Active and still swinging, renowed orchestra leader, singer and song writer, Russ Carlyle first appeared as a featured vocalist with the Blue Barron Orchestra in 1938 and was voted the 4th top vocalist in the country in a 1939 Billboard poll. He appeared in Paramount and Warner Bros motion picture shorts and was pursued by the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, but opted to created his own succesful band and reputation.

If you are wondering about Russ Carlyle, let's start back at the beginning when radio was young. Big bands, with their variety of styles, were flouishing and accomodating to a public who was anxious to enjoy life at the end of a long depression. Theaters also found it lucrative to use big bands in addition to their featured movies.

During the war years, those in the business who did not go into the service excelled while those who were in the service had a difficult time after the war. Radio became too expensive for band remotes and disk-jockeys replaced them with a new generation of music.

Russ Carlyle was inducted into the service, but was fortunate enough to be able to put on shows with the realization that once discharged an entertaining band would be well accepted on to the new medium of television. Russ opened at the Blackhawk Restaurant in Chicago, whcih was known for big band entertainment for a month's engagement. They were so well received that the one month was extended to six months.

While in Chicago Russ met Sam Lutz, an agent from New York. Russ was offered a management contract, but things fell through and Lutz went on to become executive producer of the Lawrence Welk Show. Russ went on with his own booking agency and a successful career which is depicted in the 12-CD set which is a unique combination of linear notes, photos and coast to coast broadcasts never known to exist.