The Ink Spots

This 19-track compendium is derived from radio broadcasts recorded between 1939 and 1948 featuring the influential Ink Spots in their undeniable prime. The quartet of "Ivory" Deek Watson (second tenor/guitar), Charlie Fuqua (baritone/guitar/ukulele), Orville "Hoppy" Jones (upright bass cello/string bass), and Bill Kenny (tenor) open the set visiting WFIL-AM in Philadelphia on July 12, 1939 for "Stairway to the Stars" and "It's Funny to Everyone but Me" in their trademark loping four-bar introductory style. There are several notable exceptions within these early transcriptions capturing them in the decidedly less predictable pre-doo wop of "No Wonder," a driving boogie-woogie backbeat on "Pork Chops and Gravy," and the hot-steppin' "Tiger Rag." The next batch hails from a handful of appearances on the Armed Forces Radio Service program Spotlight Bands. These selections are the same as those that initially surfaced on the excellent Rare Air: 1937-1944 (2001) anthology. Standouts include an up-tempo and sophisticated "Shoo-Shoo-'Baby," "Don't Sweetheart Me," as well as the practically giddy "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey." They slow down the pace for a refined reading of "Time Waits for No One," aptly demonstrating the combo's intimate balladry. A guest shot on the Kate Smith Show (circa October of 1944) is the origin for "Someday I'll Meet You Again" and "Your Feet's Too Big," while the piece de resistance is the infamous singing advertisement for Lucky Strikes cigarettes from the Jack Benny Show episode Jack Wants to Borrow Bing's Oscar, which first aired on April 4, 1948. ~ Lindsay Planer, All Music Guide