The Complete Hits 1920-38

This 73-track 3-CD collection comprises all 73 of his US hits, all achieved during the inter-war years through to 1938, with releases on the Brunswick, Victor, Decca and Vocalion through that era. It features all eight of his No. 1s with “Wabash Blues”, “On The Alamo”, “Swingin’ Down the Lane”, “Spain”, “It Had To Be You” and “I’ll See You In My Dreams”, “Remember” and “Star Dust”, all on Brunswick through to 1930. It includes performances by his featured vocalists over the years, Frank Munn, Alfie Evans, Keller Sisters, Billy Scott, Dave Franks, Rita Smith, Joe Martin and Eddie Stone. He was one of the bandleaders whose music drew on jazz idioms, but who achieved huge popularity in the middle ground of the US public, and this is collection encapsulates the music that made him such a formidable force in popular music between the wars.