Smoke Gets In Your Eyes - The Hits Collection Vol. 2 1928-54

Paul Whiteman was a violinist who became one of the most successful bandleaders and orchestral directors in the history of popular music. Although his music was essentially middle-of-the-road dance band music in flavour, it had much of the roaring 20s atmosphere, and he was often referred to as “The King Of Jazz”, the phrase that was used as the title of a film about him, . So successful was he that he had 220 hits attributed to him from 1920 through to 1954, more than any other artist, we believe. We have chosen to address that career with two 5-CD collections, of which this is the second (“Whispering  - The Hits Collection Vol. 1 1920-27” Acrobat ACFCD7521 is the other one). This 106-track 5-CD set comprises all the titles listed as hits from 1928 debut through to 1954, with the releases variously appearing on Victor, Columbia, Decca, Capitol and Coral. It features ten No. 1s, including “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”, “Together”, “Ramona”, “Ol’ Man River”, “Body And Soul” and “All Of Me”. There are performances by a number of featured vocalists including Bing Crosby, Mildred Bailey, Paul Robeson, Austin Young, Vaughn De Leath, Jack Fulton, Norman Clark, Joan Edwards and others, with solos by Bix Beiderbecke, Jack Teagarden and Frankie Trumbauer. It’s a substantial and comprehensive overview of the hits from the second era of his career, and a great showcase for his highly successful style.