Harry James, Helen Forrest--1958 Big Record Live TV Show, Complete Segment

The great Harry James and his orchestra were reunited with Helen Forrest for this 1958 edition of the Patti Page "Big Record" show, which was broadcast live every Wednesday night from what is now the Ed Sullivan Theater on Broadway. Here are all three of Harry's great numbers, including "Blues For Sale," Helen's vocal on their million-selling wartime hit, "I Don't Want to Walk Without You," and a dance production of "Brazilian Sleighbells".

[@parsingperson229]

I met Helen when she was in Omaha for a concert in the late 80s. She canceled the show claiming she was too sick but I had breakfast with her that morning. She showed me the ring Harry gave her and sang a song to me in her hotel room. I was a young singer in Omaha at the time. What a great memory of the best singer of all time!

[@evanwoodham6296]

Thanks for sharing

[@karinberryman2009]

I really believe you. After the blokes she’d got entangled with, I can believe she prized James. Artie and Benny were impossible characters!

[@aeichler]

She must have been really sick or she wouldn't have cancelled. Her arthritis spread to her vocal chords.

[@anthonygreco4741]

Very lucky person

[@sallyandbillmason7608]

Iby​@@karinberryman2009

[@BTURNER1961]

underappreciated era in American music.

[@EyeShotFirst]

Helen is my absolute favorite from the era. She had such a strong and clear voice, it just cut straight through the orchestra.

[@libertyann439]

Also Conee Boswell!🌸

[@gershonnundkumar6444]

And her control omg

[@waynebrasler]

I saw Helen in concert many times. As she got older she kept the strength, tone and distinctive qualities of her voice and style. She was a lovely lady, very ebullient and happy to be still entertaining. She had a rough childhood and a miserable mother but she had the last laugh.

[@bettystouffer6012]

Wayne Brasler I adore Helen as a woman of such talent strength and resilience in spit of all life put her through! a shining voice of pure love and light through it all. Harry piercing clear and bright through it all as well!!

[@piustwelfth]

I read that her mother and step-father ran a brothel out of their home! Helen's step-father attempted to rape her, and she fought him off with a kitchen knife. At that point (age 14), she left home to live with the parents of a friend.

[@laramaui4114]

Wow. Admirable

[@neilsettle2089]

@@piustwelfth wasn’t Harry abusive towards his wife? Did he have a bad temper?

[@georgekilroy2670]

Yeah Harry was a big time juicer and chased after every woman he laid eyes on and thus pretty much destroyed his marriage. Sad. Great talent doesn’t always translate to great behavior

[@dougdanzeisen9608]

Harry and Helen sound even better, to my ears, than in the 40s. Both had charisma, talent and on screen presence to spare. This is a treat. So often we don't realize what we have until it's long gone and we are left with shadows, memories and an occasional chance to step back and enjoy when good music was popular.

[@epflrz1625]

Her voice was so beautiful! I'm a huge fan. She is my favorite of the big band singers.

[@MrJoeybabe25]

What a great treat it is to see this big band in the late 50's!

[@taylormaddux8433]

What a treat. If anything, both HJ and HF had become even stronger performers than they'd been in the 1940s. Thanks for sharing.

[@jakablaszlo701]

Harry James & Helen Forrest two of the Best!

[@MsJreiber]

This is real music, loved it. Love Big Band

[@Kelly-nm4kw]

Hello Joann, How are you doing?

[@truthbetoldagain]

I am blessed to have met all three of these incredible greats ; Harry James, Helen Forrest and The Singin' Rage, Miss Patti Page ! All at different times in California, Pennsylvania and New Jersey .

[@roseelley4470]

Where did you meet them? Love this!!

[@libertyann439]

Sooo lucky you!

[@vaxtrpts1]

GREAT Band and Harry is amazing as usual!

[@TheRodlodm]

man, what a sweet voice

[@cmc6295]

People don't know real singing talent at all

[@terryfetzer4941]

there is nothing better then the big bands! I wish they continue today so that everyone what they sounded like! god bless you big bands

[@jeffcraven7376]

Whether it was 1958-1972, at times when Helen sang she looked as young as she did in 1938. Love that voice! Harry James was greater than great, but I've got so many favorite big band trumpeters, I can't place one as my all time favorite.

[@kfl611]

I know, it is amazing !!!!!! And she sounded just as marvelous, maybe better.

[@luismantaras6460]

Helen Forrest was unique in dynamics and expression. First time I saw her singing and can see how expressive she was in her face. She and Helen Ward, whom set up the style for the years to come are my favorites from the swing era.

[@clomaster5000]

Perfect description, it's like she "drapes" the music over you, absolutely beautiful voice. First time hearing her for me 💕

[@luismantaras6460]

that's a good description too, I feel it that way. You must listen, watching her face as she sing "I cried over you" with James in a KZbin video clip.

[@clomaster5000]

@@luismantaras6460 You're right, she is so skilled at conveying feeling in the words that you can't help but be moved. I feel that way about piano music, it can bring me to tears at times listening (like Chopin's 'Nocture'). I love how music can transport you and a good artist will allow you to join them. 💕

[@PiccDan]

Wow...it seems ever more incredible that the world threw away quality music like this, almost overnight. Stunning.

[@leelarson107]

So, you don't like Rap Crap and Rock Crap?

[@PiccDan]

@@leelarson107 Well....let's just say that it doesn't always seem like a step forward musically; although of course music has to move-on constantly and reflects it's era.

[@richardgornalle4536]

Totally love this clip. A bygone era.

[@howardmanley3388]

I’m in my late seventies now,Boy what a different era that was back then ,Then what we are facing now in covid-19 2020 ...Helen was wonderful, They did such romantic songs back then like “I know why and so do you” ...” At last “

[@SteffiReitsch]

Harry James: King of trumpets!

[@zeogiannes]

This is unbelievable what music, what a voice, beautiful! Thanks for posting!

[@kh23797]

If you liked that, do you know Helen and Harry's heartfelt version of Hoagy Carmichael's 'Skylark'? From when Helen's voice was at its peak, I'd say - and it's on YT. A real 'earworm'!

[@aeichler]

Humboles Helen hated doing "Skylark". She told me herself that she had trouble "hearing" the melody line at the recording session and Harry had to play it quietly behind her so she could follow him. After that, she never wanted to do it again, even though it was one of their biggest hits.

[@dudley5533]

Alan Eichler Skylark is a difficult song to sing, but Helen was truly a real pro, and the recording turned out to be one of the best ones of all who did record it. What exactly is trouble "hearing the melody", and why does it happen? Also, I don't understand it being called an "earworm". Would appreciate your comments. Thanks.

[@aeichler]

John M I don't know what "earworm" means either, but what Helen meant by not being able to "hear" the melody, was that she couldn't get the melody line. Musicians and some singer read the music, while others rely on learning a song by listening to it and memorizing it. Helen, as skilled as she was, just couldn't get "Skylark". Harry stood behind her at the recording session and played it quietly behind her and she was then able to follow him. The record was a big hit, but Helen never wanted to sing it again after the initial session.

[@dudley5533]

Alan Eichler Thanks for the explanation...that makes sense why she was reluctant to sing it.

[@PiccDan]

Wonderful to see these great stars on film, thank you so much.

[@elainelosee7974]

Hello there, What a thrilling Memory! Listening to you Both, Helen Forrest and Harry James. Thanks everso for sharing. Love you too

[@williamkauffman5745]

it doesn't get any better!

[@WAL_DC-6B]

Wow! In addition to Helen Forrest having a terrific singing voice, she is quite the good looking and might I add, curvaceous figured lady!!! Thanks for sharing!

[@bettystouffer6012]

such sweet music to my very heart and soul! it has always stumped me how Helen could perform with Harry after leaving her for Betty Grable...talk about having your nose rubbed in it!! in any case so goes passion and romantic endeavors. two of my favorite performers of their time!!

[@dwaynebrue6028]

The Legendary Harry James and My Favorite Female Big Band Singer Helen Forrest!

[@dylangintherofficial]

The best!!! God helen was insanely gorgeous

[@bergy-62]

this is rare

[@aeichler]

Yes, it was the last year of real "live" TV, before video tape.

[@libertyann439]

I want to sing with a band like this one! I love these magic melodies🎤

[@ChuckParDueMusic]

Thank you so much Alan!!

[@MrRJDB1969]

Excellent !

[@bennyjazzful]

WOW WOW WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From a mad keen 74yo Ausssie fan.

[@luisandresrenteriabeltran4573]

From Argentina, thank you very much friend.Still it remains one of my prdilectas bands. Hellen what more can add ?.

[@grscotti8038]

Dick, my favorite Male Singer of "yesteryear(Haymes)" Helen Forrest , one of my favorite female singers......I long for all those wonderful 40's music even though i was only 9....

[@ChristopherScottDixon]

Brilliant, TY for the upload! :-)

[@linarish]

In the 1950s, orchestras and singers like these performed regularly on week-night TV. Some, like Patti Page, had their own TV shows. Now reflect on what you see on TV these days and consider the opportunity that was squandered as TV turned itself, gradually, into "the vast wasteland" that Newton Minow derided. Sadly, this was the last gasp for the great bands; by 1960, they were largely relegated to playing concerts on college campuses. But for a couple of decades, they set a musical standard that succeeding generations have yet to match.

[@ildeuraimundodasilva8230]

Mr. Alan Eichler, Absolutely wonderful. Thanks for posting. from Minas Gerais,Brazil.

[@johnkenneway9633]

Ildeu Silva i

[@clothilde555]

I found her and I am so happy. nough said.

[@ChuckParDueMusic]

Trumpet section was Nick Buono, Ollie Mitchell and Bob Rolfe. Trombones are Ray Sims, Bob Edmonson, and Ernie Tack. Saxes are Sam Firmature, Bob Poland, Herb Lorden and Willie Smith, and Ernie Tack. Rhythm section is Russ Phillips bass, Jack Perciful on piano, Jackie Mills drums, and Dennis Budimir on guitar.

[@aeichler]

What's the title of the first song?

[@kscape100]

Blues for Sale

[@rmo52]

Thanks for the personnel. Interesting setup with the reed section. And GUITAR! Backbone of a big band rhythm section.

[@rocketaroo]

that was tight! Brilliant!

[@direfranchement]

Helen Forrest was terrific.

[@bennyjazzful]

WOW WOW WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 From a mad keen 76yo Aussie fan.

[@layna8924]

I WAS FIVE YEARS OLD WHEN THIS WAS RECORDED...;)

[@waynebrasler]

Helen battled with her weight many times during her career but note how gorgeously slim she is here.

[@freddyarellano3907]

Graciasss

[@chemart9]

Harry James best all time trumpet player.. and Helen best voice of the era.

[@beargrizzly7551]

No, he really wasn't, but he had a slot and filled it brilliantly.

[@tommylobel6140]

Have you heard about Bix or Louise ???

[@David-sv7by]

What a band, what a great voice. They called her "one take Helen" ?

[@Anvanho]

god ..... what great music!

[@staffanlindstrom576]

Very nice.

[@arifsulaimanmahya6784]

I think I want to hear more like this.

[@aeichler]

+Arif Sulaiman Mahya I have lots more Helen Forrest appearances listed. Check them out!

[@catmother4214]

Lovely! ❤❤❤

[@sudlor2495]

Harry James..You are the best!

[@tommylobel6140]

Bix. Louise!!

[@josevalenzueladiaz4631]

Que agradable transportarse a un salón junto al carismático y virtuoso Harry James en compañía de la bella y cautivadora voz de Helen Forrest...esto es una de las cosas que valoro de Internet, nos permite viajar en el tiempo y estar junto a los artistas de cuyo talento hubiera querido disfrutar en vivo.

[@ChuckParDueMusic]

Blues for Sale

[@Johnnycdrums]

Jackie Miles, at comfortable stripper tempo, swinging hard, having fun, and dropping nice set up bombs the whole way.

[@Johnnycdrums]

Lol, I never would have guessed this is an iteration of "Love For Sale".

[@gabrielavillavicencio2687]

A prsar del tiempo transcurrido es una musica maravillosa que te transporta en el tiempo y te hace soñar.

[@russelltrujillo2772]

Big bands had real musicians.

[@mordofintz8159]

When l was young l used to dance. To the haŕry James music

[@albertdiner]

Now I see where Eydie Gorme got all those great songs in the early 1960s Lps with Steve Lawrence.Now I know about Helen Forrest and the great Harry James.

[@biancatellington85]

Both ladies had powerhouse voices. Interestingly, both were Jewish.

[@IRA77GEOTENORE]

MISS SINGING!!!

[@stephenhiker9807]

Helen is simply the best

[@paulabearden6429]

I do believe my Dad played with him in the 40's

[@vincenteoppolo9025]

heaven

[@StevenTorrey]

I would have loved for her to sing "Stardust"... She was born in 1919 so she was about age 39 here; she died in 1999 about aged 80.

[@StevenTorrey]

Apparently, she was one of the few recording artists not to record that classic.

[@JazzQuasar]

Ahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

[@user-xk3fi2vk5i]

king of trunpet and big band jazz

[@donnalayton6876]

Boy do I miss the Big Band era.

[@estapaginafuecancelada1747]

2020 Noviembre ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 🎶🎺🎶🎷🎶❤️🤩👌🏻

[@user-yg4wi6zr8x]

HARRY JAMES !!!! THE ABSOLUTE BEST !!!!! 🎺

[@tommylobel6140]

Bix and Louis

[@Bigbadwhitecracker]

@Alan, you've been posting a lot of clips lately. Any chance of full eps of something like this and Stage Show with the Dorsey Bros? I think that's where some of your other clips have been coming from. :)

[@juanerrazuriz2718]

king harry j

[@Johnnycdrums]

Obviously before Buddy Rich joined the band. Who's the drummer, he was laying it down very, very nicely?

[@ChuckParDueMusic]

@george nolte The drummer was Jackie Mills

[@carmendemetrio7685]

Conga❗️❗️🎶🎼🤗

[@libertytree3209]

There are 8 people in this universe who need music education. Because they don't know greatness when they hear it.

[@ChuckParDueMusic]

Alan, Have you ever run across the Big Record Show from Nov 13, 1957 starring Harry James?

[@aeichler]

Chuck Par-Due I don't think it exists. I think I have all of the "Big Record" shows that survive. I just posted Harry doing two numbers with the DeCastro Sisters from a Universal short if you need it.

[@ChuckParDueMusic]

That's a shame because Harry played You Made Me Love You and Flight of the Bumblebee in that show!

[@ChuckParDueMusic]

Alan, Harry James appeared in two episodes of The Big Record. Chuck

[@aeichler]

+Chuck Par-Due I don't think I have the other one, but I'll check. Very few episodes of this show still exist.

[@stevehyde3215]

James and Forrest - what a fantastic combination. Bands like this were surely the epitome of the American music movement: original and daring. The non-white influence of the jazz/soul developed so well that it became an idion in its own right. Without doubt, Harry James was a far more accomplished trumpeter than L Armstrong - unquestionably so.

[@taylorfusion]

She had to have been singing TO Harry on this one. She had to have thick skin to have delt with the heartache of Harry choosing Grable over her.

[@marvinmuonekejazz]

I think Harry James was heavily influenced by Count Basie's sound by this point.

[@shrinkprof]

Certainly! He even hired some of the arrangers who worked for Basie.

[@tenorsfan7492]

@@shrinkprof His first recording as bandleader was made with Basie's guys, especially Herschel Evans.

[@lazymoon8155]

Johnny hartman

[@ABC-rh7zc]

But now we have rap music and twerking. Progress!

[@swingandsweat5099]

Helen Forrest was the penultimate female big band vocalist. She never sang anything bad! The opening instrumental by Harry James and his Orchestra (title?) really swings. By this point James was heavily influenced by Count Basie. But dig how this band really swings! Today's big bands just don't have that innate ability to swing like these guys who came out of the 30s and 40s did. One thing I've noticed with today's big bands is many don't use a rhythm guitar player. Big mistake. Check out what having a guitar adds to this performance.

[@shrinkprof]

Check your dictionary: "penultimate" means merely "second to last." The penultimate house on a street would be the last but one. Yes, omitting the guitar in big bands is a big mistake, to say the least. As big bands got bigger and bigger, more and more leaders thought of the guitar as dispensable, even though there was greater need for solid rhythmic underpinning. Try to imagine the Basie sound sans guitar.

[@marvinmuonekejazz]

+shrinkprof In my opinion the guitar makes the Basie rhythm section, the way it just chomps away in the background

[@shrinkprof]

The man on guitar, of course, was Freddie Green---one of the all-time greats. I was fortunate enough to see the Basie band several times in the 1960s and 1970s. Most memorable was a night at The Beachcomber in Quincy, MA, when Roy Eldridge was a part of the band (only briefly). He added fire to an already fiery outfit.

she is my all time favorite band singer

[@MrRJDB1969]

Helen Forrest was to the Big Band Era female vocalist, what trumpeter, Harry James, was to the trumpeter. They were both excellent performers. I've never heard of a Basie influence . So, who were Basie's influences ? Any ?

[@MARKMANIATT]

Who’s the fine drummer?

[@ChuckParDueMusic]

The drummer was Jackie Mills

[@paacer]

Why no clarinet player ? Surely he could replace one of the trumpets or saxophones or trombones with a clarinet .

[@garnerjazz58]

The clarinet was ALWAYS an auxilary instrument in the SAX section. All the saxes would have doubled on clar, and flute, if called for (Basie e.g.), and in fact at least one of the sax players is playing clar. behind Ms. Forrest. Open your ears...

[@TheUnithai]

Young man with a horn

[@josephreddy5084]

Also was hard to hear about the back story on Dick van Dyke. She was pissed that the program she thought would be about 3 comedy writers went into a new direction and Mary was the hot property.. She resented her and they had a distant relationship. They tried to blame it on her. Rose has to be the boss.

[@frankmartinez2655]

Who replaced Helen when she left Harry? I know do you all!!

[@aeichler]

Kitty Kallen

[@td3993]

There was a sound that both Forrest and the band had in the early 1940s that made hits. It had a sound of youth. ...a girl singing to her old boyfriend. They lost that sound in this later performance. This later style of remnant big bands is why they were never again popular.

[@emjayay]

+Thomas D YES! By the late fifties they were generally just doing their old hits, if technically still great. But they were older now. They were just repeating the original honest artistic impulse without perspective. There are ways to make this work but I don't think they had quite contextualized it yet.

[@td3993]

Helen particularly changed her style, with waaaay too much vibrato, rather grotesque. She had such impeccable control when she was with Shaw, Goodman, and James in the early 40s.

[@grscotti8038]

what are shelby and chad everett doing in this segment??? Marriage not a love story ..a shameful sham...Geffner u are nutzo

[@PierreVeniot]

Harry was drunk that night... cannot put 16 notes toghether! just sayin...

[@tommylobel6140]

He’s not playing good

[@leelarson107]

I am the contrarian here, and I never cared for Helen Forrest. Her voice was shrill, and her physical movements while singing were almost robotic. Kitty Kallen, Janet Blair, Ella Fitzgerald, and others were far better. **We are 'taught' to view Helen Forrest as the voice of the Big Band era, rather than her being taken on her own merit.

[@leelarson107]

And save the righteous replies to what I've just said.

[@garyk.nedrow8302]

In the 1950s, orchestras and singers like these performed regularly on week-night TV. Some, like Patti Page, had their own TV shows. Now reflect on what you see on TV these days and consider the opportunity that was squandered as TV turned itself, gradually, into "the vast wasteland" that Newton Minow derided. Sadly, this was the last gasp for the great bands; by 1960, they were largely relegated to playing concerts on college campuses. But for a couple of decades, they set a musical standard that succeeding generations have yet to match.