The sheer volume of Jimmy Van Heusen's songwriting has always been impressive, but this carefully-compiled and beautifully-remastered 2-CD pack, with 52 tracks, gives us an idea of his emotional range and stylistic breadth. Of course, the big hit songs are included: ‘Swinging On A Star’ (Bing Crosby), ‘Deep In A Dream’ (Connee Boswell), ‘I Thought About You’ (Mildred Bailey), ‘Darn That Dream’ (Benny Goodman), ‘Love and Marriage’ (Frank Sinatra) and so on.

But the real delight about this compilation is the lesser-known numbers, by a variety of different artists. So Henry ‘Red’ Allen's trumpet breezing and blurring its way through ‘There's A House in Harlem For Sale’, or Erskine Hawkins’ band inviting all ages to join in an energetic dance on ‘Do You Wanna Jump, Children?’ are really pleasant surprises. If you are a movie buff, then the reminder that Van Heusen scored most of the Road To… movies for Bob Hope and Bing Crosby, not to mention ‘Busy Doing Nothing’ from A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur's Court, is welcome, and there's also a track from Dean Martin in the original Ocean's 11 from 1960. That latter number, with a fine chart by Nelson Riddle, is among the more jazz-orientated of the later pieces, along with ‘Here's That Rainy Day’ by Peggy Lee with Quincy Jones. If after the early years, the jazz content diminishes over time, Van Heusen's achievement in penning so many memorable songs does not. Would he have been so successful, one wonders, had he not adopted his nom-de-plume (after the well-known shirt maker) and remained plain old Chester Babcock?