In 2005, Naxos Nostalgia released a friendly collection of 22 recordings made by Harry, Herbert, Donald, and John Mills, Sr. during the years 1934-1938, including "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" and "Darling Nellie Gray," old-fashioned apple pie melodies performed in the company of Louis Armstrong in 1937. Perhaps the best example of the early Mills Brothers sound is their scatted up treatment of the "Limehouse Blues." These were the golden years for this little group, post-dating their very earliest appearances on record and serving as a plucky prelude to their protracted tenure as one of the nation's definitive nostalgia acts of the 1940s and '50s. While other Mills Brothers compilations most certainly cover more ground with perhaps greater exactitude, this little taste is roundly recommended for picnics, barbecues, and freeway noshing.
© arwulf arwulf /TiVo