Ella Mae Morse, the queen of boogie-woogie pop, doesn't have a lot of material available, making this collection of war-era transcriptions slightly more interesting to fans of vocal pop than it would be normally. The disc collects 19 live performances, most with the AFRS Orchestra, of Morse's hits and a few rarities (including a few she never recorded commercially). Her biggest hit, "Cow Cow Boogie," appears twice, first in 1942 backed by the Freddie Slack Orchestra (with whom she recorded the hit), the second two years ...
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Ella Mae Morse, the queen of boogie-woogie pop, doesn't have a lot of material available, making this collection of war-era transcriptions slightly more interesting to fans of vocal pop than it would be normally. The disc collects 19 live performances, most with the AFRS Orchestra, of Morse's hits and a few rarities (including a few she never recorded commercially). Her biggest hit, "Cow Cow Boogie," appears twice, first in 1942 backed by the Freddie Slack Orchestra (with whom she recorded the hit), the second two years later (after she began a solo career) with an AFRS group led by Meredith Willson (later the writer of The Music Man). Also appearing with great performances are Morse favorites "Mister Five by Five" and "Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet," the latter from a Johnny Mercer radio show with Paul Weston & His Orchestra. The audio fidelity is up to par for the period (and the source material), while Morse's performances are light and swinging. ~ John Bush, Rovi
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