Ink Spots – The Hits Collection 1939-51

The Ink Spots, along with the Mills Brothers, were one of the leading early doowop vocal groups during the decades spanning WWII, bringing together the influences of barber-shop quartets, gospel and jazz to create a sound and style that appealed to the mainstream pop market. Employing a distinctive guitar introduction, and using the “top and bottom” technique that contrasted the high tenor lead vocal of Bill Kenny with the bass voice of Orville Jones delivering a spoken verse, they developed a successful formula that was all their own, and between 1939 and 1951 they had around 50 hits in the various incarnations of the charts. In fact they had too many hits for us to be able to include all of them in this great-value 48-track 2-CD collection, which features all their Top 30 pop hits and all their Top 10 R&B hits, plus a few more, including those with Ella Fitzgerald. It features the No. 1s “Address Unknown”, “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me)”, “I’m Making Believe”, “Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall”, “The Gypsy”, and “To Each His Own” plus the R&B No.1s “I Can’t Stand Losing You” and “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore”. It’s a concentrated presentation of their very best recordings, featuring their highly individual treatments of some of the finest songs of the era, and it’s a marvellous showcase for their unique style of music.

Track Listing:

CD1:
Ink Spots: 1. If I Didn’t Care -   2. You Bring Me Down -   3. Address Unknown -   4. My Prayer -   5. Bless You -   6. I'm Getting Sentimental Over You -   7. When The Swallows Come Back To Capistrano -   8. Whispering Grass (Don't Tell The Trees) -   9. Maybe -   10. Stop Pretending -   11. You're Breaking My Heart All Over Again -   12. We Three (My Echo, My Shadow And Me) -   13. My Greatest Mistake -   14. Java Jive -   15. Do I Worry -   16. Please Take A Letter Miss Brown -   17. I'm Still Without A Sweetheart ('Cause I'm Still In Love With You) -   18. So Sorry -   19. Until The Real Thing Comes Along -   Ink Spots And Ella Fitzgerald: 20. I Don’t Want To Set The World On Fire -   Ink Spots: 21. Someone's Rocking My Dreamboat -   22. Ev'ry Night About This Time -   23. Just As Though You Were Here -   24. This Is Worth Fighting For -

CD2:
Ink Spots: 1. Don't Get Around Much Anymore -   2. If I Cared A Little Bit Less (And You Cared A Little More) -   3. I Can't Stand Losing You -   4. I'll Never Make The Same Mistake Again -   5. Don't Believe Everything You Dream -   6. A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening -   7. Cow Cow Boogie -   8. I'll Get By -   9. Someday I'll Meet You Again -   Ink Spots And Ella Fitzgerald: 10. I'm Making Believe -   11. Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall -   Ella Fitzgerald and Ink Spots: 12. I'm Beginning To See The Light -   Ink Spots: 13. The Gypsy -   14. Prisoner Of Love -   15. To Each His Own -   16. You Can't See The Sun When You're Crying -   17. Ask Anyone Who Knows -   18. The Best Things In Life Are Free -   19. Say Something Sweet To Your Sweetheart -   20. You Were Only Fooling -   21. You're Breaking My Heart -   22. Who Do You Know In Heaven (That Made You The Angel You Are) -   23. Echoes - 24. If -