Female Crooners

[Nathan Dodge]

I'm becoming quite a Helen Forrest admirer.

 

[dhermann1]

A couple more to add

Here are two singers with Bob Hope connections whom I admire:
Shirley Ross. She sings the duet of "Thanks for the Memories" with Bob in "The Big Broadcast of 1938", the film that made Hope a superstar.
Delores Reade, aka Delores Hope. His wife. A great talent in her own right, She left show biz when she married Bob. I've heard her sing a couple of times and she was wonderful.
Speaking of Doris Day, I have a couple early Les Brown albums with her on them. She's just a teenager, and she's wonnnnnderful.

 

[NoirDame]

Betty Hutton
Martha Mears

 

[Chas]

I rate mine in this order...

Ella Fitzgerald (greatest jazz singer of all time)
Anita O'Day
Lee Wiley
Lena Horne
Ivie Anderson (Duke Ellington)
Maxine Sullivan
The Boswell Sisters
Connee Boswell
Annette Hanshaw
Lee Morse (most underrated singer of the 20s/30's)
Sarah Vaughn
Mildred Bailey
Pauline Byrne (Artie Shaw orch. 1940/41)
Helen Forrest
Kay Starr
Edythe Wright
June Richmond (Andy Kirk, Jimmy Dorsey)
The McKinney Sisters (Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys)
Betty Hutton
Wini Shaw
Ester Borja (Lecuona Cuban Boys)

 

[SarahLouise]

I've also been listening to a lot of female fronted big band swing lately. Some of my favourites are Helen Ward (I really recommend her The Queen of Big Band Swing album), Betty Hutton, Helen Forrest, The Boswell Sisters, Jo Stafford, The King Sisters, Bea Wain, Fran Warren, Alice Faye, Anita O'Day, Kitty Kallen and Margaret Whiting.

 

[pennycarrol]

My favourite female crooner is definitly Dinah Washington!!! I especially love her song called "The man I love"!! What a beautiful song!!

 

[pennycarrol]

I also love Julie London, I've just discovered her!!!

 

[K.D. Lightner]

I am reading a book called Considering Doris Day, by Tom Santopietro. The book is filled with info on her career and her iconic meaning to those of us who recall the 40's through the 70's.

I knew she was versatile, but did not realize she remains unequaled as the only entertainer who was not only a dancer and big band singer, but a pop singer with many hit songs on radio and recordings, movies (musicals, comedies and a few dramatic roles). The only thing she didn't do was live theatre.

She was also, for four years, the number one film star in the world.

Then, she turned her back on it all and went off to save animals, bless her heart.

karol

 

[Brinybay]

I don't know her name, but she sings in a few songs in my Artie Shaw collection. Deep Purple and Just My Bill are two.

 

[fireman sam]

let me add to this great list Nina Simone and Ruth Brown

 

[fireman sam]

Oh I can't believe i forgot Mahlia Jackson

 

[Cred100]

Also, Doris Day sang with some big bands. Her first big hit was "Sentimental Journey," which she sang when she was with the Les Brown's Band of Renown. She also sang with Barney Rapp and I believe, Tommy Dorsey, but have not verified that.

I liked her singing, also Rosemary Clooney, Jo Stafford, Pattie Page, Kay Starr, Mary Ford (of Les Paul and Mary Ford). My very favorite would be Peggy Lee, singing not only Fever, but, from 1939 Why Don't You Do Right. Another song from that era I love is My Heart Belongs to Daddy, which was sung by Mary Martin.

Hardly a crooner, but I loved listening to Teresa Brewer when I was a pre-teen; later, there was Connie Francis, who could belt a song.

karol

Connie is a great one, although she is from the late 50s to present. The first female superstar of the rock era.

 

[rmrdaddy]

I've also been listening to a lot of female fronted big band swing lately. Some of my favourites are... and Margaret Whiting.

Thank you for mentioning the great Margaret Whiting! Check out her version of the great Johnny Mercer tune "And the Angels Sing" with the hatzatska trumpet break by Ziggy Ellman. WOW!

 

[dhermann1]

OK, here's another really great and largely forgotten female vocalist: Sister Rosetta Tharp. What a singer!

 

[Darhling]

I really like Julie London .. her voice isn't too husky, but just a tad.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

OK, here's another really great and largely forgotten female vocalist: Sister Rosetta Tharp. What a singer!

LOVE HER!!!

 

[George Wagner]

Thank you, Chas, for your mention of Miss Lee Morse. I was beginning to think that nobody here remembered her!

She made wonderful jazz recordings with her three-octave range. In fact. that was why the record producers insisted on the "Miss" in her name. When she used used her lower resister many listeners tended to think she was a guy!

However, my all time favorite singer is Marion Harris (Mary Ellen Harrison, 1896-1944). I've spent the past 15 years trying to track down biographical details concerning her, without much success. It's only been within the past couple of years that I've managed to verify her birth year. I still don't have a firm birthplace!

 

[Tamamiko]

Question...

Where's Mae West in all of this?

 

[George Wagner]

May West was an excellent jazz singer.

So was Sophie Tucker. She actually contracted for singing lessons from Mamie Smith and Ethel Waters.

And has anybody heard the throaty but delightful recordings actress Tallulah Bankhead made in London around 1932?

 

[Nathan Dodge]

I don't know her name, but she sings in a few songs in my Artie Shaw collection. Deep Purple and Just My Bill are two.

I'm becoming quite a Helen Forrest admirer.

You have your answer! She's great!