{"id":72223,"date":"2025-08-16T07:57:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T07:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/72223\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T07:57:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T07:57:09","slug":"unearthed-dame-vera-lynn-audition-tapes-to-be-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/72223\/","title":{"rendered":"Unearthed Dame Vera Lynn audition tapes to be released"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dame Vera Lynn\u2019s unearthed audition tapes are to be released more than 90 years after they were recorded.<\/p>\n

The recordings were found after Lynn\u2019s daughter moved out of the family home in Ditchling, East Sussex where her mother had lived with her father Harry Lewis for nearly 40 years.<\/p>\n

Virginia Lewis-Jones made the discovery having decided to donate her record collection to the British Library after her mother\u2019s death in 2020<\/a> aged 103.<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/p>\n

The three aluminium master discs had been tucked into the paper sleeve of It\u2019s Home, one of only 100 copies of Lynn\u2019s first pressed disc, recorded in 1935.<\/p>\n

Two of the discs are hand-labelled with the song titles What a Difference a Day Makes and Spring Don\u2019t Mean a Thing to Me.<\/p>\n

A medley features a section of I Hate Myself (For Being So Mean to You), as well as a piano-only version of It\u2019s Home.<\/p>\n

On another track a mystery voice joins Lynn and they can be heard scatting together.<\/p>\n

Using specialist equipment, musicology experts at the British Library were able to listen to the masters and identify them as audition tapes.<\/p>\n

Lewis-Jones said that it was wonderful to hear her mother\u2019s voice \u201cfrom the early days\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always had the feeling these would be worth exploring so I am absolutely thrilled that the audition tapes we\u2019ve never heard can now be brought to life, and add significantly to what we already know about Ma,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

She added that it was plain to hear that her mother\u2019s vocals changed as she got older. \u201cOn the audition tapes, she was still so young. She\u2019s just starting out and her voice and tone hasn\u2019t developed fully,\u201d she said. \u201cThe younger you are, the higher your voice is. Listening to her latest albums, her voice has dropped considerably and is rounder and more finished.\u201d<\/p>\n

The record label Decca released the \u201csimple but nostalgic recording\u201d of What a Difference a Day Makes on Friday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VJ Day<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Black<\/p>\n

Lynn in 1956, rehearsing for a radio show<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

Lynn was dubbed the \u201cforces\u2019 sweetheart\u201d, for her patriotic songs including We\u2019ll Meet Again, (There\u2019ll Be Bluebirds Over) The White Cliffs of Dover and There\u2019ll Always Be an England. The records helped to sustain both those at war and their loved ones at home during the Second World War.<\/p>\n

Other previously unheard and rare tracks will feature on a new Vera Lynn album called Hidden Treasures, which will be released on November 7.<\/p>\n

\"Vera<\/p>\n

Lynn in 1964<\/p>\n

MANCHESTER DAILY EXPRESS\/SSPL\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Karoline Engelhardt, the curator of popular music recordings at the British Library, said that it was a \u201cfascinating collection\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe previously unreleased songs captured a special moment in music history, when Dame Vera Lynn was still in the early stages of her career and was yet to become the voice of a generation,\u201d Engelhardt added. \u201cOur role in preserving and digitising these recordings will enable them to be enjoyed for generations to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weeks before her death, Lynn became the oldest artist to have a top 40 album in the UK with her greatest hits album 100.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dame Vera Lynn\u2019s unearthed audition tapes are to be released more than 90 years after they were recorded.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-72223","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-tv"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72223","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}