Hildegarde!

[pughphonos]

Any other Hildegarde fans out there? She has steadily grown on me and has now dethroned Annette Hanshaw in my pantheon. Hanshaw was a better singer--but no singer could play piano like Hildegarde!

What labels can one find her on?

Anyway, check out this incredibly charming performance from 1935:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXHnWqK350w

[alang]

I have Decca Album No. 291 from the musical"Let's face it". I like her humor and lifeliness, as well as her elegant appearance. I read somewhere that Liberace took some inspiration from her and that Miss Piggy's gloves were an hommage to Hildegarde. I would definitely buy more of her records if I find them.

Thanks for the charming video.

Andreas

[pughphonos]

I have Decca No. A-541--and that's all. It's Swing Era Hildegarde with big crashing pianistic effects--which I'm not as keen on as I much prefer the more subtle and playful style she started out with in the 1930s. But I'm on the hunt now--and will let you know!

Oh, there was a CD that came out in 2006 (the year after her death at age 99) that has her greatest hits--and hope to find some of the earliest recordings in there.

[epigramophone]

In Europe she can be found on UK and French Columbia.

[Phono48]

I have a copy of Hildegarde singing "Love walked in" / "Goodnight, angel" on Columbia.

[pughphonos]

Here's another offering from You Tube--of her in 1934:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX3mXhnzyFE

I really wish the Big Band sound hadn't come in in 1935 and swept aside these sentimental, nuanced, "Sweet Jazz" pieces. Hildegarde had a brassy, bold side to her and she seemed to enjoy the change. But these pre-1935 recordings of her are so darned beautiful; thank God that British Pathé recorded her intimate style in those years.

[victorIIvictor]

"What labels can one find her on?"

In the USA, I have only turned up her recordings on Decca, all post-World War II. So if you are looking for more, they should be covered in the multi-volume Decca discography, compiled by Michel Ruppli, Greenwood Press. She of course recorded well into the LP era.

If she recorded before US Decca was formed in 1934, those records would be covered in "Moanin' low : a discography of female popular vocal recordings, 1920-1933" by Ross Laird, Greenwood Press, 1996.

Best wishes, Mark

[pughphonos]

Thank you Mark; most helpful.

Ralph

[victorIIvictor]

hello, Ralph,

Here is a splendid Hildegarde album cover, songs from Rodgers & Hart's "By Jupiter"

http://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/ ... jupiter.p/

If I owned a Digital camera I would post a better version of this image, but at least you get the idea.

Unfortunately, Decca did a foolish experiment in packaging the discs in this album. The album pockets are actually affixed(glued on one side) to the outer covers. That design, combined with Decca's unusually brittle shellac (the worst of any major label of the time, in my opinion), has meant that I have never turned up a copy of this album with playable discs!

Best wishes, Mark

[pughphonos]

That is indeed splendid cover art, Mark. I've seen one of those prints from the photo shoot on E-bay recently.

What an odd way to package records! Yes, those Deccas are brittle enough as it is. Of the three records I have in my one Hildegarde set, one has a classic break all the way from the edge to the label.

One is always grateful when the break happens to click in time with the music--but that rarely happens!