S… Read Full Bio ↴Helen Forrest (April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was an American singer.
She served as the "girl singer" for three of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era (Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James), thereby earning a reputation as "the voice of the name bands."
Helen was born Helen Fogel in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917. Her parents, Louis and Rebecca Fogel, were Russian-born Jews.
While she was still an infant, Helen's father died from influenza. Helen was raised by her mother, who often blamed her husband's death on the birth of Helen. She believed that God had taken her husband because she had wished so much for a baby girl. Helen had three older brothers: Harry, Ed, and Sam. The family relocated to Brooklyn when Helen was in her early teenage years. Her mother married a house painter, a man that Helen disliked. Soon, Helen's mother and stepfather turned the family's home into a brothel. At age 14, Helen was nearly raped by her stepfather. Helen defended herself with a kitchen knife, injuring him. Following this, she was permitted by her mother to live with her piano teacher, Honey Silverman, and her family. While learning piano, Honey noticed Helen's singing ability and encouraged her to focus on singing instead. Anxious to find a career in singing, Helen dropped out of high school to pursue her dream.
Helen returned to Atlantic City and began singing with her brother Ed's band. She soon returned to New York City, where she visited song publishers and performed an audition for a 15-minute slot for a local radio show. Around this time, Helen was encouraged to change her name from "Fogel" to "Forrest" because her name sounded "too Jewish." In 1934, 17-year old Helen began singing for WNEW in New York. She also performed for WCBS where she was known as “Bonnie Blue” and “The Blue Lady of Song.” Eventually she found a singing job at the Madrillon Club, in Washington, D.C., where she performed for approximately two years.
After seeing Forrest at the Madrillon, bandleader Artie Shaw asked her to go on tour with him; Shaw was looking for new talent when vocalist Billie Holiday decided to leave the band. Helen was hired in 1938. For a time she and Holiday were both working with Shaw's band. In some venues, African-American performers were required to remain off stage until they performed. When Forrest became aware of this, she stated that like Holiday, she would also not take the stage until she was to sing. She recorded 38 singles with Shaw's band. Two of her biggest hits with Shaw were the songs "They Say" and "All the Things You Are." During her time with Shaw, Helen Forrest became a national favorite. In November 1939, Shaw broke up his band.
Helen joined Benny Goodman in December of 1939, with whom she recorded a number of celebrated songs, including the hit song "The Man I Love." Helen recorded 55 studio recordings with Goodman. She told the Pop Chronicles radio series: "Benny would look right above your eyebrows, in the middle, right on top of the brow. He was a very strange man." Forrest also stated, "The band I joined was sensational, but few special arrangements were written for me. I sang choruses, and made myself fit to the music. Benny used to drive me crazy by "noodling" behind me on clarinet while I sang." Goodman was also reported to have been a perfectionist and a very difficult man to work with. In August 1941, Forrest quit the orchestra "to avoid having a nervous breakdown". After leaving Goodman, Forrest briefly recorded with Nat King Cole and Lionel Hampton.
In 1941, she approached Harry James, offering to work for him under one condition: that she be permitted to sing more than one chorus. Although James was looking for a more jazz-oriented singer, he allowed Forrest to audition. The band voted her in and she was hired. Several decades later, Forrest explained in an interview, "Harry James was wonderful. When I joined him, I said, 'There's only one condition: I don't care how much you pay me, I don't care about arrangements. The one thing I want is to start a chorus and finish it. I want to do verses, so don't put me up for a chorus in the middle of an instrumental.' He said, 'You got it,' and that was it." She also told writer George T. Simon, "I'll always remain grateful to Artie and Benny. But they had been featuring me more like they did a member of the band, almost like another instrumental soloist. Harry, though, gave me just the right sort of arrangement and setting that fit a singer. It wasn't just a matter of my getting up, singing a chorus, and sitting down again." In his book, The Big Bands, Simon explained that Harry James constructed "the arrangements around his horn and Helen's voice, establishing warmer moods by slowing down the tempo so that two, instead of the usual three or more choruses, would fill a record ...many an arrangement would build to a closing climax during Helen's vocal, so that she would emerge as its star." It was with the Harry James Orchestra that Helen recorded what are arguably her most popular numbers, including "I Had the Craziest Dream" in 1942, and 1941's "I Don't Want to Walk Without You."
In 1942 and 1943, Helen Forrest was voted the best female vocalist in the United States in the Down Beat poll.
Forrest left Harry James in late 1943 in pursuit of a solo career. She signed a recording contract with Decca and co-starred with Dick Haymes on a CBS radio show from 1944 to 1947. Helen's first Decca disc, "Time Waits For No One", reached second place on the Hit Parade, and the radio show achieved top ratings. Haymes was also contracted to Decca, and from 1944 to 1946 the pair recorded 18 duets, 10 of them reaching the Top Ten. Particularly successful were their versions of "Long Ago and Far Away", "It Had To Be You", "Together", "I'll Buy That Dream", "I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" and "Oh, What It Seemed To Be". In 1944, she made an appearance in the Esther Williams movie Bathing Beauty with Harry James and his orchestra. She also appeared in the film Two Girls and a Sailor. During the last years of the 1940s, Helen headlined at theatres and clubs.
In 1955, Helen's mother died. In that same year, Helen joined Harry James again in the studio to record a new swing album called, Harry James in Hi-Fi, which became a bestseller. By the end of the 1950s, Helen's solo career waned as rock'n'roll became increasingly popular. Helen's manager, Joe Graydon, said, "She was at an `in-between' stage in her career. Not young enough to be current. Not old enough to be nostalgia."
After a dip in recording in the 1950s, including a stint with the startup Bell Records, Helen sang with Tommy Dorsey's orchestra, led by Sam Donahue, in the early 1960s. Helen continued to make occasional records and perform in concerts and was performing at Lake Tahoe with Frank Sinatra Jr. in 1963 when he was kidnapped.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Forrest performed in supper clubs on "big band nostalgia" tours, including appearances with Harry James and Dick Haymes. In 1977, Helen participated in a television reunion of herself, James, and Haymes on the Merv Griffin Show. This led to a touring production called The Fabulous 40s (1978), followed in 1979 with a similar revue entitled The Big Broadcast of 1944. In 1980, six months following Haymes' death, Helen suffered a stroke, but recovered to resume performing and recording. Her autobiography, Now and Forever, was published in 1982 and is dedicated to her only son. In 1983, Helen released her final album, also titled Now and Forever. She also starred with Vivian Blaine and Margaret Whiting in a stage revue titled, A Tribute to Dick Haymes.
Despite an unhappy childhood, frequent illness, and personal disappointments, Forrest remained dedicated to her musical profession and continued singing until the early 1990s when rheumatoid arthritis began to affect her vocal chords and forced her into retirement. Forrest also suffered scarlet fever as a youngster, which left her with a hearing loss. The loss of her hearing worsened as she became older and she was able to perform her old standards because she remembered where the notes for them were.
Helen Forrest died on July 11, 1999 from congestive heart failure at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles. She was 82.
Her final resting place is in Mount Sinai Memorial Park Hollywood Hills, in Los Angeles.
During her life, Helen married and divorced three times. In 1960, Helen (with her third husband, Charles Feinman) gave birth to her only son, Michael Forrest Feinman. Today, Michael resides in southern California.
In the early 1940s, Forrest had a love affair with bandleader Harry James while she was part of his band. The relationship ended shortly before James met the woman he would later marry, actress Betty Grable. Forrest wrote, "I've had three marriages and I never married Harry, but he was the love of my life. Let's face it, I still carry a torch for the so-and-so."
Helen Forrest on her career:
"I live for today, but it is nice sometimes to look back to yesterday. We did not know that we were living through an era - the Big Band Era - that would last only 10 years or so and be remembered and revered for ever...it's hard to believe, but the best times were packed into a five-year period from the late 1930s through the early 1940s when I sang with the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James. The most dramatic moments of my life were crammed into a couple of years from the fall of 1941 to the end of 1943. They seem to symbolize my life...that was when the music of the dance bands was the most popular music in the country, and I was the most popular female band singer in the country and Harry had the most popular band in the country. It didn't last long, but it sure was something while it lasted. Everyone should have something like it at least once in their lives. I'm grateful I did." - Helen Forrest (circa 1982)
At the peak of her career, Helen Forrest was the most popular female singer in the United States. Because of her work with the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James, she is known as "the voice of the name bands" and is regarded by some as the best female vocalist of the swing era. In addition, AllMusic describes Forrest as "a performer that some might not consider a jazz vocalist, but one with exceptional ability to project lyrics and also an excellent interpreter." Also, IMDb describes Forrest: "though Helen was not, perhaps, a jazz singer in the truest sense, she brought to her songs a wistful 'girl-next-door' quality" through her "femininity and warmth of her voice and the clear, emotional phrasing of her lyrics." In his book The Big Bands, writer George Simon wrote, "Helen was a wonderfully warm and natural singer."
Over the course of her career, Helen Forrest recorded more than 500 songs. In 2001, she was posthumously inducted into the now-defunct Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. According to many of her fans, Forrest is reported to have been a warm, amiable woman who was always willing to chat with her fans and sign autographs. Despite Helen Forrest's legacy, her grave is still marked with a temporary grave marker (as of 2010).
The One I Love
Helen Forrest Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And all my daydreams have gone astray
I think about the one and only
Who's bound to find me some golden day
The one I love is coming along some day
And I'll have none except the one I love
He/She may be near or ever so far away
And though our meeting is left to chance
Until our meeting
I still will have my dream romance
And through the night I pray to the moon above
To please be kind and find the one I love
In Helen Forrest's song, "The One I Love," the melancholic tone sets the stage for a yearning for that special someone. The lyrics paint a picture of a lonesome person, whose daydreams have left them astray, and are waiting for that one person to come along and change their life. It describes the feeling of emptiness and longing that comes with being without someone special. The use of words such as "lonely," "gone astray," and "dream romance," effectively conveys the message of longing and yearning for love.
The lyrics also suggest that the singer believes that the one they love will eventually come into their life. The line, "Who's bound to find me some golden day," indicates that they believe that fate will bring them together. The repetition of the line, "But I'll have none except the one I love," emphasizes their determination that they will not settle for anyone but that special someone. The prayer to the moon above further shows the strong belief in faith and fate in bringing that special someone into their life.
Overall, "The One I Love" is a reflection of the human desire for love and companionship. The longing and yearning that is expressed throughout the lyrics is something that many people can relate to.
Line by Line Meaning
When days are long and nights are lonely
During those increasingly lengthy days and isolated nights
And all my daydreams have gone astray
When my desires and hopes for the future have dissipated
I think about the one and only
I imagine the single person whose affection I desire
Who's bound to find me some golden day
The person who will undoubtedly bring happiness and joy into my life
The one I love is coming along some day
That person I cherish will eventually appear
And I'll have none except the one I love
Only the person whose embrace I yearn for will I choose
He/She may be near or ever so far away
My beloved may be nearby or distant
But I'll have none except the one I love
No one else can fill the void left by my absence of my darling
And though our meeting is left to chance
Although our reunion is left to serendipity
Until our meeting
Until we see one another again
I still will have my dream romance
I will continue to imagine the romantic relationship I desire
And through the night I pray to the moon above
In the darkness, I pray to the celestial body above
To please be kind and find the one I love
Begging it to assist me in locating my significant other
Lyrics © HAL LEONARD CORPORATION , Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: BRONISLAW KAPER, GUS KAHN, WALTER JURMANN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@peterfarrar9015
The beautiful Helen Forrest, one of the best vocalist, produced by America. Her performance with Isham Jones/Gus Kahn's wonderful jazzy romantic, romantic ballad, "The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else", was a strong delivery & accurate interpretation, which makes her performance the best female recording of this wonderful romantic ballad. Carmen Dragon's(I think)orchestra gave her superb musical support, which rocketed this musical package to the stratosphere, & international fame.
@Mr57Henry
catman916 My parents were born in 1919 and they both loved the big band era. Mom told me she once met a handsome young man by the name of Perry Como. He invited her to sit w/him and his wife and if memory serves me well he then asked mom to sing w/the band.
@vash47
Helen just as lovely as always. Thanks, catman916.
@clarkelaidlaw1678
A sweet rendition of a great Gus Khan lyric.
@williamlrobinson6293
My favorite music
@paulriofski7982
Very cool post, catman! I never heard Helen's version of this before. I knew it best by Frank Sinatra, especially the version on his Reprise collection, "I Remember Tommy," which you have also posted on your excellent channel.
@sandy42596
Good job by Helen, as usual ...... What's with the picture of Doris Day ???
@henridelagardere264
1:17 Doris as Ruth Etting in "Love Me or Leave Me" ('55), although the movie didn't feature this song. However, Doris is singing it in "I'll See You in My Dreams" ('51). Apart from the title song and "The One I Love", this picture had two additional Isham Jones & Gus Kahn songs in it: "Swingin' Down the Lane" and "It Had to Be You".
@sandy42596
@@henridelagardere264 Nice info, Henri -- but that still does not explain WHY Doris's picture is included with Helen's ?????
@henridelagardere264
@@sandy42596 A simple case of errare humanum est, and this little, humane imperfection makes the upload even prettier. They might not know the stars of yore like we two do, but they care.