The first ever audition tapes recorded by National Treasure, Dame Vera Lynn, have been unearthed at the British Library in London.
When Dame Vera Lynn’s daughter, Virginia Lewis-Jones, recently moved out of the family home – the house in Ditchling, East Sussex, where Dame Vera Lynn had lived with her husband, the saxophonist and clarinettist Harry Lewis, for nearly 40 years – she donated the entire collection of her mother’s records, which had been carefully and lovingly stored for years, to the British Library’s Sound Archive. Archivists have been sorting through the extensive collection of discs and tapes with a fine-tooth comb ever since.
Amongst the records, the singer’s first ever pressed disc was found: 'It's Home' recorded in 1935 with bandleader and trumpeter Howard Baker (who spotted Vera Lynn performing in 1933 and invited her to join his band). The song has never been widely available before, with only a small run of 100 copies pressed.
Stored together with this disc, tucked into the same paper record sleeve, a set of three silver-coloured aluminium master discs were discovered. Two of the discs are labelled by hand with the song titles, 'What a Difference a Day Makes' and 'Spring Don't Mean a Thing to Me' and the other is unlabelled. Using specialist equipment, musicology experts at the British Library were able to listen to these masters and identify them as the audition tapes.
Karoline Engelhardt, the Curator of Popular Music Recordings at the British Library, explains: “We are honoured that Virginia Lewis-Jones has chosen to donate her mother’s fascinating audio collection to the British Library, including Dame Vera Lynn’s very first recordings. The Vera Lynn collection is a key addition to the British Library’s Sound Archive and these previously unreleased early discs capture 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. Our role in preserving and digitising these recordings will enable them to be enjoyed for generations to come.”
Recorded on just one microphone, a piano can be heard in the background, accompanying the already utterly distinctive voice of a very young Vera Lynn. A medley features, including a section of the song ‘I Hate Myself (for being so mean to you)’, as well as a piano-only version of debut single ‘It’s Home’. On one of the tracks another mystery voice joins Vera Lynn and they can be heard scatting together. The piano cuts off at the end of the tracks, as all that needed to be heard was her voice.
These are the first recordings in existence of a voice that went on to become one of the most recognisable, reassuring and beloved voices in the history of music.
Dame Vera Lynn’s daughter, Virginia Lewis-Jones, said of the rediscovery, “It’s so wonderful to hear Ma’s voice from those early days, right at the start of her career. I always had the feeling these would be worth exploring so I am absolutely thrilled that the audition tapes we’ve never heard can now be brought to life, and add significantly to what we already know about Ma.”
With Lewis-Jones’ blessing, the discs were swiftly taken to the British Library’s Sound Archive to be digitised (to preserve the original masters) so that Vera Lynn’s long-time record label, Decca, can make them widely available to the public for the first time, after lying untouched and unheard for over 90 years. There is no record of these discs ever having been pressed and released commercially.
The audition take of a simple but nostalgic recording of ‘What a Difference a Day Makes’ is released as a single today, the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, commemorating the end of the Second World War during which the morale-boosting voice of “Forces’ Sweetheart” Vera Lynn sustained both those at war and their loved-ones at home.
Decca Records Co-President Tom Lewis says, “When this treasure was unearthed, it was such a thrill to hear, for the first time in over 90 years, the very earliest recording of a voice that went on to unite a nation. What a difference that voice made!”
The other previously unheard and rare tracks will feature on a new Dame Vera Lynn album entitled ‘Hidden Treasures’, to be released on 7th November 2025 on Decca Records.
