She's Got It  (vol 2)

 "Ballad singing, said Ray Noble, composer of dozens of permanently popular songs, "is not a great art", but went on that the vocalist in his band, Al Bolly, had such artistry as would draw his audiences to him, because he really felt what he sang", quotes Brian Rust from his liner notes of Volume 2 of "She's Got It".  The same could be said for Annette as she played with Ray Noble's Orchestra in 1936, the same time that Ray Noble had Al Bolly in his orchestra.  In this album we are shown Annette's entire range of moods.  We have the suicidal "Nobody Cares If I'm Blue" to the melancholy "The Way I Feel Today" and the moody "Body and Soul".  But if we are to experience her excruciatingly  sad moods we are also entertained by her incredibly happy "Cooking Breakfast for the One I love", and the almost giddy "Tip toe through the tulips" which could have been sung by Judy Garland in the wizard of Oz!  Who knows, if Annette had pursued her singing career she could have played Dorothy in "The Wizard of OZ" !  The timing was right.  Annette had hit after hit in radio, she loved playing  the nieve little girl next door.  If she had pursued her career instead of tiring of show business who knows where she could have gone?  But knowing Annette is knowing she had principals.  What did she do with herself when she left show business?  She volunteered at her neighborhood church.  She volunteered at her neighborhood hospital.  In her small way she wanted to serve others and give of herself.  Above all, she had intelligence and talent and scruples!  It is seen in her songs where she embodies the wholesome loving wife who sings "Cooking Breakfast for the One I love", and "Would you Like to Take a Walk?", and "Walking My Baby Back Home".  She found her niche personifying the wholesome girl next door that everyone could love.  She could "integrate" every human emotion from many different persons and become that person, become that emotion.  That is what a good artist will do.  And that is why she seems as modern today as she was back then.  For her "time" has no meaning.  That is the essence of art.  As I  said before, "Art will endure".  When others are long forgotten, new generations of fans will listen to Annette and find her songs new and impressive.
 

-Joe Werner