The four-voice vocal group The Inkspots had an attractive formula that worked extremely well during their prime years. Many of their recordings began with a two or four-bar guitar introduction that preceded a falsetto chorus of the melody by Bill Kenny while the other singers harmonized behind him.
Orville “Hoppy” Jones, who sang in a deep voice, followed with a talking chorus of the lyrics that was sometimes delivered slightly tongue-in-cheek and invariably included a reference to his “honey child” before Kenny completed the song. During 1939-46, the Ink Spots had a remarkable string of hits, starting with the title track of their double-CD in the Retrospectives series, “If I Didn’t Care.”
Few probably realize that the Inkspots actually began as a fairly hot vocal quartet that was influenced by the Mills Brothers of the 1930s. They did not imitate instruments to the level of the Mills Brothers but, as they searched for their sound during 1935-38, they recorded a series of jazz-oriented performances. If I Didn’t Care, after the title cut and 1939’s “Just For A Thrill,” contains 11 of those numbers including swinging versions of such songs as “Stompin’ At The Savoy,” “Christopher Columbus,” “Yes, Suh,” “Slap That Bass,” and “That Cat Is High.”
Unfortunately, none of those became hits. In 1939 the Ink Spots (which also included singes Deek
