(Blessed with matinee idol good looks, Dick Haymes was one...)
Blessed with matinee idol good looks, Dick Haymes was one of the most popular and successful singers of the post-war era, registering his first Billboard chart entry in 1941 and racking up a string of hits through the '40s and into the '50s, his last coming in 1956 after the rock 'n' roll era had made its impact. This great value 67-track 3-CD set comprises all his chart entries both as a solo artist and in duets and partnerships with other artists, including the orchestras of Harry James, Benny Goodman and Artie Shaw, and with singers Helen Forrest, Judy Garland, Bing Crosby, The Andrews Sisters and Ethel Merman. It naturally includes the No. 1 hits You'll Never Know and I'll Get By, and with every single track a chart hit, it's a great showcase for his warm baritone voice and his relaxed way with some of the best songs of the era, providing an ideal way to get the very best of Dick Haymes' recordings in one collection. It includes a substantial booklet with full discographical and chart information and a detailed narrative of his career and recordings.
(Here are a full 28 songs from the tail end of Dick's prim...)
Here are a full 28 songs from the tail end of Dick's prime Decca period on one CD. Includes Imagination; Here in My Arms; Bali Ha'i; But Not for Me; My Blue Heaven; These Foolish Things; I Could Write a Book; I've Got You Under My Skin; Some Enchanted Evening , and more from 1949-52!
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an American actor and baritone singer. He was a vocalist in a number of big bands, worked in Hollywood, on radio and films, and became one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s.
Background
Richard Benjamin Haymes was born on September 13, 1918 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His father, Benjamin Haymes, an Englishman of Scottish descent, was a rancher, and his mother, Marguerite, was an Irish-born concert singer and vocal coach.
In 1919, after the ranch had suffered extensive locust damage, the elder Haymes moved his family to the United States. The family, including Haymes' younger brother Bob (who was a singer and lyricist), moved frequently before finally settling in California.
Education
Thanks to voice training from his mother, Haymes developed a rich, warm baritone further distinguished by excellent phrasing and breath control.
Career
Haymes worked first as a radio announcer and then successively as a singer with the Carl Hoff, Eddie Martin, and Orrin Tucker bands. Haymes got his first big career break in 1939 when Harry James hired him to replace Frank Sinatra, who had defected from James's band to become the featured vocalist with the Tommy Dorsey orchestra.
Haymes had been writing songs and trying to sell them to various bandleaders. With the help of Larry Shayne, a music publisher, Haymes arranged a meeting with Harry James in the hopes of convincing him to add a Haymes song or two to his band's repertoire. James listened to the young songwriter's work and then, according to George Simon, author of The Big Bands, turned to Shayne and said, "I don't like the tunes too much, but I sure like the way the kid sings. " Harry James's band was one of the most successful of the time.
Performing as vocalist with the James band in concerts all over the United States and on the radio, Haymes soon became a household name. But his loyalty to Harry James ran no deeper than that of his predecessor. He broke with James to join the Tommy Dorsey orchestra in 1943, then left Dorsey to sing briefly with Benny Goodman's band before becoming an independent single artist.
Because of his celebrity as a singer, Haymes was much sought after by Hollywood. In 1944 he signed a contract with Twentieth Century-Fox, and thereafter acted and sang in a number of musicals, such as Four Jills in a Jeep (1944), Irish Eyes Are Smiling (1944), and Diamond Horseshoe (1945). He made two pictures for Universal, One Touch of Venus (1948) and Up in Central Park (1948), and then worked on single-picture contracts for a variety of studios until his film career subsided in the early 1950s.
Haymes had problems with the United States government. In 1944, when he was issued a draft notice, Haymes claimed that he was a citizen of Argentina and therefore exempt from the draft. Although he had a legal right to claim this exemption, and although his action produced no immediate negative consequences--indeed, it enabled Haymes to avoid military service just at the time when his careers as soloist and film star were taking off--his refusal to serve in the military came back to haunt him. When the Cold War spawned McCarthyism and many in the entertainment world were accused of being Communists or Communist sympathizers, the United States Immigration Service was tipped that Haymes was not an American citizen, and that despite having grown rich and famous in the United States, he had refused to serve in its army. Thus, during the years 1953-1954, Haymes lived under the threat of deportation, until the federal government dropped its case against him. His problems with the federal government had a snowball effect. In 1953 the Actors Equity Association, presumably reacting to the negative publicity the Haymes affair generated, announced that Haymes had falsely listed Santa Barbara, California, as his place of birth when applying for membership in the association. Haymes's membership was suspended, which meant that he was effectively barred from performing in the United States. He only regained his union card when he became a United States citizen.
Meanwhile, Haymes was plagued by financial problems. Money had poured in when his career was on the rise, and he had not altered his life-style as his career began to go into decline. In 1953, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, he was ordered to appear in court on alimony charges. Also in that year the Internal Revenue Service put a lien on his salary because of unpaid income taxes. But he gradually climbed out of the pit he had dug for himself. By the 1960s he was working regularly as a singer in Ireland, Great Britain, and Europe, and in the 1970s he had a modestly successful comeback in the United States.
Haymes died of lung cancer in Los Angeles. His ashes was scattered in the Hollywood.
Achievements
Richard Benjamin Haymes went down in history as one of the most popular male vocalists and actors of the 1940s and 1950s. During the 1940s many people considered Haymes to be the equal of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. During his career, he recorded around 10 albums and appeared in 17 films. He had three #1 hits on the US charts with "It Can't Be Wrong" (1943), "You'll Never Know" (1943), and "I'll Get By" (1944).
Haymes was physically attractive, and his singing style was indebted to Bing Crosby and the crooning tradition. He projected a shyness and vulnerability when he sang, qualities well suited to the interpretation of love songs.
He experienced serious alcohol and financial problems later in life and at one point was forced into bankruptcy and by the 1960s his life was all but ruined.
Connections
Haymes' personal life was rather chaotic. He was married six times, including film actresses Joanne Dru, Rita Hayworth, and Fran Jeffries. He was also married to Nora Eddington, a former wife of Errol Flynn. Haymes had a total of six children - three with Joanne Dru, one with Fran Jeffries, and two with his sixth and final wife, British model Wendy Smith.
Father:
Benjamin Haymes
Mother:
Marguerite Haymes
Spouse:
Nora Eddington
She was an American actress and socialite.
Spouse:
Fran Jeffries
She was an American singer, dancer, actress, and model.
Spouse:
Edith Harper
Spouse:
Rita Hayworth
She was an American actress and dancer.
Spouse:
Wendy (Smith) Haymes
Spouse:
Joanne Dru
She was an American film and television actress, known for such films as Red River, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, and All the King's Men.
