The Ink Spots - Anthology (MCA)

In memoriam, Lee Milazzo (1942 - 2004).

This CD was the last Christmas gift I ever gave my father (2003), and he received it in some wonder. He had no idea that I remembered his fond reminiscences (the few he had of his earliest childhood years, most them being set in the hot, clangorous polio wards of Scottish Rite hospital here in Dallas) of this vocal group, and he certainly did not think that any such compilation existed. Though I prefer Jimmy Ricks and the Ravens, or even the Mills Brothers, something about the "original" Bill Kenney / Decca Ink Spots spoke to my father, who otherwise would rather have been listening to the Vienna Philharmonic. Or Jussi Björling.

I'm taking Anthology back with me now. I know he listened to it by the way the CD booklet was re-inserted into the case: rotated 180 degrees, as if to confuse browsers of his collection who were greedy enough to want to open the thing for a closer look. Sometimes I even still fall for that ruse and pull on the lid that swings up from the other side. It never fails to be an episode which tells several stories all at once.

I'm not sure how soon it will be before I am able to play these discs. Maybe I'll finally hear what it was that remarkable man heard in this music. I can only hope I will.

~ Joe Milazzo