Gracie Fields was a British actress, singer and a music hall star, and was unbelievably popular throughout the 30s and 40s. The timing of her career was crucial to her success, as she became a popular figure during the Great Depression, filling music halls across the country, and entertaining and supporting the armed services during WWII. Her acting career also produced many hit movies, including 'Sally In Our Alley', which spawned her most famous song, 'Sally'.

Feb 2010

This brand new collection brings together 25 Gracie Fields recordings, including 5 which have never been released commercially before now. Taken from broadcasts on US radio during the 30s, they have been newly discovered in the Decca vault.

In addition, a brand new duet has been recorded, using the magic of 21st Century recording techniques to add the voice of Jane Horrocks to Gracie’s original recording of “Now Is The Hour”. Horrocks starred in the recent BBC4 drama 'Gracie!', which gave the station its highest recorded viewing figures. This, plus the renewed focus on the War Years during 2009 has brought Gracie back into the public eye.

This album is released with the full co-operation with Gracie Fields' family and estate, along with the Friends Of Brighton Hospitals Trust – the body to which Gracie donated her record royalties in perpetuity.

Singer and comedienne, Gracie Fields, was so popular in the UK during the 1930s and 40s that she was its most famous person next to Royalty. She took her first big step in 1918 when she won the part of Sally Perkins in the musical MISTER TOWER OF LONDON, which ran for over seven years. She started recording in 1928, and by 1933 was celebrating the sale of four million records, and made her film debut in 1931 with SALLY IN OUR ALLEY, which included "Sally", her famous theme song. During World War II she toured extensively, entertaining troops and appearing in stage shows, films--including STAGE DOOR CANTEEN--and on her own radio programmes. After the War she featured in a series of morale-building radio shows, before going into semi-retirement in the early-50s. Fields was made Dame Commander of the British Empire shortly before her death in September 1979.