For those unaware, The Pied Pipers were one of vocal groups who graduated from being featured performers with the big bands of the swing era to careers as recording artists in their own right and enjoying a string of hits during their heyday in the 1940s.

With the fine female vocalists Jo Stafford and June Hutton as members of the group at various time during these years, they had a distinctive harmony style that was very much of it era, their repertoire encompassing swing material, ballads and pop novelty songs and more.

Having made early records for RCA as an 8-piece group they became a quartet and spent three years with Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra before splitting with him and striking out on their own.

This incredible 51-track 2-CD collection comprises selected A & B sides of early releases on the RCA-Victor and Ammor labels, and then most of their releases on the Capitol label from this era. It features their US No. 1 Dream plus all their other ten US hits, including the Top 10 entries Mairzy Doats, The Trolley Song, In The Moon Mist, Open The Door, Richard, Mam’selle and My Happiness.

They were a group who very much captured the spirit of their time, and this is an entertaining showcase for their particular brand of vocal group pop.

Best remembered for their early work with Tommy Dorsey, The Pied Pipers originally consisted of eight members. The octet was formed in Los Angeles during the mid-1930s, an amalgamation of two all-male groups, the Rhythm Kings and the Esquires, plus Jo Stafford. Their stylish harmonies proved appealing, and they began working at local radio stations and recording for Hollywood soundtracks. They soon attracted the attention of Dorsey arrangers Paul Weston and Axel Stordahl.

In December 1938, Weston persuaded Dorsey to give the Pied Pipers a spot on the Raleigh-Kool Show, a popular radio program. All eight members piled into two cars and drove to New York, with no promise of work other than one shot on the radio. The show went well though, and they were signed to appear for ten weeks, but just as everything seemed to be going their way, disaster struck. During their second program, the sponsor heard them for the first time, didn’t like them, and promptly fired them. The Pipers remained in New York for seven more months, landing only one job the whole time from which they made $3.60 each, though they did record four sides for RCA Victor during their stay.

Returning to Los Angeles in mid-1939, the group lost several members to regular jobs on the way, leaving only Stafford, her then-husband John Huddleston, and Chuck Lowry from the original eight. Joined by Billy Wilson, they struggled to make a living and were on the verge of calling it quits when, in late 1939, they received an offer from Dorsey to join his orchestra. Shortly after, Wilson was replaced by Clark Yocum, who used the stage name Allen Storr at the time. Yocum had previously sang and played guitar for Mal Hallett’s orchestra.

With Dorsey, the Pipers initially became part of a vocal staff that included Allan DeWitt and Anita Boyer. Unhappy with DeWitt, Dorsey replaced him in January 1940 with a then mostly unknown Frank Sinatra. When Boyer left the band that same month, Dorsey at first planned to use Stafford as his only female vocalist but then changed his mind and brought in Connie Haines to share duties. Haines sang on the bouncier numbers while Stafford handled romantic tunes and specialty songs. Stafford made her first solo recording with Dorsey in February 1941 on the song “For You.” When Haines left the band in March 1942, she became the sole female vocalist.

With modern arrangements by Sy Oliver and a stable of top singers, Dorsey’s orchestra was at the peak of its success in the early 1940s, rivaled only by Glenn Miller. The Pied Pipers proved popular with the public, and soon other bandleaders began to follow Dorsey’s lead and hired vocal groups. Stafford herself began to attract attention. She placed ninth in Billboard magazine’s 1942 annual college poll for best female band singer. The Pipers even backed Frank Sinatra on many of his numbers.

A lot more happened after that, of course, but simply put, The Pied Pipers had been a cooperative group, which each member holding joint ownership of the group name, but upon disbanding those rights passed to Yocum and Lowry. In late 1953, Yocum formed a vocal quartet called “The Pipers.” He then secured an agreement with Lowry, who was no longer singing, to use the Pied Pipers name. Lowry retained an interest in the group and functioned in a managerial and advisory capacity. A group using the Pied Pipers name continued performing into the 2000s. June Hutton passed away in 1973, Hal Hopper in 1970, and Jo Stafford in 2008.

Disc 1:
Sugar Foot Stomp; What Is This Thing Called Love; Piggie Wiggy Woo; Pistol Packin’ Mama; Deacon Jones; Mairzy Doates; The Trolley Song; Cuddle Up A Little Closer; There’s A Fellow Waiting In Poughkeepsie; Tabby The Cat; Dream; Lily Belle; We’ll Be Together Again; Aren’t You Glad You’re You?; In The Middle Of May; Madame Butterball; In The Moon Mist; Remember Me?; Walk It Off; Ol’ Man River; Everybody Loves My Baby; Either It’s Love Or It Isn’t; Walkin’ Away With My Heart; You Can’t See The Sun When You’re Crying; Make Me Know It

Disc 2:
Open The Door, Richard; When Am I Going To Kiss You Good Morning?; Mam’selle; It’s The Same Old Dream; The Riddle Song; Just Around The Corner; I Wanne Be A Friend Of Yours; Lady From 29 Palms; Penny; Lone Star Moon; Rhode Island Is Famous For You; Mary Lou; I’ll See You In My Dreams; Ok’l Baby Dok’l; At A Sidewalk Penny Arcade; Crying For Joy; My Happiness; Highway To Love; Judaline; Goodbye Romance; With All My Heart (I Give My Heart To You); Rendezvous With A Rose; Mind If I Love You; It’s Watcha Do With Watcha Got; The Whiffenpoof Song (Baa, Baa, Baa); Girl Of My Dreams

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