More Than You Know

Not a duet album, but a compilation of 14 tracks by Ruth Etting, followed by 12 from Helen Morgan, this set doesn't claim to present the hits or the best of either singer. Rather, as annotator Bucky Willard notes, it culls music "mostly from their last sessions." All but one of the Etting tracks date from 1934-37. The Morgan selections cover a wider time period, but she made fewer recordings overall, and while her tracks are thus necessarily more representative, they do not include such obvious favorites as "My Bill" or "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man." The two singers were the most celebrated torch singers of their time, which makes the variety of material surprising. Upbeat and uptempo performances are as frequent as the slow, plaintive performances these early divas were known for. While their soprano voices have some similarities, Morgan's is the more forlorn, while Etting has a more buoyant tone that will remind younger listeners of Anna McGarrigle. This is by no means a definitive collection for either lady, but so little of their work is available that it is valuable nevertheless.