In Full Swing album by The Three Belles

You Didn’t Know – The Three Belles and Bevin Boys “In Full Swing” CD track review

You Didn’t Know, the sixth track on the Three Belles new album “In Full Swing” was written by the Bevin Boys’ Will Keel-Stocker.

The Three Belles present their new debut album "In Full Swing".
The Three Belles present their new debut album “In Full Swing”.

It begins as a torch song with the lines:

“I didn’t know that you were looking for me last night / I wasn’t home when you called round. / You didn’t know, I saw I saw you leave with her last night / My baby in the arms of another / So it’s true you’ve found a love in somebody new / Just when I was feeling that our own love was true…”

The tremolo in the vibraphone backs up the melancholy message, maintaining a wistfulness throughout.

But as is so true to the Belles, these girls shake off their blues and get on with life, turning the situation round once again, never wallowing, always doing.

In the merry fast world the Belles live in, by the end of the song the situation is fully reversed. Along the way, there’s an irresistibly catchy melody, backed with the Belles’ trademark harmonies and each of the girls get to show off their solo singing voices.

Sally / Gail’s voice has a wonderful crystal clarity to it. Anneka / Betty’s has a richness, while Isabelle / Dorothy’s has smooth deeper tones that remind me sometimes of Judy Garland’s, of warmth and valve radios.

In all a chilled out number that varies the pace beautifully between Say Si Si and the next track on the album, In Full Swing…

Order your copy of The Three Belles debut Album, In Full Swing.

Say Si Si – The Three Belles and The Bevin Boys “In Full Swing” album track review

The Three Belles present their new debut album "In Full Swing".
The Three Belles present their new debut album “In Full Swing”.

Say Si Si, originally written in Spain in 1935 has had many incarnations…  a Spanish language number performed by Gloria Jean and the Guadalajara Trio, a swinging toe-tapper with a whirl of woodwind overlaid by brash brass by Marion Hutton and the Glen Miller Orchestra, a crystal clear belter from the Andrews Sisters – and much more besides.

Covered by Judy Garland, Ellen Corner and a host of others it has often stayed rhythmically close to its Latin roots, or has gone down the swing/big band line – with the notable exceptions such as Chet Atkins’ smooth Nashville country version.

Here, The Bevin Boys give the classic number a completely different twist. Staying true to the song’s European roots, they transfer it to a small café somewhere in a French town during that golden period in the inter-war years.

Hearing The Bevin Boys as a gipsy café band is a refreshing surprise. The track bounces along beautifully. Backed by accordion, guitar, violin, bass and drums the song achieves a kind of delightful lightness with the voices of The Three Belles floating over the sun-filled track.

My partner, Jackie, told me that this one is an absolute cracker of a track for dancers. It’s more than that. It evokes a bit of sunshine and a bit of joy from the Mediterranean, and encourages you to relax, enjoy… and smile.

For that, I say a definite Si, Si!

Order your copy of The Three Belles debut Album, In Full Swing.

Gimme Some Skin – The Three Belles “In Full Swing” Album Track Review

The Three Belles present their new debut album "In Full Swing".
The Three Belles present their new debut album “In Full Swing”.

If you want to shake my hand, like they do it in Harlem / stick your hand right out and shout: “Gimme some skin, my friend!”

Thus the refrain of this classic Andrews Sisters number that The Three Belles do ample justice to.  This track absolutely bounces along with real verve, driven by the fast chopping jazz guitar chords and an extremely tight big band.

Naïve and hopeful in its celebration of black culture, the song was written at a time when the relationship between the white and Afro-American half of the US population were to say the very least strained. The original Andrews Sisters film clip on youtube  is telling. No black faces appear (Hollywood presumably found that too difficult to swallow). But in the modern day in which styles are stolen from every culture around the world, the song feels amazingly ahead of its time.  Using a Gospel interlude in which the Belles sing a capella while they clap along, this vibrant number absolutely revels in the joy it creates.

What more to be said of this one, except that it has a great uplifting ending, and will get your toes tapping all the way!

Order your copy of The Three Belles debut Album, In Full Swing.

“One of these days” by The Three Belles “In Full Swing” Album Track Review

The Three Belles present their new debut album "In Full Swing".
The Three Belles present their new debut album “In Full Swing”.

From the big catchy horn intro, settling into the harmonised melody, “One Of These Days” feels like a traditional 1930s number, maybe in the style of “Why Don’t You Do Right?”

The singers seem to be following the traditional role of the woman singer hard done by with her useless man.  “One of these days you’re gonna do something right / you’ll work all day and you’ll come home at night…”

But this number is one of those wolves in sheep’s clothing that definitely has a bite.  It’s a modern number with modern sensibilities – and rather than the helpless victimhood of songs like “All Of Me” in which the woman is paralysed by the grief she receives from her man, The Three Belles have something far more punchy to tell you.  By the end of the song, they are giving their fellah an ultimatum – and eventually the big kiss-off.

Just as Amy Winehouse did with Motown that had a distinctly modern feel, it’s a wonderful example of the way that modern sentiment can be expressed in the voice of the past.

Once again the arrangements here are cracking – like a big number from a Hollywood movie.

Sally Taylor, AKA Gail Winters solos in this one, with her clear voice cutting the man down to size with every syllable she utters.  This is a great number, that signs off with a cruel “bye bye”.

Vintage stuff!

Order your copy of The Three Belles debut Album, In Full Swing.

“Belles Are Swingin’” by The Three Belles “In Full Swing” Album Track Review

The second track on The Three Belles’ In Full Swing debut album is their bubbly signature song Belles Are Swingin’.

The Three Belles present their new debut album "In Full Swing".
The Three Belles present their new debut album “In Full Swing”.

For those who’ve bought the single, this wholly new version of Belles Are Swingin’ will come as a real eye-opener.  Gone is the stripped-down Bevin Boys trio of the single, to be replaced with the full big band sound of the WKS Studio Orchestra.

From the trumpet riff intro with the bouncing bass line and a foghorn bass horn marking the end of each lyrical line and the start of the next, this version of Belles Are Swingin’ is an extraordinarily catchy gem of a signature song.

After the initial warm nostalgic brass chords that hark back to golden times of sunshine along with a triumphant trumpet’s declaration of the melody, the horns pull back to make plenty of space for the vocals.  In that space, the guitar bounces the song along with a strong bass line punching underneath it all. As the melody goes on, the excitement grows and the horn lines come back in again blending their ’30s dance orchestra feel.

Swinging along with a bass line that underpins the melody perfectly, the song suddenly erupts into a higher level when the chorus kicks in with a luscious harmony and the girls split into a wider harmonic spread telling us they want to “see the whole place jumping” and that we should “get with the rhythm, you gotta learn how”. With this tune, that’s easy to do.

Then, with wonderful attention to dynamics, the song drops down so the girls are singing over a stripped-down rhythm section before the song comes back strong with the finale as the whole orchestra joins in.

It’s a vibrant mix drawing on thirties and forties harmonies, but with a modern drive that pushes the melody irresistibly along.

Thanks to Will Keel-Stocker’s close attention to the arrangement there ere are so many different textures in this song.

It leaves you knowing you’ve heard real class.   And damned catchy class at that, too!

Order your copy of The Three Belles debut Album, In Full Swing.

The Three Belles New CD “In Full Swing” Track Review: “In The Mood”

I’ve been handed an advance copy of The Three Belles’ debut album In Full Swing.

It’s so fresh the cover hasn’t yet been printed, so the piccie below only shows the disc, adorned with the unmistakably vibrant artwork of fourth Belle, Chloe Seddon.

The Three Belles present their new debut album "In Full Swing".
The Three Belles present their new debut album “In Full Swing”.

In Full Swing‘s first track is the Glenn Miller classic In The Mood. It’s a great choice for an opener. Familiar to big band and Belles fans alike, it’s also the name of the super-popular dance night they pack out when The Belles stage their fab, fun recreation of a forties dance.

While the track sounds familiar at first, kicking off with the classic Glen Miller riff,  it also has its surprises, breaking out from the smooth Miller arrangement with unexpected orchestral stabs and with the girls’ close harmonies driving the track along with boundless energy. It’s really cool to hear The Three Belles heading in a whole new direction in this track, fronting a big band as they vivaciously perform this absolute gem of a tune.

What I can say about In The Mood is that with this track the album starts as it means to go on: it’ll come as a familiar friend to forties fans and will also be a welcome bit of joy for the lover of swing and the connoisseur of great sounds. It feels modern and vintage all at once.

In The Mood’s fresh swinging sound is brought to you by The Three Belles and the WKS Studio Orchestra led by the extraordinarily gifted William Keel-Stocker, whose arrangements and energy shine throughout this lovely opener.

For Belles afficionados who know the girls’ work well, there’s more freshness and fun to come. But more of that soon!

Advance order your copy of In Full Swing!