance to. I'm so glad to hear that Frenesi was also written by Dominguez.
Just turned 69 yr old and always felt I was born a generation to late. Great times for music. I love the Big Band music, and am very glad mom introduced me to it. I sing in a Barbershop Chorus and Quartet, and we have a WW2 set with a lot of these songs. That generation loves the songs..
I was born in July 1954 and often wondered if my previous life was in this era, as I love the music. Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden, Ella Mae Morse, Buddy Johnson......etc
PERFIDIA (TONIGHT) To you my heart cries out Perfidia, For I found you, the love of my life, In somebody else's arms Your eyes are echoing Perfidia, Forgetful of our promise of love, You're sharing another's charms With a sad lament, my dreams Have faded like a broken melody; While the gods of love look down and laugh At what romantic fools we mortals be And now I know my love was not for you And so I'll take it back with a sigh, Perfidious one, good-bye.
Benny will always King of the Clarinet. Helen Forrest was a big band singer. She sang with the best of the big bands. Great music was created during this time.
she had everything u need 2 b a terrific big band singer & to this day her DICTION is unparallelled-she NEVER slurs a lyric.....there's a reason why she worked with bg,artie shaw & harry james...
When Goodman first comes in with his clarinet, the tune just begins to open up like a rose. Helen Forrest emphasizes all the right words while keeping it swinging. She only gets to sing through it once which is my only gripe. I wish he brought her back in for another go around. What a great tune!
Goodman was a real scene stealer, hogging the limelight. Helen was not allowed, by him, to finish a song. Harry James, on the other hand, knew what he had, and built his Band around her. They were fabulously successful.
BELÍSSIMA, ENCANTADORA, APAIXONANTE ! NOS REMETE AOS BONS TEMPOS EM QUE BRILHAVAM AS GRANDES ORQUESTRAS ! PARABÉNS PELA POSTAGEM E PELO BOM GOSTO ! (Jorge Mota - São Paulo)
Big Band were part of my life. I danced to these bands in high school and undergraduate school. Glen Island was 2 miles from my home and all the big bands played there.
The 40s will never die. I was a late child and my mother and aunts always talked about the big bands, the movies, everything that made the 30s and 40s so joyful even with the Depression and WW2.
I love this tune, it really gets into your head, and there are so many great takes on it like: Trini Lopez; The Ventures; Los Panchos & of course Helen & Benny.
@@palamambron By the time she was singing professionally, she was all grown up -- a woman, not a girl. (Do you refer to accomplished adult males as "boys"? Is Benny Goodman a "boy bandleader"?)
@@MissKarenB Also, the musicians of an orchestra were commonly referred to as "the boys in the band". And, how few songs are there about _women_ and how many about _girls?_
Benny and Helen waxed one of the greatest tunes of the last 100 years. "To you, my heart cries out Perfidia, cuz I saw you, the love my life, in somebody elses arms.
The early 1960s saw the end of this musical era. I watched and listened for a short while in horror as music began to deteriorate, with men singing like girls, and the old bands breaking up. Thank heaven I can still see and hear them here.
I also grew up with the big bands, played alto sax in high school band. Miss them all. Female vocalists were the best of all. Stille going strong at 86
Had the chance to see him in 1986, one week before he died. He was still the King of Swing! I was 29. All the old people were like "what are you doing here?"
I saw/heard and met Benny right around that time too. He sounded incredible on the clarinet, was a strange guy but knew exactly what he wanted from his band. Unforgettable experience. I was about 22.
Robert W Yes, I got to basically briefly meet and greet him on a three day recording session, one of his very last. He was recording at my college, just my pure dumb luck, and the truly great drummer Louis Bellson was on the dates-one of the greatest drummers I’ve ever witnessed and heard. The whole band was just sheer professionalism and swing. Then I met Benny ... weird cat! I was basically a starving college student, and when the band finished eating I would go to the catering table and covertly grab leftover scraps. Benny made a snide remark to me about me continually stealing food, something along those lines. I couldn’t tell if he was joking. I recently read that made people incredibly uncomfortable in a lot of situations, so looking back, it all makes sense. But wow, what a musician. He was truly great, and that’s how I remember him primarily. So about that date with the girl at your Benny Goodman concert: understandable… If a chick is bored by that, she’s the wrong one.
I was lucky enough to grow up with this wonderful music in the forties and fifties. So happy it is now availble via the internet at the push of a button. Benny could never have imagined that his music would still be discovered so many years after his death. As for Heln, well, was there ever a finer big band singer?
What a fantastic recording. Swing at it's best. Helen Forrest was a truly remarkable singer, fronting the three greatest Bands of all time-- Artie Shaw,Benny Goodman and Harry James. She was a class act,one of a kind.
Great uptempo swinging version of Perfidia from BG...Helen Forrest is one of my all time favorites...along with the big band work that Doris Day did with Les Brown and also Jo Stafford. What an era!
Helen Forrest and many of the other brilliant female band singers had to have had it kinda rough ! does anyone have any valid information on these extraordinary women ? WOW , THEY WERE GREAT !
This one take me back to my childhood days. What a song! What a singer! What a band! What a delight to hear it again. Thank you so much for sharing this great posting.
¿ Qué sucedió con aquellos tiempos ? Las grandes bandas formaron parte de la historia musical norteamericana junto a sus cantantes...........especialmente, mujeres, como es el caso de Helen Forrest.
Alberto Dominguez's brothers were musucians and composers too. Abel and Armando were 2 of 5 Dominguez Brothers...I live in El Centro,Ca. USA( birthplace of CHER the singer and actress). 🇲🇽🤷♀️👨🦱🧔👏👌🙌🚘🫂⛪️💯🎶🏙💖⛩️❤️ .🎉
I love hearing Helen Forrest sing, never grow tired ... enjoy her and Benny while taking long trips, along with my favorite passenger riding shotgun --- meatloaf !!!!
In the 1930s & 40s, there was a ballroom in my town that featured name big bands every Saturday night. People would come from all around, miles away. My mom and dad went dancing EVERY Saturday night until their death. Mom continued on after my father passed away. I loved the music, and still do. It reminds me of them.
Bella canción MEXICANA, su compositor fue Alberto Domínguez (Chiapaneco). En Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman y Humprey Bogart, bailaron esta incomparable melodía.
I admit, classical music is my preference. When I listen to this old recording, the two most memorable features are Helen Forest's vocal, nicely done, and the boom-boom plucking of the bass fiddle (negative). The bass is constant and monotonous throughout the performance. Not much thought was expended by the arranger, Mr Goodman, I suppose. Just boom-boom, boom-boom. I was happy when it ended.
Hace 70 años esta música se escuchaba en un programa de las 10 pm en la xew que llegaba hasta el pueblo. Las Grandes Bandas, Lest Elgart, Artie Shaw y muchos otros. Gracias
I’m an aging widower of 87, had the pleasure of hearing Benny Goodman in live concert back in the 1950s. Wish the big band era were still with us today.
Hey David, I’m a widower of 64. I wish I’d seen Benny live as you did... you and I will keep this music alive. Cheers!
Like you I grew up with this melody. My grown-ups listened to this music all the time. But it’s just a memory. Those times will never come back, that way of life will never be part of us, the simple heart inside each of us back then now transformed into a piece of metal. I long for the gone-by era, the times when we knew the value of the constitution and all else which represented our way of life. I’m sorry it’s gone, as I will too one day. I hope remembering this music helps you cope.
Some musical experiences never leave, do they? Cheers, Mike.
Try this Catalonian (youth) big band: ua-cam.com/video/N8R6nLqujKw/v-deo.html or this : ua-cam.com/video/3xmkhPNOfC8/v-deo.html
I envy my elders who had the opportunity to see these bands in concert. Nearly all of these great band leaders have passed on by now, but in a way the big band era is still with us today with these recordings. If it were not so I, at a relatively young 44, would not be so in love with this music. On a rare occasion I will revisit the music of my youth, but I always go right back to the music of the 30's and 40's.
I can picture my late parents dancing to this. Dad looking smart in his dark blue suit, white shirt, dark blue tie and dancing pumps. Mum in a lovely cream silk blouse, black pleated skirt. Black stocking and black dancing shoes. Both are young, healthy and happy. Life is good for them!
What a great. God bless you.
This is one of my favorite still photo videos & recordings. I was born in 1948 and am now 75 but my father raised me on just about all of the big bands and helped cultivate , encourage & manage my interests in music. I have played the Tenner Sax for the last 60 years & the Alto Sax 3 years before that. In addition I performed in numerous bands & fronted my own group. To me this recording showed the beauty of a young Helen Forest with a lovely voice to match her beauty along with the great sound of the celebrated sound of Benny Goodman. I have often wished that I wasn't so young and could have played in one Big Band Great Orchestras. Thank you for letting me see this again.
Grew up in the wrong era. Me too.
82 years old and this song brings tears to my eyes reminds me of my dad he use to sing it in Spanish to my mom it was writen in spanish by ALBERTO DOMINGUEZ a Mexican composer in 1939
The Spanish lyrics are very different to these English ones. Fortunately.
My point was Alberto Dominguez compos that song in Spanish not English in 1937
The perfect sounds of a better world. I remember as a schoolboy playing the big bands on my uncle's 78 rpm wind up gramophone. I'm almost 82 and still enjoy some of the greatest sounds ever! Lifts the soul. Great times, great memories. Cheers
God Bless you sr.
“Perfidia” has stood as one of the most cherished and enduring songs in the Latin American songbook. Composed more than 80 years ago by Mexico’s Alberto Dominguez, it is enshrined as one of those timeless standards that continues to inspire artists and resonate with music lovers, young and old.
This is my favorite Benny Goodman song & in my top 3 Helen Forrest songs! It’s also one of my top favorite songs from this era. Love love love!
@@mandiphillips1402 SHEER MAGIC....!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was originally a swing piece that was turned Latin later on.
I am a young 67, love Big Band music, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Rock n' Roll.
Big Band Music is the best !
Helen has the type of voice from the 1940s that makes singing sound so easy and understandable without the yelling or high pitched shrieks heard nowadays. What a perfect recording from the big band era. 👍🥳😜
Steve exactly my thoughts,
The music was plaid in a different tone as well. Then some "music experts" changed the tone frequency for instruments, and ever since the orchestra music (and every other music) is playing in a higher frequency, and THAT IS WHY today the singers also sing on a "high-pitch voice".
I found that people got so used to this "changed system" that they not only sing, but also speak in a high-pitched voice! It's really annoying.
Women had beautiful voice way back than. They talked on a much lover voice, they did sing on a lower voice, everything was just natural, until the "music experts" came and intervened. If you have old vinil records from the 20s 30s and early 40s, they have to be plaid on a different speed on your gramophone. If you have classical music from before the "change", and you have also the same classical music in a later addition (after the music experts...), play both of them, one after the another, and you will hear the difference! a very huge difference. The old system is very pleasant to listen, the new one is... something else, to put it mildly.
she's my absolute favorite !!!!
The exact difference made when a singer is trained for band work, plus simple talent. There has been a terrible trend for a few years to sound like, for instance Mariah Carey. There started a trend for yelling. Another was Janis Joplin. You could hardly imagine any of those singing successfully in any of the 40s big bands. A style was created and it overtook what had been previously known as musical skill.
My favorite too! Classy, humble lady w an oober amount of talent!
Love Helen Forest's voice - no need for gimmicks or hollering like many women singers today. Just a beautiful voice that knows how to sing
Spot on!
Amen!
That's right, but Billie Holiday would have been the better deal for this.
Also, no pitch correction or digital correction. Just raw talent.
Yes what’s with all this hollering these days 😳
I was born in '59, and therefore was too young to be in on the age of swing. However - as a child - many radio stations still played a LOT of big band, which I loved. I slept in the lower unit of a bunk-bed, and would strap my tiny transistor radio to the spring of the upper and play big band very low at bed time. If I fell asleep before turning in off, my batteries would be dead in the morning!
Don't you just LOVE this? I know I do! What a band, what a voice!
"One take" Helen
This song and this arrangement, Helen, Benny.......EVERYTHING about that era is TIMELESS!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Imo , the 30s thru 60s big band swing music wS the best that has ever been . The absolute zenith of music of the world ....imo only
I absolutely agree with you! For me, the 40’s were especially special!!! 💜
I swear, I am reincarnated from the ‘40’s!!!!
One of my favorite swing tunes. Helen Forrest had the voice of an angel with just a little bit sexy thrown in. Excellent!
I’m now 63, love music of all genres and decided to try listening to tunes from my Dad’s era. He was an excellent drummer and played in a band in the 1930s. I really love the purity of this type of music and wished I had listened to it with him when he was still alive.
I feel the same with this music I have been discovering throughout 2020, now at 62 I go from one gem to another thanks to YT ! Your father as a musician was part of something fantastic !
Great music, whatever happened, now we only get crap.
Fantastic and now nearly 80 years since recorded. Today's rubbish won't last.
You said that right!
Thank you Butch.
Facts
Butch 78......Rubbish??? you are too kind ....
You bet your sweet Bippy
Who in their right minds would want to chose between Miller and Goodman? We have both, sit back and enjoy!
You got that one right!
Your right both good at what they did sorry not they're not around any more music was soothing you could listen to it Alnight
You couldn't chose as I said both great at they're kind of music both great musicians high qwality beautiful sound.
And don't forget to toss in Shaw and James too! And a couple of Dorseys for flavor!
That' s right.Both Glenn Miller and Goodman are marvellous!And
A Nice rendition by Helen.
Along with the amazing artistry of Goodman's clarinet and the singer, listen at about 2:07 to the drummer kick in with that high hat cymbol. The trap set just pushed the whole orchestra forward and made everyone want to dance! These orchestras had huge competition, and they really had to have Snap in thier arrangements.
I'm 69. I wept the day he died. Helen is my favorite big band vocalist. And, a selection there is!
Helen Forrest was the ultimate Girl Singer for all the big bands ...wonderful and expressive singer
I am 68 and I am Russian, and I awfully envy you the fact that you saw and heard it live!
Doesn't get much better than this ❤️
Ms.Forest sang with the three foremost Bands in the Swing Era, viz, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James. No other singer could compare with that. She was immensely popular with audiences, and even the Band players loved her, referring to her as "one take Helen", thereby making recordings a delight, rather than a chore.
This is a stunning recording, by the way. One of my favourite's.
She also sang with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra!
moggs I loved hearing Harry James at Disneyland where he was a fixture for years.
Billie Holiday?
Happily agree with everything you said about the timeless talent and achievements of Helen Forrest. Another immensely gifted singer I rate up there with Ms. Forrest is Jo Stafford, my all-time favorite.
Can't agree more!
What an arrangement. Killer vocal, swinging shout chorus, and, of course, Benny. ( horns aren't bad either)!!
Totally agree!
@@robertw9437 I totally agree as well Robert. Just a shame that Gene Krupa had moved on in 1938. He would have taken that swing to the next level!
It was the tune to which Ilsa and Rick danced in Casablanca.
Yes and incredible song and vocal. All of us admire this great musical work.
i thank my dad a ww11 veteran who used to play swing music while i was growing up. i love swing , boogie woogie etc as they say the greatest generation, i agree. swing will never die
What a great arrangement this is, very full and muscular. And of course, the great singing of Helen Forrest, the best of the big band singers, just makes this a wonderful treat for the ears.
I never knew the meaning of Perfidia. So......."Perfidia" (Spanish for "perfidy", meaning faithlessness, treachery or betrayal) is a song written by Alberto Domínguez (1911-1975), a Mexican composer and arranger born in the state of Chiapas.
Composer: Alberto Domínguez" Now I know.
Back in the 60's I had the great pleasure of performing with Helen Forrest, when I was backing Mary Beth Hughes in her lounge work. Helen would sit in with us, and she always insisted she be introduced as "Hele Twelvetrees". She wa a doll! And so easy to work with. Great natural musician.
Wow! Mary Beth Hughes! A cult movie favorite of mine. Of course Helen is awesome also!
***** Mary Beth Hughes was so cute! Did she sing? Lucky you to have performed with both those ladies.
***** Lucky you! Who can forget Helen Forrest singing "I Had The Craziest Dream" with the Harry James Band.
Edward Swanzey l
Why would the great Helen Forrest ask to be introduced as 1930s actress Helen Twelvetrees (who died in 1958)?
Orchestre d'une parfaite efficacitè et Mme Forrest se surpasse dans cette version de Perfidia .Orchestre redoutable !
Helen and I were very close friends for more than 25 years. Of course I am prejudiced--but virtually all the notable writers and critics of era consider her the greatest of all the band singers--a moniker she often regarded with ambivalence in her later years. Knowing her as intimately as I did I'm certain she was unaware of the true extent of her talent and the impact she had on her listeners. Artie Shaw--a man not known for his compliments--who was the 1st of her three big band leaders said: "I love the way Helen interprets any song...she never got the credit she deserved".
Her tenure with Benny Goodman (approx. 20 months) ranks among the highest of all his notable singers. There is much evidence in the form of commentaries from several musicians and singers who worked for him--that he was a strange man--as Helen described him--to say the least. He was not given to sharing the spotlight with any member of his band who would threaten his top dog status. And he would not hesitate to take appropriate measures to remedy such matters accordingly--often leaving the victim of his apparent disapproval wondering what they did or didn't do to displease him. He would regularly "noodle" behind Helen while she sang--making it difficult for her to concentrate on the melody line--all the while fighting to be heard over a 17 piece powerhouse orchestra behind her!
This all notwithstanding--it is Benny Goodman's band during the period when Helen Forrest with him (1939-1941)--that I contend to be his most skilled, innovative and brilliant. Benny Goodman's foremost historian D. Russell Connor concurs. For substantiation all one needs to do is listen to their recording of "When The Sun Comes Out". After listening to it one day with Helen I remarked I thought it was the best record she AND Benny ever made...and the finest interplay between band and singer bar none. But her heart, happiness and fulfillment came at the peak of her career when she was with Harry James. So she discarded her years with Goodman--as he did her--shortly after she left the band. It did not end well.
However, she gave the man his due the true professional she was. "Everyone wanted to play with Benny's band--it was never anything less than great and I gained a lot of experience and recognition during my time with him. In retrospect--the quality of the music is still indisputably outstanding and I hold no regrets or grudges".
Aside: I have been writing "The Big Band Singer...The Helen Forrest Story" for many years and my conclusion is it would thrive best in a screenplay format. It's full of lovely and moving vignettes including related interactions and commentaries from Billie Holiday, Dinah Shore, Judy Garland, Betty Grable, Peggy Lee, Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, etc. Anyone out there interested and qualified with the resources to bring this project to life? I'll be waiting....
Helen Forrest is able to sing an uptempo tune with all the relaxation and space of a rubato number, always with exquisite diction and phrasing.. She's a giant.
The trick with doing a film is. who would you get to play all the stars, let alone find someone to sing anything as they do or even in the vein?
I’m on board with your idea. Reach out to me.
Tom
Just pure heaven. This music is ageless.
drdonrs1 has
Well said
Perfidia. Composer Alberto Domínguez, mexican born in San Cristóbal de las Casas Chiapas.
jack london the
Alberto Dominguez is also the composer of Frenesi
@@teresaguerra7532 There were so many beautiful songs by Latin-American composers in those days. "You are Always In My Heart", "South of the Border", "Time Was (Duerme)", "Orchids in the Moonlight", etc., etc. Such gorgous music to dance to. I'm so glad to hear that Frenesi was also written by Dominguez.
jack london Really? I used to live there. Interesting town.
A golden age of Mexican and latin popular music. Perfidia one of the loveliest songs of the era.
Wow, love this, Helen Forrester singing along with the big band. Fabulous era !
Just turned 69 yr old and always felt I was born a generation to late. Great times for music. I love the Big Band music, and am very glad mom introduced me to it. I sing in a Barbershop Chorus and Quartet, and we have a WW2 set with a lot of these songs. That generation loves the songs..
I was born in July 1954 and often wondered if my previous life was in this era, as I love the music. Glenn Miller, Jack Teagarden, Ella Mae Morse, Buddy Johnson......etc
Two legends who brought pleasure and world-class entertainment to our country at a time when we so needed them and treasured their talents.
TV PM
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PERFIDIA (TONIGHT) To you my heart cries out Perfidia,
For I found you,
the love of my life, In somebody else's arms
Your eyes are echoing Perfidia,
Forgetful of our promise of love,
You're sharing another's charms
With a sad lament, my dreams
Have faded like a broken melody;
While the gods of love look down and laugh
At what romantic fools we mortals be
And now I know my love was not for you
And so I'll take it back with a sigh, Perfidious one, good-bye.
Thank you
Thanks!
Cheers!
I 💘 This Song!!!!
So sad the big bands are gone but thanks to a lot of the big band lovers, I can still listen to them.
So accomplished! Benny is floating on air and the band is perfection. The tune is deep and soulful. Beautiful!
Benny SWINGS!
Benny will always King of the Clarinet. Helen Forrest was a big band singer. She sang with the best of the big bands. Great music was created during this time.
Artie Shaw would have something to say about that. But any big band leader would agree about Helen Forest. Me too.
William L Robinson fibve fingersmovie five fingers movie
Artie once said "Benny played the clarinet, I played music". Very unfair as they were both top class and the like of whom we won't see again.
she had everything u need 2 b a terrific big band singer & to this day her DICTION is unparallelled-she NEVER slurs a lyric.....there's a reason why she worked with bg,artie shaw & harry james...
so true
When Goodman first comes in with his clarinet, the tune just begins to open up like a rose. Helen Forrest emphasizes all the right words while keeping it swinging. She only gets to sing through it once which is my only gripe. I wish he brought her back in for another go around. What a great tune!
Goodman was a real scene stealer, hogging the limelight. Helen was not allowed, by him, to finish a song. Harry James, on the other hand, knew what he had, and built his Band around her. They were fabulously successful.
Hi there would agree with that, could have done with another round of Helen singing!
Hi there. Agree, would love to hear Helen singing another round.
I was born in the wrong decade 😭 ...
Helen forest was really underrated and a great singer
Así es
The 2 Helens,Forrest and O'Connell were the best girl Big Band singers,no doubt.
BELÍSSIMA, ENCANTADORA, APAIXONANTE ! NOS REMETE AOS BONS TEMPOS EM QUE BRILHAVAM AS GRANDES ORQUESTRAS ! PARABÉNS PELA POSTAGEM E PELO BOM GOSTO ! (Jorge Mota - São Paulo)
Big Band were part of my life. I danced to these bands in high school and undergraduate school. Glen Island was 2 miles from my home and all the big bands played there.
The 40s will never die. I was a late child and my mother and aunts always talked about the big bands, the movies, everything that made the 30s and 40s so joyful even with the Depression and WW2.
I'm off to a 1940s event this Saturday 15 July 2023 at the Black Country museum bringing Glen Miller with me on the jbl flip 5 should sound good 😊
I love this tune, it really gets into your head, and there are so many great takes on it like: Trini Lopez; The Ventures; Los Panchos & of course Helen & Benny.
Do not forget Glen Miller's version
As a little boy in England i was and still am,75yrs later hooked on this music.
No matter if Helen Forrest sang with Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman or Harry James, her vocals were always PERFECTION.
She's my favorite girl singer.
+Peter Harter. Mine too. She never fails to excite me. This is some arrangement of the classic song. Great swing number.
@@palamambron By the time she was singing professionally, she was all grown up -- a woman, not a girl. (Do you refer to accomplished adult males as "boys"? Is Benny Goodman a "boy bandleader"?)
@@JJ21210 Actually, during the big band era, they were referred to as Boy or Girl singers regardless of age.
@@MissKarenB Also, the musicians of an orchestra were commonly referred to as "the boys in the band". And, how few songs are there about _women_ and how many about _girls?_
Benny and Helen waxed one of the greatest tunes of the last 100 years. "To you, my heart cries out Perfidia, cuz I saw you, the love my life, in somebody elses arms.
Such a great arrangement from start to finish surrounding that vocal gem!
Alberto Dominguez was the composer. From Chiapas, Mexico.
Gracias Mucha Gracias
Seldom do we witness perfection. Helen Forrest exposed it every time she walked unto a stage!
The best version of Perfidia!
Swinging band. Girl isn't bad either. ( understatement of the year)
Excelente época...y con estos músicos más...quisiera volver a ella !!!
guess I will go to bed with all the memories that go with all the great music from my youth and war years such memories
Ruby McGowan Myself
Ruby McGowan was
Ruby McGowan 90Pniu
The early 1960s saw the end of this musical era. I watched and listened for a short while in horror as music began to deteriorate, with men singing like girls, and the old bands breaking up. Thank heaven I can still see and hear them here.
A; lost line of lyric; goes like this: "Perfidia; Gods of love look down, to see how fools in love we mortals be"..
Considering the crap that passes for music these days, I wish I was born in 1938! Lol
Wow! Wonderful performance!
I also grew up with the big bands, played alto sax in high school band. Miss them all. Female vocalists were the best of all. Stille going strong at 86
Great version, Thanks for posting it gave me great pleasure.
Had the chance to see him in 1986, one week before he died. He was still the King of Swing! I was 29. All the old people were like "what are you doing here?"
I saw/heard and met Benny right around that time too. He sounded incredible on the clarinet, was a strange guy but knew exactly what he wanted from his band. Unforgettable experience. I was about 22.
Robert W Yes, I got to basically briefly meet and greet him on a three day recording session, one of his very last. He was recording at my college, just my pure dumb luck, and the truly great drummer Louis Bellson was on the dates-one of the greatest drummers I’ve ever witnessed and heard. The whole band was just sheer professionalism and swing. Then I met Benny ... weird cat! I was basically a starving college student, and when the band finished eating I would go to the catering table and covertly grab leftover scraps. Benny made a snide remark to me about me continually stealing food, something along those lines. I couldn’t tell if he was joking. I recently read that made people incredibly uncomfortable in a lot of situations, so looking back, it all makes sense. But wow, what a musician. He was truly great, and that’s how I remember him primarily.
So about that date with the girl at your Benny Goodman concert: understandable… If a chick is bored by that, she’s the wrong one.
sheer joy from start to finish
I was lucky enough to grow up with this wonderful music in the forties and fifties. So happy it is now availble via the internet at the push of a button. Benny could never have imagined that his music would still be discovered so many years after his death. As for Heln, well, was there ever a finer big band singer?
What a fantastic recording. Swing at it's best.
Helen Forrest was a truly remarkable singer,
fronting the three greatest Bands of all time-- Artie Shaw,Benny Goodman and Harry James.
She was a class act,one of a kind.
The three greatest bands of all time? Please. Count Basie's band from 1937-39 wipes the floor those three.
@@carolinerepublic7846 All a matter of opinion. I respect yours, hopefully you can return the compliment.
Was she not wonderful?
Great uptempo swinging version of Perfidia from BG...Helen Forrest is one of my all time favorites...along with the big band work that Doris Day did with Les Brown and also Jo Stafford. What an era!
Wow say what you want about Goodman,and many people did,and do, and some of it not very nice, but my !.Goodman and that band could sure swing !
Great singing of a timeless classic love the song
Truly timeless - the song, lovely Helen, and Benny Goodman.
I know the Glenn Miller recording well. But this is Benny Goodman. Benny Freakin' Goodman. Magnificent. Any one notice the unexpected key changed?
2:18-2:45
Helen Forrest and many of the other brilliant female band singers had to have had it kinda rough ! does anyone have any valid information on these extraordinary women ? WOW , THEY WERE GREAT !
Lots of info on wiki, for what it's worth.
@@MOGGS1942 , thanks
This one take me back to my childhood days. What a song! What a singer! What a band! What a delight to hear it again.
Thank you so much for sharing this great posting.
The track never sounded better. And it's pre-tape era. Marvelous transfer.
Nothing can top this song and Benny playing it. Lord please bring back the swing era
¿ Qué sucedió con aquellos tiempos ? Las grandes bandas formaron parte de la historia musical norteamericana junto a sus cantantes...........especialmente, mujeres, como es el caso de Helen Forrest.
I love this music I missed out on the greatest music ever!
Hola, yo soy jovita de mexico y tengo 83 años y me facina esta cancion, es maravillos. Gracias
Es mexicana de el Chamaco Domínguez...
Alberto Dominguez's brothers were musucians and composers too. Abel and Armando were 2 of
5 Dominguez Brothers...I live in
El Centro,Ca. USA( birthplace of
CHER the singer and actress).
🇲🇽🤷♀️👨🦱🧔👏👌🙌🚘🫂⛪️💯🎶🏙💖⛩️❤️ .🎉
I love hearing Helen Forrest sing, never grow tired ... enjoy her and Benny while taking long trips, along with my favorite passenger riding shotgun --- meatloaf !!!!
wonderful!! such a terrific band, arrangement and the soaring claro if Mr Goodman. Love Helen Forrest. I never hear enough of her. Thanks for the post
Hello Marilyn, How are you doing?
In the 1930s & 40s, there was a ballroom in my town that featured name big bands every Saturday night. People would come from all around, miles away. My mom and dad went dancing EVERY Saturday night until their death. Mom continued on after my father passed away. I loved the music, and still do. It reminds me of them.
great music thanks for posting...............
Bella canción MEXICANA, su compositor fue Alberto Domínguez (Chiapaneco). En Casablanca, Ingrid Bergman y Humprey Bogart, bailaron esta incomparable melodía.
I admit, classical music is my preference. When I listen to this old recording, the two most memorable features are Helen Forest's vocal, nicely done, and the boom-boom plucking of the bass fiddle (negative). The bass is constant and monotonous throughout the performance. Not much thought was expended by the arranger, Mr Goodman, I suppose. Just boom-boom, boom-boom. I was happy when it ended.
beatifull music
good old sving musi, benny goodman style.
I wish there was a radio station in England dedicated to just playing music from the 1930s to 1950s, but there is'nt
hell yes, wish we had one in The States !!!
Yes there is..!!! Just google 1940 music radio. 1940sradio.com
I don't know about England, but I hear Helen and all the greats when I listen to 40's Junction/40's on 4 on Sirius XM.
One take Helen, what a sweetheart! And, what a great talent !
Que maravilha esta musica celebre - Perfídia - e então tocada pela Orquestra de Benny Goodman é incomparável. Gosto da voz de Helen Forrest.
Hace 70 años esta música se escuchaba en un programa de las 10 pm en la xew que llegaba hasta el pueblo. Las Grandes Bandas, Lest Elgart, Artie Shaw y muchos otros.
Gracias
Incomparable.
Helen Forrest is all but forgotten by those who came after the WW2 generation.
Today we have Lizzo. Nuff said.
This and Carola from Finland are the best Recordings of Perfidia
can't stop playing this ... wow and such arrangement too
The new jazz singing sensation Samara Joy should sing this.
Wonderful.
Perfidia is played in a number of classic films, Casablanca and Now, Voyager being among them.
what a voice, so good