Album Notes

Val Rosing may be forever best-known as the vocalist on the BBC’s original recording of the classic children’s song, "Teddy Bears’ Picnic." But Rosing was one of England’s most prolific vocalists of the 1930s Dance Hall era and recorded more than a 100 songs with many of the U.K.’s top orchestras, including the Henry Hall BBC Orchestra, Ray Noble’s New Mayfair Dance Orchestra, Jack Payne’s BBC Dance Orchestra, Spike Hughes and His Decca-Dents, Jay Wilbur’s band and Rosing’s own swing combo, the Radio Rhythm Rascals.

Rosing also sang on several other signature recordings by Henry Hall including "Help Yourself to Happiness," "The Sun Has Got His Hat On" and "Here’s to The Next Time." Another notable first, Rosing sang on the original version of “Try a Little Tenderness,” recorded by the Ray Noble Orchestra more than a year before Bing Crosby covered it.

Billed by his record label as “England’s supreme singer of sentimental songs,” Rosing crooned his share of the romantic ballads of the day. He could also let loose on uptempo depression-period numbers, or scat along with swing versions of standards like Sweet Sue and Dinah.

In 1937, Rosing was brought to the US by Louis B. Mayer, who changed his name to Gilbert Russell with the hope of making Rosing the “English Bing Crosby.” Though his MGM career was short-lived, the name stuck, and Rosing (now Russell) set about a career as a musical theater actor starring on Broadway in the Song of Norway and the Student Prince.

In the 1950s Russell began to focus on operatic music and gave concerts with the San Francisco Opera Company, as well as shows staged by his father, Vladmir Rosing, a well known Russian tenor, who directed operatic pageants at the Hollywood Bowl.

Far from England, Rosing lost touch with his UK fans and friends, who knew nothing of his new life in the USA. And his American family, which included a wife, daughter and two step-daughters, knew nothing of his glory days as a British Dance Hall singer. It was only 3 decades after his death that a British journalist, Ray Pallett, happened to make the connection and introduced the family to Rosing’s work, while documenting his life in America to UK fans of 30s Dance Band music.

This compilation was produced by Rosing’s daughter Claudia Russell, and her husband Bruce Kaplan, also musicians. They started collecting Rosing’s recordings on 78s as well as getting digital transcriptions from Pallett and other collectors. Russell’s widow, June provided the cover photo, which was taken in the late 1940s.

One discovery for his daughter, was that her father and she had both recorded the cowboy classic, Home On The Range. Claudia Russell, as American sounding a singer as her father was British, loves songs of the West and included it on her first CD even as her band members kidded her about it. For Rosing, Home On the Range was perhaps a bit of a stretch for the Englishman to tackle, but he fares magnificently on other classic tunes such as "Sweet Sue," "Dinah," and of course "Teddy Bears’ Picnic," which Claudia has learned as a tribute to her Dad.

With the help of DJ/archivist/mastering engineer Dave Radlauer, Russell and Kaplan produced this fascinating collection that will be essential listening for fans of 1930s British music