In 1948, Pixie Williams gave voice to one of the most enduring popular melodies of the twentieth century, Blue Smoke, composed by Ruru Karaitiana. In the years that followed, she recorded a collection of songs mixing universal themes and international musical styles with an unmistakeable flavour of Aotearoa New Zealand.

In 1951 New York music trade magazines described Blue Smoke as one of the major hits of the year - a 'musical jackpot' with both jukebox and radio listeners. It was covered by a host of internationl artists, including American crooner Dean Martin who phoned Karaitiana from the US seeking more songs.

Following the success of Blue Smoke Williams went on to record twelve more songs, with another Karaitiana song, 'Let's talk it Over' also becoming a hit selling over 20,000 records.

Without the original recording masters to work from (most were damaged after the initial pressings),mastering engineer Mike Gibson had to create new masters from much loved and played Shellac 78s. From these mono recordings, unwanted noise was removed to reveal the overall quality of the music and then painstakingly the layers of static, pops and scratches were unpicked to be transformed into quality recordings for this cd release.

1. Ain't it a Shame
2. Saddle Hill
3. Bell Bird Serenade
4. Senorita
5. It's Just Because
6. Let's Talk it Over
7. Sailing Along on a Moonbeam
8. Maori Rhythm
9. Best Wishes
10. Sweetheart in Calico
11. Windy City
12. Maori Land
13. Blue Smoke
14. Pixie: In Her Own Words