Search - Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth :: Together and Alone

With 51 songs on two CDs and running for over two and a half hours, "Together and Alone" is a landmark retrospective of two of Broadway's brightest stars ever, Nora Bayes and Jack Norworth. This ambitious collection boasts some of the most classic songs in American history, performed by the pair that brought them to the stage. In addition to a 32-page booklet with extensive illustrations and notes co-authored by Allen G. Debus, the CD includes three never-before released tracks: two by Nora Bayes from 1917 and one by Jack Norworth from ca. 1950--a home recording of Bayes and Norworth's biggest hit, "Shine On, Harvest Moon." The collection features Miss Bayes' entire solo output between 1910 and 1917, along with the three Bayes and Norworth duets, all of Mr. Norworth's releases between 1910 and 1911, and 11 of Norworth's rare sides that he made in England between 1914 and 1916. The Great War was in full swing when Jack made these records, and most of the songs deal comically with the topic of war. For her part, Nora Bayes also recorded several songs about the war: "We Take Our Hats Off to You, Mr. Wilson!" deals with neutrality, but after preparedness drives in the mid-1910s made it look inevitable that the U.S. would enter, Bayes' songs turned to the humorous, such as "Are You Prepared for the Summer" and "The Greatest Battle Song of All." But she also waxed serious numbers, such as "For Dixie and Uncle Sam," the poignant "Laddie Boy," and the all-time classic "Over There." The sound of these 90+ year-old recordings is excellent, the notes are exemplary, and the entire package is a breathtaking journey through the American past by way of the Broadway and vaudeville stage, during a time of considerable fear and tension in the international theatre. Archeophone has triumphed again with this extraordinary double-CD set!