Another two forgotten singers who should never have been abandoned appear here on this CD. India Adams is up first and no, she has no idea how she got that first name. All of her selections are in the not very well-known category but most are melodic and well-structured with Ms Adams receiving bright, lively backings from the Ray Martin Orchestra.
She wishes to be comforted with apples on track 1 and then says It’s Amazing. Sell Me and It’s Silk are interesting tunes that sound like standards that never quite made it. India has a strong voice which is husky on the pieces that benefit from that treatment. On others she is laid back, using the lyrics as a way of being sophisticated in song. Still other songs are tongue in cheek as she taunts the listener.
No musicians are listed but they are obviously top-flight soloists. The cover photo of the original LP shows India naked in a bath full of apples looking out cheekily and no doubt would be frowned on by today’s PC Mafia. The singing is very good however and she deserved to be around for a long time. Evig Evol, is a tasty blues that is give love spelled backwards.
Easy Williams is an ultra-sultry songstress who begins with a very slow, blues-based Easy Street. Her programme is mainly solid standards and her support is from a fine group featuring Allan Reuss on guitar and Ted Nash on flute. Frank Flynn’s quiet vibes add an extra harmonic dimension. Once again here is a good singer with jazz phrasing that should have made it but didn’t. Both these young ladies were just embarking on vocal careers in jazz that never took off. And that’s a shame.
Discography
(1) Comfort Me With Apples; It’s Amazing; Sell Me; It’s Silk; Love Me For Myself; What You Do To Me; A Good Girl Can’t; A Man In My Pocket; Tame Me; Tabasco; Once More With Feeling; Evig Evol (2) Easy Street; Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire; Mean To Me; Sometimes I’m Happy; Judy; The Whistler On The Bayou; Easy Come Easy Go; I Wanna Be Loved; You’re Not the Kind; A Woman Need So Little; Three Little Words; I’m A Dreamer, Aren’t We All? ((61.66)
(1) Adams (v) with Ray Martin & Orchestra. NYC, October 1958. (2) Williams (v) with Allan Reuss (elg); Ted Nash (f); Frank Flynn (vib), plus b & d. Hollywood, April 1957.
Fresh Sound FSR V108
