Torch Singers 1: Twenties/ Various - The Torch Singers, Volume 1: The Twenties

During the 1920s an unusual melancholy type of ballad surfaced in the midst of the raging Jazz Age. These would come to be known as torch songs and probably began with My Man; an English version of the French hit Mon Homme introduced by the chanteuse Mistinguet. Ziegfeld brought Mistinguet to New York to perform this moving number in his 1921 edition of the Follies, but then turned the song over to Fanny Brice because Mistinguet's voice displeased him. Brice's poignant, heart-wrenching performance of My Man became an enormous success. Later, other songs of this type became the fashion such as Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man from Showboat, Love Me Or Leave Me, from Whoopee and Moanin' Low from the Little Show. These songs shared common theme of unfulfilled love for a man sung in a plaintive style and laments in which the singer was portrayed as a victim of a futile, if not outright abusive romance. Torch songs flourished following the introduction of electrical recordings; a new process in 1925 that improved sound and provided the intimate style essential to these passionate songs. This first volume offers torch songs from their inception in the 1920's.