The Anthology

Two discs and almost 50 tracks of the Ink Spots, all recorded within a relatively narrow 13-year window, could be enough to overwhelm anyone not intimately interested in close-harmony vocal music, especially such a humid, narcoleptic sound as the Ink Spots tended toward. For those unhindered by the prospects of two and a half hours of gentle crooning, though, The Anthology earns its title and then some, sprinkling the big hits already anthologized many times over -- "If I Didn't Care," "My Prayer," "We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)," "Java Jive," "I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire," and "Don't Get Around Much Anymore" -- among a parade of obscure yet intriguing performances. Prime among the latter are the kinetic "Your Feet's Too Big," one of their first recordings, and "That's When Your Heartaches Begin," probably more famous now as an Elvis Presley cover than an Ink Spots original. As often happened during the 1940s and '50s, the Ink Spots also recorded dozens of songs in the standards repertory, and several of those ("Who Wouldn't Love You," "Prisoner of Love," "I Cover the Waterfront," "I Get the Blues When It Rains") make for the biggest surprises on this bountiful compilation.