Vera Lynn

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Dame Vera Lynn, DBE (born Vera Margaret Welch; 20 March 1917), widely known as "The Forces' Sweetheart", is an English singer, songwriter, and actress whose musical recordings and performances were enormously popular during the Second World War. During the war, she toured Egypt, India, and Burma, giving outdoor concerts for the troops. The songs most associated with her are "We'll Meet Again", "The White Cliffs of Dover", "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", and "There'll Always Be an England".

She remained popular after the war, appearing on radio and television in the UK and the United States and recording such hits as "Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart" and her UK Number one single "My Son, My Son".

In 2009, she became the oldest living artist to make it to No. 1 on the British album chart, at age 92. She has devoted much time and energy to charity work connected with ex-servicemen, disabled children, and breast cancer. She is still held in great affection by veterans of the Second World War and was named the Briton who best exemplified the spirit of the twentieth century in 2000.

Auf Wiederseh'n Sweetheart

"Auf Wiederseh'n, Sweetheart" is a popular song and a cover version of "Auf wiedersehen, auf wiedersehen" written by German composer Eberhard Storch . Storch wrote the song in the hospital for his wife Maria as he was ill for a long time.

The English language lyrics were written by John Turner and Geoffrey Parsons. The best-known version of the song was recorded by English singer Vera Lynn. The story goes that Vera was on holiday in Switzerland and heard people singing the song in beer parlours, and when she got back she felt she had to record it, so found the music and had lyrics written.

Charts

The recording of the song by Vera Lynn, which featured accompaniment by Soldiers and Airmen of HM Forces and the Johnny Johnston Singers, was the first song recorded by a foreign artist to make number one on the U.S. Billboard charts, in 1952. Reaching the summit on the Billboard "Best Sellers in Stores" chart on July 12, the song spent nine weeks at No. 1 (as well as six weeks on the "Most Played by Jockeys" chart and four weeks on the "Most Played in Jukeboxes").

Sweetheart

Sweetheart may refer to:

Auf Wiedersehen

Auf Wiedersehen is German for goodbye, literally meaning "until we see again", and may refer to:

See also

Ames Brothers

The Ames Brothers were a singing quartet from Malden, Massachusetts, who were particularly famous in the 1950s for their traditional pop music hits.

Biography

The Ames Brothers got their beginning in Malden, where all four were born. The act consisted of brothers Joe (May 3, 1921 – December 22, 2007), Gene (born February 13, 1923 – April 4, 1997), Vic (May 20, 1925 – January 23, 1978) and Ed (born July 9, 1927).

Born into a non-professional, but musically talented family, the boys were raised to enjoy classical and operatic music. Their parents, David and Sarah Urick, were Russian Jewish immigrants from the Ukraine who read Shakespeare and semi-classics to their nine children from the time they were old enough to listen.

The brothers formed a quartet with a cousin named Lennie, and had been touring United States Army and Navy bases entertaining the troops and were offered a job at The Fox and Hounds nightclub, one of the fanciest clubs in Boston. This one-week engagement turned into several months when the word got around of their appearance. At the time, they were going by the name of the Amory Brothers, a name taken from Vic's middle name and they were becoming quite popular in the area. It was at this time that Joe decided to rejoin the group. He said they were just having too much fun together for him to miss out. Taking their act to New York City they got a job with bandleader Art Mooney. One day while at Leeds Publishing Company in search of a song called "Should I" that their mother had asked them to sing, Milt Gabler of Decca Records heard them singing it and had them cut a few sides for Decca Records just before the AFM recording ban which James Petrillo imposed in January 1948.