Anyone who appreciates fine harmony singing will find pleasure and treasure in this new budget priced collection by the Chordettes, America's top female group of the 50s. With their imaginative vocal arrangements, their pure a cappella barbershop versions of standards and their surprisingly effective teen-orientated rock'n'roll, the Chordettes' often breath-taking harmonies lines still have the power to entrance.

Songlist: Born To Be With You, Lollipop, Mister Sandman, Eddie My Love, True Love Goes On And On, Just Between You And Me, Lonely Lips, Photographs, In The Deep Blue Sea, No Wheels, Lay Down Your Arms, A Girls Work Is Never Done, Humming Bird, Lonely Boy, Tall Paul, To Know Him Is To Love Him, Baby Come A Back A, No Other Arms, No Other Lips, Love Is A Two Way Street, Teenage Goodnight

The Chordettes were a very popular Wisconsin-based barbershop-style quartet of female singers, who placed 13 songs in the top 100 from 1954 to 1961. Formed in Sheboygan, WI in the late 40s, the group was originally folk-oriented on the lines of the popular The Weavers. Original members Janet, Carol, Dorothy and Jinny had a sweet sound and got away from folk and into harmonizing. Here's a collection that includes some of their hits along with some lesser known gems.

Songlist: Hello! Ma Baby, Floatin' Down To Cotton Town, The Sweetheart Of Sigma Chi, For Me And My Girl, Down Aong The Sheltering Palms, Moonlight And The Ganges, Alice Blue Gown, Mr Sandman, Lonely Lips, Hummingbird, The Wedding, A Good Man Is Hard To Find , Oh Baby Mine (I Get So Lonely), Makin' Love Ukelele Style, San, We Three

The Chordettes were one of the most successful female groups of the vintage era. After their selection, in 1949, for the Arthur Godfrey talent program, they recorded a series of albums, first for Columbia, and then for Cadence. "The Fabulous Chordettes" is a selection from this later period ('54-'61), and includes their first big hit, "Mr. Sandman,", "Lollipops," "Just Between You And Me," and nine others (accompanied, but reticently). Their vocal style and arrangements, though not strictly vertical, were definitely influenced by barbershop theory. Many of the cuts are mono - the digital master was transferred from the original analog recordings.

Songlist: Lollipop, Born To Be With You, Eddie My Love, The Wedding, Mister Sandman, Teenage Goodnight, Just Between You And Me, Soft Sands, Zorro, No Other Arms, No Other Lips, Lay Down Your Arms, Never On Sunday

All the big hits at a budget price.

Songlist: Mr Sandman, Lollipop, Born To Be With You, Just Between You and Me, Never On Sunday, Eddie My Love, Lay Down Your Arms, Zorro, No Other Arms, No Other Lips, Teenage Goodnight

As this is another two-LPs for the price of one CD, we can hear you say, "Let me guess, they'll love this one too." Bingo! The Chordettes, who we think of as the first great Sweet Adelines group, pioneered women's barbershop singing when there was no such thing, and they did it with class, professionalism and style. "Harmony Encores" was released by Columbia in 1952, and "Sing Your Requests" in 1954, and they contain 23 classics of harmony and arrangement. While finding the original LPs in any kind of condition to play is unlikely, here you get the original master recordings on a CD with pictures of the four women, the original album covers and the original liner notes. From the opening cut, "Carolina Moon," to "Drifting and Dreaming," "Kentucky Babe," "The Anniversary Waltz," "Wait 'Til the Sun Shines, Nellie," "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now," "Hello! Ma Baby" and the final cut "Darkness On The Delta," this is Entertainment!

Songlist: Carolina Moon, Basin Street Blues, Floatin' Down To Cotton Town, Drifting And Dreaming , Garden In The Rain, S'posin', The Sweetheart Of Sigma Chi, Kentucky Babe, In The Sweet Long Ago, I'm Drifting Back To Dreamland, Angry, A Little Street Where Old Friends Meet, The Anniversary Waltz, Sentimental Journey, Wait 'Till The Sun Shines, Nellie, They Say It's Wonderful, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now, For Me And My Gal, I Believe, Down Among The Sheltering Palms, Hello! Ma Baby, Wonderful One, (When It's) Darkness On The Delta

"Harmony Time, Vol. I & II" is a very generous slice of pre-Sweet Adelines history. By generous we mean two LPs (16 cuts) of the Chordettes by themselves, plus 8 songs with Arthur Godfrey and one with Bill Lawrence. It was 1946 in Sheboygan, WI, and four young women were singing together, working out some intricate harmonies that sounded pretty good. They named themselves the Chordettes. Encouraged by an early SPEBSQSA, they appeared in an all-male Sheboygan barbershop parade, then auditioned for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, which they won easily. After that they joined the talented Godfrey troupe. We can't call them Sweet Adelines Champs, as SA hadn't been formed yet, so how about pre-Champs? The pioneering intricate, soaring harmonies the Chordettes worked out themselves are a revelation for lovers of pure barbershop of any gender. Favorites? "Moonlight Bay," "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny," "Ballin' The Jack," "Shine on Harvest Moon," "Moonlight on the Ganges," "Love's Old Sweet Song" and "Alice Blue Gown." We also liked the Godfrey tunes, but they are accompanied (sometimes by Godfrey on piano), and feature Godfrey more than the Chordettes, who frankly could sing rings around him. In any case, this CD is a joy on many levels!

Songlist: When You Were Sweet Sixteen, Moonlight Bay, Carry Me Back To Old Virginny, Ballin' The Jack, Shine On Harvest Moon, Tell Me Why, I'd Love To Live In Loveland (With A Girl Like You), When Day Is Done, Runnin' Wild , Love Me And The World Is Mine, Moonlight On The Ganges, The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise, Love's Old Sweet Song, Let The Rest Of The World Go By, Lonesome- That's All, Alice Blue Gown, Candy And Cake, If It Wasn't For Your Father, Hawaii, O Joe, Down By The Old Mill Stream, Time Out For Tears, Can't Be Seem To Laugh Anymore, Love Is The Reason, Dance Me Loose

The fun-filled 1958 pop classic by the Chordettes! Roger's SSA arrangement captures the authentic girl group sound. Great fun! Available: SSA, ShowTrax CD. Performance Time: Approx. 2:00.