Can't Help Singing is Empress Music's 22-track anthology of recordings made during the 1940s by
Bert Ambrose and his orchestra, which during the first half of the 20th century was one of Britain's most highly acclaimed dance bands. As
Ambrose started making records in 1923 and more or less ceased after 1947, the material presented here constitutes some of his later efforts, particularly the half-dozen post-war examples which include "Chickery Chick," a jive talk novelty popularized by
Anita O'Day with
Gene Krupa's Orchestra. "Can't Help Singing" and "Long Ago (And Far Away)" were introduced in the Universal motion picture Cover Girl starring
Deanna Durbin, and are among the last songs composed by
Jerome Kern, who passed away in early November 1945.
Anne Shelton, who pops up all over this collection, sings "Can't Help Singing" and
Xavier Cugat's "Nightingale," as well as
Johnny Mercer and
Harry Warren's "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe." The female responsible for interpreting
Harold Arlen's "Let's Take the Long Way Home" and "Ac-Cen-Tchu-Ate the Positive" has been identified as Rita Marlowe. Drones (male crooners) include
Jack Powers,
Bob Arden, and Jack Cooper. Empress Music's
Can't Help Singing does include a small number of instrumental tracks. For those who desire a break from all that keening, warbling, and chortling, they are "Pony Express," "Oasis," "Nocturne of the Oasis," and "Symphony."