It’s time to rewrite some of what’s counted as common knowledge: Alan Freed’s phrase-coining is trumped by a couple of decades by the lead-off track here, 1934’s Rock & Roll; and Jackie DeShannon wasn’t the first to use the word “nonchalant” in a pop context, as the girls beat her to the punch by delicately rhyming it with “restaurant”.
Initially an instrumental trio, The Boswells turned to singing without encountering too many preconceptions or restrictions from key bands, such as The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, that they worked with. They sang close harmony but their real strength lay in their ability to play with adventurous vocal arrangements that took in unexpected key and time changes, frequently bending and stretching of notes. Influenced by a mixture of jazz, blues, vaudeville and even gospel, they’re never less than interesting, with real quality evident on Trav’lin Blues, St Louis Blues and Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady. Their biggest hit, The Object Of My Affection, is included, as are crowd pleasers such as Dinah and Forty-Second Street. Their sheer sibling vocal invention, however, makes this a reissue that will surprise many who thought The Andrews Sisters were the only act in town.
