Tiny Hill - How Many Hearts Have You Broken: The Singles Collection 1939-54 (2024)

Tiny Hill was an American bandleader, singer and record company A&R exec who was especially active and successful during the middle decades of the 20th century, and occupied an unusual niche in popular music, his style encompassing big band music, novelty pop, nostalgia, western swing and country music, to the extent that he had hits in both the US pop and country charts. A larger-than-life personality, he lived up to his nickname and reputation, weighing 165 kg, and as well as making hits, he was notable for being married to the fine country songwriter Jenny Lou Carson and being a country A&R man for Mercury in the 1940s while continuing to make records. This 55-track 2-CD collection comprises selected A & B sides from his prolific output on the Vocalion, Okeh, Decca and Mercury labels from this era, most of them with Hill himself on vocals, and features all his career hits in the pop and country charts, including the No. 3 pop hit “How Many Hearts Have You Broken?”, the Top 10 country hits “Sioux City Sue”, “Never Trust A Woman”, “Hot Rod Race” “I’ll Sail My Ship Alone” and “Slow Poke”, and the Top 20 pop hits “Angry” and “Doodle Doo Doo”. He was a hugely extrovert entertainer, and this comes across in an always-upbeat collection of his highly distinctive recordings.