Obscure & Neglected Female Singers Of Jazz & Standards (1930s to 1960s)

Even with clicks and crackle, it's worth owning for that front cover! (Plus the fine music, as you already pointed out.)

By the way, your post reminded me of a Lita Roza album that I once wanted to get on CD, and then forgot all about it. (This is the second time that I get the benefit of a reminder from this thread. So, thanks for that.) The CD:



Actually, I happen to already have this one on an okay-sounding LP, but still would like to "upgrade" to CD. It's the album of hers that I like the best (out of the few to which I have listened). Back in her heyday, she recorded a lot of stuff.

You are right that jazz and standards are the fields covered by LPs such as the one you own and the one that I'll be ordering on CD. No novelty stuff or top 40 pop in them.

Lita Roza's singles are a different matter. The A&R men at the labels for which she recorded in the 1950s and 1960s assigned to her many of the novelties and tunes of the day. For singers of Lita's type, this was, of course, a normal state of affairs back then (on both sides of the pond). Non-American singers might have had it worse than their American counterparts, though: besides being tasked with covering the US numbers for their respective markets, they were also expected to produce a reasonable imitation or even a facsimile of the original hit versions.

In the United Kingdom, Lita was probably the most successful of all such "utility" singers. The song most frequently associated with her was "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window," a cover of the Patti Page novelty which Lita too took to the #1 spot. Additional Lita hits included "Botch-a Me," "Half as Much" and "Hey There" -- all originally turned into bestsellers by Rosemary Clooney. Other imports with which Lita had success included "High Noon" (Frankie Laine), "The Blacksmith Blues" (Ella Mae Morse), "A Tear Fell" (Teresa Brewer), etc. She particularly hated "How Much That Doggie in the Window," with "High Noon" taking second place in her hate hit list.

Exposure to all those other top 40 pop singers might have rubbed off on her. In most songs, including those from not only the singles but also the LPs I've heard, she sounds to me too much like Rosie Clooney and Patti Page. Less frequently, she adopts bits from Sarah Vaughan (her vocal for "Misty" even starts off the same way as Sassy's) or, in the album that I like best, Teddi King.

All the same, a pleasant singer.

 

Happy to report that there are a few details that we can add to the picture -- thanks in no small measure to other listeners who have been, like us, curious about her ...

The back cover of the LP points out that "evidently she had some sort of talent for roller skating ... she soon found herself a rookie with the Chicago Westerners for the portion of the 1954 season that was conducted at the 14th Street Armory in New York." The world of roller skating is where we will need to go look for Genie.

The following roller derby tribute page includes a photo of her in her sportswear: http://www.bankedtrack.info/PlayerTributes/tributes0596.html. And here she is in 2010, at a roller derby gathering:



So, the singing career might have been short-lived, but her ties to roller skating have lasted a lifetime.

For anyone who might be curious as to how Ms. Pace sounds, here is an excerpt from the LP above:



Also, here is one of the singles that she made for the same label (Jade). It is in a rock 'n' roll vein: genie pace & the midtowners - 51st and broadway ».

And here is a later single, on another label, and in more of a top 40 pop vein: Genie Pace - Just Counting Stars - DERY 10013 DJ ».

The front cover of her other LP:



About these LPs: one thing that I am noticing is that both of those record labels seem to have been set up by the same man, Jim Bright, a trumpet player and former A&R man at Bethlehem Records. And both bear catalogue number 1001, which suggest that they were these labels' LP debuts. This is leading me to suspect that she could have been his wife or fiancée. At the very least, we should consider the possibility that he was her manager.

She also recorded an EP for Capitol:



You can find most of the info and pics that I supplied above, as well as a discography, in this German forum: http://www.rocknroll-schallplatten-...?p=92953&sid=fe6f5e1839354c56878c5148618ccf20. Surprisingly, Wikipedia also has a page for her, upon which I just stumbled -- not as detailed as the above, but still helpful ... Isn't it amazing, to see so much information about such an obscure singer on the net? Some 25 years ago, we would have been hard-pressed to find even half of these details in print anywhere.

One final bit of information upon which I happened while doing further digging: at some point she settled in or near Boynton Beach, Florida. I gathered this bit from the following reminiscences, written by a guy who also played roller skating and knew her: Derby Memoirs: A Tribute To Roller Derby History - Joel Namer »

 

Thanks one more time for coming up with a singer that I knew only by name! I liked that clip version of "Softly as I Leave You," and went to YouTube to listen to more numbers by her. She has a lovely voice and sings very well; I'm liking her a lot. Her tone bears a mild resemblance to Keely Smith's.

It looks like she was primarily a teen pop singer. Based on the batch of clips that I just checked, her singing is always good, but she is at her very best in those teenage-oriented tunes. As for her singing of a few standards on TV shows, I was left feeling that the musical accompaniment or the arrangements detracted from what could have been greater performances. All the same, the singer still sounds great in them. Here is one of those clips, featuring a medley of "Fly Me to the Moon" and "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars": Susan Maughan - Fly me to the moon 1966.avi ». And here is a clip presumably from one or two decades later (her voice got even better!), which is best to check out just for its good singing, while forgiving any hammy acting out of the lyrics: Susan Maughan: Let Me Entertain You ».

Looks like three of this British singer's albums consist entirely of standards. In addition to the one posted by Miriam, there are these two (both available on Japanese CD):

 

Ha. I didn't know anything about her life. This is among the great morsels from Wikipedia: "While awaiting her divorce from Orsatti, McDonald had an affair with mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel. Siegel reportedly dumped McDonald because of her chronic tardiness." There you go: no body should mess with a mobster's demanding schedule!

Then there is the whole hoollabaloo about the alleged kidnapping: "McDonald told police that on January 4, two swarthy men came to her house brandishing a sawed-off gun demanding that she open the door ... After entering the home, McDonald said the two men took some jewelry, prepared a note and discussed demanding a $30,000 ransom for her return. The men then allowed McDonald to put on a robe and slippers and pack a small carrying case." She had to put on a robe? Had the Body been naked when opening the door, and while at the mercy of those two swarthy machos? Go to Wikipedia for her whole kidnapping story, which many, including her husband at the time, suspected to have been concocted by her.

Her singing is good.

 

The one "live" clip of Jerri Winters that can be found in YouTube also shows her singing with a group, although in this case they are not serving as her backup. They are instead at the forefront, singing in harmony with her. It's a brief vocal that starts off a little before the 2:00 mark:



From the same mold as June Christy and Chris Connor, she is another cool school singer and alumnus of the Stan Kenton orchestra. If we were to compare her to those other vocalists, it could be said that she has a far deeper voice and a rather hoarse sound (not that sounding hoarse is necessarily a bad thing).

Jerri made three LPs. She seems to have been at her best in the Bethlehem album, which was her second.



That one above was her solo debut on LP, and the hardest to find. (Her Bethlehem LP is not all too easy to find either, but at least it has been reissued on Spanish and Japanese LP and CD.)



This one is her last, and not terribly hard to find, due to its numerous reissues and pedigree. (The label that released it was Charlie Parker's). The album's version of "In the Wee Small Hours," which many of us might know best from Frank Sinatra's wonderful interpretation, has the one advantage of including the song's verse: In the Wee Small Hours ».

Yes!

 

Did someone mention Sheila Jordan? If not, enjoy.

 

In my opinion, she does a fine job. A voice like hers could have made in the pop world as well.

But wait ... I'm checking her out, and finding out that she did make it in the world of pop, after all: apparently, this is one of the Dinning Sisters, a female pop trio that Capitol Records marketed as its answer to Decca's famous Andrews Sisters. It seems, however, that Dolores (being the youngest of the sisters) was not with the group during their heyday, but joined them after a replacement was needed. She appeared with them only intermittently at first (1949), but permanently later on (1952).

We are discussing only solo female singers in this thread, but, if we can make a brief departure, here we have Dolores with two of the other Dinning Sisters, singing "Brazil" for the Snader Telescriptions company:

 

Just for the record, we had mentioned her before. (See first two posts quotes above.) But, since the main point of this thread is to raise the profile of singers who have been neglected or almost forgotten, the more mentions, the merrier! So, it's great that you are further helping out with our collective enhancement of Sheila's profile.

 

All those video clips of Andy Williams duetting with female guests (most of them posted by a Japanese user called Yootami) are great to both look at and listen to. This one with Nancy Ames has the added advantage of being a number in the bossa nova style, whose softness makes almost everybody sound great.

Anyway, I liked this clip. (Since you too liked this one, David*M, I'd recommend you to check this other great duet with another female singer, because it is also a bossa nova interpretation, and it has even more of those hummed "hmmms" from Andy: Andy Williams and Peggy Lee - I've Got You Under My Skin(Year 1966) ».

Nancy Ames was primarily a folk-oriented singer/guitarist -- one with a strong hispanic bent. That's because she was partially of hispanic background: his grandfather had once been the president of Panama, no less!

I have a few of her albums, and completely agree with you that her work is something of a mixed bag. But I generally enjoy her when she is doing Spanish and Portuguese (bossa nova) material. That's why this twofer CD turned out to be perfect for me:



If you find it at a good price, you might want to consider picking it up, especially for the Spiced with Brasil half. As you probably already know, there is also the option of checking out the album's audio clips in YouTube (So Nice (Summer Samba) - Nancy Ames » Meditation », etc.) before venturing into any disappointing purchases.

 

I owned both Genie Pace LP's at one time but traded "Here's Genie" as partial payment for a R to R tape deck. That album was going for several hundred dollars.
Nice to see some recent info on Genie. A fine singer. Thanks.

 

Sheila was a very close friend of Mark Murphy (the jazz vocal legend). Whenever Mark was in town to visit his brother, Sheila would stop by and they might just do a few songs together around the table. This did lead to an album together. Sheila stayed close right up to Mark's recent passing.

 

Ya can't make this stuff up!! LOL.

 

And the deck cost $1,200! Still waiting for the mint Beverly Kenney Decca LPs.......along with the 56 Thunderbird. Reminds me of when I sold my bike back in 5th grade for half a box of chocolate chip cookies, and never got the $5

 

Claire Hogan started as a singer with the Jimmy Dorsey Band in the 1940's. To my knowledge she
recorded two long players in the '50's..."Boozers And Losers", and this one, "Just Imagine" for the
MGM label. An original of "Just Imagine" in excellent condition sold for over $1000.00 on eBay recently.
This is a picture of a 1970's vinyl reissue from Japan. Anyone have the original? Ms. Hogan was a fine ballad singer,
I would love to know what happened to her. I play this LP only on special occasions...it is RARE.

 

Yes, a two-record Columbia artist, as you showed. 1959-1960. She was one of various classic pop/jazz singers who came a bit too late into the recording scene. They were fortunate to receive record contracts from Columbia, in particular. They also had the fortune of counting with heavy promotion from the label's publicity machine, which in turn generated very positive press reviews. Sadly, however, critical word of mouth did not translate into significant album sales during this post-Elvis, Beatles era. Hence, after the initial promotional flourish, label support for such artists was terminated, and they were dropped from the roster.



Marge did make a third album, for Decca, around 1968. As its front cover suggests, it's an artifact of its time (a psychedelic, mixed bag, covering soul, standards, bossa nova, etc.):



She abandoned the music business and settled in New York City, where she became an executive secretary and/or executive assistant at ABC News.

 

- It's so sad, the number of amazing singers who's careers died on the whole post-Beatles insanity. - It's intriguing. I mean, today I feel the labels recognize that there is a place for all types of genres, no matter how much they sell. I mean, they might not push or spend as much on jazz as say, rap, etc. But man, back then it seems they just said "No, you don't sound British and pop! Gone!" - Too bad.

 

Right.

Well, at least we are beating The Beatles here, with this pictorial thread (or so says Johnny B Good)!

 

Maysa Matarazzo was born in Brazil 1936 and died in 1977 by fatal car crash. Recorded in 1957, this is in true stereo. "Maysa Sings Songs Before Dawn" was her only English speaking album. She recorded many albums in Brazil after this. She had a very sexy, breathy voice with a Brazilian accent. There is a detailed biography of her on Wikipedia. A personal favorite. this is definitely worth seeking out...reissued on LPTime CD from Japan a few years ago. I love her version of the Jeri Southern classic, "You Better Go Now", and, also "The End Of A Love Affair". Most of these songs have a subtle bossa nova tempo. Great!!!

 

I enjoy both of her original LPs, and feel that she was a solid singer.


Though not original albums per se, there are two other LPs worth mentioning:



The first is actually a compilation of singles and previously unissued numbers, all of them recorded with Nelson Riddle for Capitol Records. Most of them are in a rhythm & blues vein.

I neither have nor have even listened to the second album above. It is a soundtrack from a movie with an all-African-American cast. Georgia obviously sings in it, but I would not take for granted that she is heard in all or even most of the tracks.

 

Like Marge Dodson, Georgia Carr had also been a secretary. (Later on, she would work as a radio disc jockey, too.)



Stan Kenton found and brought her to Capitol, where she was paired with Nelson Riddle. The numbers found on the aforementioned Capitol LP were recorded in 1952 and 1953.



Furthermore, Georgia was one of a small number of American singers who found a measure of success not only at home but also in Australia: for a short while, she had her own TV show Down Under! Eventually, however, she is said to have gone into a catering business with her sister. Sorry to hear that she died at a relatively young age.

 

She was, as they used to say back in the day, "a dish." The clip in which she is doing "The Doodlin' Song" with Torme provides visual proof.
The association to Les Diaboliques is also apt, because she looked like one of those famous French blondes -- Brigitte Bardot, Simone Signoret ...

Susan made, as far as I know, a total of three albums. Two of them were released by Capitol.



Reportedly, she was just 19 in 1959, when she recorded the first of these albums. The second Capitol LP, also arranged by Kenyon Hopkins, is thematic. Later on, its songs were mined for some of the "Capitol Sings" CD series that came out in the 1990s (e.g. Capitol Sings ... Coast to Coast). In such compilations, I tend to find Susan's voice refreshing, when her tracks come up amidst the others. But when I listen to the full Capitol albums, that's a different matter. They are a bit too much for me, more or less for the same reason given by ShockControl. The vibrato from her version of "I Get Along without You Very Well" is too much: Susan Barrett - I Get Along Without You Very Well ». I.m.o., she needed to reign herself in.



Her album on RCA is from 1967, and in it she kinda sounds like a different singer (i.e., she sounds more like in the clip with Torme, which is from that same year). The notes on this RCA album include a quote from a press review, in which she is referred to as being 23 years old. If she was 23 in 1966 or 1967, then she would have not been 19, but about 15, when she recorded her debut album on Capitol! Nevertheless, I think that the RCA notes are misleading; the review being quoted probably predated the RCA LP by a few years.

While I would not hesitate to call the aforementioned live duet with Mel Torme fun and nice, I can't quite bring myself to say the same about this movie appearance of hers: I Say a Little Prayer - The April Fools (1969) » ... Once again, I feel that she'd be better off taking it down a few notches.

On the whole, the RCA album works out better than the Capitol ones for me. I like, for instance, this number (even if, at times, I feel that she gets too precious):

 

Just catching up on this thread and really liking what I'm discovering! A few notes of minutiae:
-Jean Dinning, of the Dinning Sisters, wrote 'Teen Angel' with her husband.
-Annie Ross was in a relationship with Kenny Clarke in the late '40s and had a son by him.
-Ina Ray and June Hutton went to Hyde Park High School in Chicago. There must have been something musical in the water, because Steve Allen, Mel Torme and Herbie Hancock went there too (not at the same time, natch).
-Jackie & Roy did two versions of the song 'Season In The Sun', one in '55 and the other in '61 IIRC. The '55 version has the unmistakable brushwork of Joe Morello (pre-Brubeck) and IMO is the superior of the two.

 

Another suitable addition to the list. These days, we also have the option of listening to the entire album in YouTube:



Among the tracks from this album is, incidentally, "Ne Me Quitte Pas," one of her two or three best-known interpretations (and sung by her in French).

1936-1977. To think that we were lamenting, not long ago, Georgia Carr's death at just 46. Maysa was merely 40. Not to get too morbid, but the bridge on which she met her demise (due to speeding, as she was on her way to her beach house) is quite nice to look at:

 

A friend who knows of my record obsession picked this up for me at a yard sale.
Very Good.

 

One more point worth adding is that this is a songbook. The three men listed under Hogan's name (DeSylva, Brown and Henderson) were a songwriting team, and the songs listed on the album were among their compositions. DeSylva was actually one of the three founders of Capitol Records. The well-known "The Thrill Is Gone" and the lesser-known "Let's Call It a Day" are among their other songs which were not included in Hogan's songbook.

As obscure as Claire Hogan's name may be (and, to me, it is quite obscure), there used to be an extensive webpage dedicated to her in the internet. Or, at least, my mind remembers it as being extensive; more than a decade has passed since I last saw it. I do recall seeing there several rare, personal photo from her youth. Alas, am finding no traces of it now.

I did find, though, this page, which covers some biographical territory, and makes allusion to her passing: The Monday After: Claire Hogan sang with the big bands » . In one of the quotes from that article, she describes herself as "so Irish that you couldn't believe it."

I prefer her other LP, in which her more aged voice seems to honor the album's title:



It is a thematic album -- and the perfect souvenir to take with you to Alcoholics Anonymous! Songtitles include "I'll Pay the Check," "Sometimes When You Are Lonely," "I'm Gonna Laugh You Right Out of my Life," and "Here I Go Again."

I think I also have some of Claire's vocals with Freddie Slack, and maybe the odd additional vocal with some of the other bandleaders for which she served as canary.

For anyone curious to hear the songbook, a couple of tracks can be found in YouTube: Claire Hogan - Together », Claire Hogan - Just Imagine ».