Fran Warren

Last week I was sorry to hear about the death of another fine vocalist, Fran Warren, who made many excellent records from the 1940s into the 1960s.

Warren was a band singer before going out on her own. Her first recording was with Charlie Barnet (I believe I have that and will share it), and her first hit was with Claude Thornhill - "A Sunday Kind of Love". Warren signed as a single artist with RCA Victor in late 1948, and her records started being issued after the then recording ban ended. She stayed with RCA until 1951.

This EP collects four items from that period, although the record itself dates from late 1955 or early 1956.

In 1947

"A Wonderful Guy" is from 1949, and has backing by Henri René. This version does not use the familiar verse, but does have a musically and lyrically interesting "C" section that I can't say I have heard before (I am no expert on the South Pacific score, admittedly).

Hugo Winterhalter leads the band on "My Silent Love", from 1950, and "Stormy Weather", from 1951.

As far as I can tell, "Temptation" was never issued as a single. It has backing only by drums. (I wonder if it dates from the Musicians Union recording ban.)

Warren was a very skillful singer, but doesn't always get credit for that because she stresses involvement over technique, and her singing isn't note perfect. I have always responded strongly to her work, and I am sure I have most of her records. That includes almost all the RCA sides, which I will collect for a future post on my other blog.

1949 Billboard ad