The tracks on this CD are divided into parts The first twelve are selected from the Hutch list in “British Hit Singles, January 1940 - October 1952” ( RockHistory Ltd. 2013 ) compiled by Steve Waters. The second dozen are well known standards. He looks good in tails. He sounds good, his sunburnt baritone burnishing any song. Let’s BEGIN THE BEGUINE . Wikipedia tells us that Hutch was born on March 7th 1900 in Grenada, when it was part of the British Winward Islands. His parents paid for his piano lessons. In 1916 he emigrated to New York, intending to study medicine, as he had won place due to his great potential.However, he ended up playing piano and singing in bars. Hutch joined the band of Henry “Broadway” Jones who often performed for millionaires like the Vanderbilts, attracting the wrath of the Klu Klux Klan. In 1924 he left America for Paris where he gained a residency in Joe Zelli’s Club, and became an intimate friend of composer Cole Porter. Encouraged by Countess Mountbatten , he travelled to Britain in 1927 to perform in a Rodgers and Hart musical. He soon became the darling of Society and the people at large. He was the favourite singer of the Prince of Wales, and a major star in the UK during the 1920s and 1930s. He was for a time the highest paid star in the nation. The BBC regularly broadcast his performances. One of his hits was his version of THESE FOOLISH THINGS. Hutch recorded several Cole Porter songs, including BEGIN THE BEGUINE and LET’S DO IT!, LET’S FALL IN LOVE, to which he allegedly added seventy new verses. Hutch was one of the first stars to volunteer to entertain troops at home and abroad during World War II, but he received no formal recognition for his services and his name never appeared in any Honours list. In spite of his popularity, Hutch could not avoid racial prejudice. Hutch suffered from ill health in his later years and died in London on August the 9th 1959 from pneumonia. Forty-two people attended his funeral. On October 12th 2012! an English Heritage blue plaque in. Commemoration of Hutch was unveiled by his daughter, Gabrielle, in Belsize Park, London, where he had been living from 1929-67. In November 2016 Hutch was featured in Episode 4 of the BBC series, “Black And British, A Forgotten History”, entitled “The Home Coming”, presented by the historian, David Olusoga.on the occasion of the programme a plaque was unveiled by his children and extended family at the Mayfair restaurant, Quaglino’s where Hutch used to perform later in his career.
