HELEN FORREST - YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU

YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU

HELEN FORREST

SONGWRITERS: MONACO MCCARTHY & LUTHER HENDERSON

COUNTRY: U. S. A.

ALBUM: NOW AND FOREVER

LABEL: BELL RECORDS

GENRE: SWING

YEAR: 1983

Helen Forrest(born Helen Fogel, April 12, 1917 – July 11, 1999) was an American singer of traditional pop and swing music. She served as the "girl singer" for three of the most popular big bands of the Swing Era(Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James), thereby earning a reputation as "the voice of the name bands."

Forrest was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on April 12, 1917. Her parents, Louis and Rebecca Fogel, were Jewish. Her father died from influenza when Helen was an infant so she was raised by her mother, who often blamed her husband's death on Helen's birth. She believed God had taken her husband because she had wished so much for a baby girl. Helen had three older brothers: Harry, Ed, and Sam. In Helen's early teen years, the family relocated to Brooklyn. Her mother married a house painter, whom Helen disliked. Soon, Helen's mother and stepfather turned the family's home into a brothel. At 14, Helen was nearly raped by her stepfather; she defended herself with a kitchen knife, injuring him. Following this, Helen's mother permitted her to live with her piano teacher, Honey Silverman, and her family. While teaching her piano, Honey noticed Helen's singing ability and encouraged her to focus on singing instead. Anxious to find a career in singing, Helen dropped out of high school to pursue her dream.

At the peak of her career, Helen Forrest was the most popular female singer in the United States. Because of her work with the bands of Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, and Harry James, she is known as "the voice of the name bands" and is regarded by some as the best female vocalist of the swing era. In addition, AllMusic describes Forrest as "a performer that some might not consider a jazz vocalist, but one with exceptional ability to project lyrics and also an excellent interpreter." Also, IMDb describes Forrest: "though Helen was not, perhaps, a jazz singer in the truest sense, she brought to her songs a wistful 'girl-next-door' quality" through her "femininity and warmth of her voice and the clear, emotional phrasing of her lyrics." In his book The Big Bands, writer George Simon wrote, "Helen was a wonderfully warm and natural singer."

Over the course of her career, Helen Forrest recorded more than 500 songs. In 2001, she was posthumously inducted into the now-defunct Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

 You made me love you

 I didn't wanna do it

 I didn't wanna do it

 You made me want you

 And all the time you knew it

 I guess you always knew it

 You made me happy sometimes

 You made me glad

But there were times

You made me feel so bad

 You made me cry for

 I didn't wanna tell you

 I didn't wanna tell you

 I want some love that's true

gimmie, gimmie what i cry for

You know you've got the brand of kisses

 That i'd die for

You know you made me love you.