Harry James Orchestra ft. Helen Ward - Where Or When

From a Jan. 4, 1944 broadcast of Chesterfield Time's western feed.

1937 Rodgers and Hart ballad.

Brought in as a replacement for the very popular Helen Forrest, Helen Ward came out of retirement after having left the music scene for married life to join Harry James because she would not have to travel except for occasional one-night performances on weekends. The rest of the time, the band stayed in Hollywood for recording sessions and national radio broadcasts. Ward and James never recorded this song together.
~From "Bandstand Memories 1938 to 1948"
Pete Kline, Al Monte, Sal Monte

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Big
• Band
• Jazz

[swinginkatz]

Harry and Helen, two greats Although the picture is Connie Haines.

[direfranchement]

The first picture is a publicity photo of Helen Ward. The second photo of the orchestra includes the then female soloist Connie Haines, as noted in the caption at the bottom.

[xevcosmo]

Harry James was the luckiest man on Earth to have two goddesses named Helen as vocalist "Ward" and Forestt" Great posting.

[frankfan42]

What a nice recording of a beautiful vocal by Ms Ward! Thanks for posting it!

[speedoflite1]

timeless and heavenly, heavenly and timeless.  Here and Now

[blackandtanful]

こんなフォトがあったのか?ほんとの美人歌手と言えば”ﾍﾚﾝ･­ｳｫｰﾄﾞ”､大昔の､GOODY GOODYで思い出した #jazzm



[edwardconway27]

Helen Ward voices is great, but I prefer Helen Forest as James's singer.

[1nightstorm]

This is a stunningly beautiful performance. Thank you for sharing this treasure.

:)

[bellini7verdi]

precioso....precioso...PRECIOS­O.....QUE BUEN GUSTO CANTANDO......

[0001943]

Dreamy voice!

[AJNorth]

With more than eighty different recordings since it was written for "Babes in Arms" in 1937, this beautiful ballad is a typical example of the craftsmanship from Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart. Harry James' band (the first big band to incorporate a string section) and the marvelous Miss Ward are perfection. Note the cleverly-inserted quote near the end from the melody to "A Dreamer's Holiday" (1949), made famous in a recording that year by Perry Como. Pure magic.

[tomtomtom692]

Rodgers&Hart at their best.

[scotnick59]

No, that is a latter picture of Helen Ward featured.