Saxophonist, trumpeter, arranger and bandleader Sam Donahue, although not widely known as a significant personality in the jazz and big band music of the 1940s, was an artist who not only played with many of the big names of the era in his formative years, but through the decade led his own orchestras, first playing jazz-focused swing, then leading military dance bands in the war years and in the late '40s making a successful impact on the pop scene with a string of hits between 1946 and 1948, before becoming an album artist in the 1950s. This excellent-value 48-track 2-CD set comprises selected titles from his early '40s releases with his own orchestra on the Okeh, Bluebird and Hit labels, one of them featuring Count Basie, along with wartime V-Disc recordings with Sam Donahue's Navy Band, plus most of his A & B sides for Encore and Capitol from 1945-48. It features all his twelve chart entries, including the No. 2 hit "I Never Knew" and the Top 10 Billboard hits with "Dinah", "Just the Other Day", "Put That Kiss Back Where You Found It", "A Rainy Night in Rio", "My Melancholy Baby", "Red Wing" and "The Whistler". Some of his hits feature the vocals of Irene Day, Bill Lockwood, Mynell Allen and Shirley Lloyd, while others are notable instrumentals featuring his stylish saxophone. It's a fine showcase for an artist who has not received the attention his work undoubtedly merits
5 Gypsy Love Song (Slumber on, My Gypsy Sweetheart)
6 Take Five
7 I Left My Heart in Mississippi
8 Just the Other Day
9 Constellation
10 September in the Rain
11 Put That Kiss Back Where You Found It
12 Scufflin'
13 Out in the Cold Again
14 A Rainy Night in Rio
15 It's Anybody's Love Song
16 Suicide Leap
17 My Melancholy Baby
18 I Can't Believe It Was All Make Believe
19 I Never Knew
20 Red Wing (Famous Indian Song)
21 The Whistler
22 Saxa Boogie
23 I'll Get Along Somehow
24 Robbin's Nest
25 Tacos, Enchiladas and Beans
Saxophonist, trumpeter, arranger and bandleader Sam Donahue, although not widely known as a significant personality in the jazz and big band music of the 1940s, was an artist who not only played with many of the big names of the era in his formative years, but through the decade led his own orchestras, first playing jazz-focused swing, then leading military dance bands in the war years and in the late '40s making a successful impact on the pop scene with a string of hits between 1946 and 1948, before becoming an album artist in the 1950s. This excellent-value 48-track 2-CD set comprises selected titles from his early '40s releases with his own orchestra on the Okeh, Bluebird and Hit labels, one of them featuring Count Basie, along with wartime V-Disc recordings with Sam Donahue's Navy Band, plus most of his A & B sides for Encore and Capitol from 1945-48. It features all his twelve chart entries, including the No. 2 hit "I Never Knew" and the Top 10 Billboard hits with "Dinah", "Just the Other Day", "Put That Kiss Back Where You Found It", "A Rainy Night in Rio", "My Melancholy Baby", "Red Wing" and "The Whistler". Some of his hits feature the vocals of Irene Day, Bill Lockwood, Mynell Allen and Shirley Lloyd, while others are notable instrumentals featuring his stylish saxophone. It's a fine showcase for an artist who has not received the attention his work undoubtedly merits