Female Crooners

[Amy Jeanne]

Who are some of your very favourite female singers from the 20s-40s era? I've always preferred women singers to male in every genre I've ever been into and I'd like to find more music by more swingin' ladies.

Here's who I have:
Frances Langford
Annette Hanshaw
Lucille Bogan
Lee Wiley
The Boswell Sisters
The Andrews Sisters
Alice Faye
Helen Kane
Lucienne Boyer
Josephine Baker
Ruth Etting
Bea Wain
Marion Harris
Ella Fitzgerald

Who else NEEDS to be in my collection?

 

[LadyStardust]

Anne Shelton
Helen Forrest
Jo Stafford
Vera Lynn

 

[LizzieMaine]

Vaughn DeLeath -- perhaps the first female crooner. Made some lovely recordings in the 20s, and was very active on radio in the '30s.

Peggy Healy -- vocalist with Paul Whiteman in the mid-thirties, had a very nice way with the pop tunes of the era.

Maxine Grey -- Vocalist with Hal Kemp, c. 1935-36. An ideal fit for the best sweet band ever.

Kay Weber -- Vocalist with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, 1934-35. Could croon or swing with equal facility.

Leah Ray -- Vocalist with the Phil Harris orchestra, c. 1931-34. Especially good in comic/romantic duets with Harris. Only a teenager when she started, but you'd never guess it from her voice.

The Pickens Sisters -- very much like the Boswells, only a bit more Southern.

 

[Parallel Guy]

Probably not the right era, but from the 50's:
Chris Connor
Anita O'Day
and especially, June Christy ("Something Cool")

 

[HadleyH]

Who else NEEDS to be in my collection?

OMG Amy!!!!!! Where is the one and only RAMONA???????????????

 

[CharlieH.]

To those names I can add-

Judy Garland
Martha Tilton
Dorothy Lamour (she sang too!)
Peggy Lee
Doris Day
Lena Horne
Dinah Shore
Marion Hutton
Ginny Simms
Mildred Bailey
Cleo Brown
and Evelyn Dall

 

[ShooShooBaby]

no one has mentioned Ella Mae Morse?! she is hands down, my favorite....

along with Anita O'Day and Helen Forrest!

 

[Brooksie]

You absolutly must not forget - BILLIE HOLIDAY!!!

and add these to your list also...
Rosemary Clooney
Marlene Dietrich (she sang too)

LB

 

[Rafter]

Here's some more "female crooners" and the bands they sang with.

June Christy (Stan Kenton. Boyd Raeburn, Benny Strong)
Georgia Gibbs (Hudson-DeLange, Artie Shaw, Perley Stevens, Richard Himber, Hal Kemp and Frank Trumbauer)
Connie Haines (Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Howard Lolly, Glenn Miller, Jan Savitt)
June Hutton (Charlie Spivak, Tommy Dorsey, Artie Shaw, Axel Stordahl,
Kitty Kallen (Jack Teagarden, Artie Shaw, Harry James, Jimmy Dorsey, Bob Golden, Jan Savitt, Bobby Sherwood, Harry Geller, George Siravo, Sonny Burke, and Jimmy Carroll)
Paula Kelly (Al Donahue, Glenn Miller, Artie Shaw, Bob Allen, Dick Stabile, Bob Crosby)
Abbe Lane (Xavier Cugat)
Marilyn Maxwell (Ted Weems, Anson Weeks, Buddy Rogers)
Helen O'Connell (Jimmy Dorsey, Larry Funk, Austin Wylie)
Della Reese (Duke Ellington)
Keely Smith (Louis Prima, Count Basie, Billy May)
Kay Starr (Glenn Miller, Charlie Barnet, Joe Venuti, Wingy Manone, Benny Carter and Ben Pollack, Bob Crosby)
Sarah Vaughan (Georgie Auld, Earl Hines, Billy Eckstine, Dizzy Gillespie)
Helen Ward (Benny Goodman, Enric Madriguera, Hal McIntyre, Freddy Martin, Gene Krupa, Harry James, Bob Crosby, Teddy Wilson)

 

[Liz]

I usually prefer female singers too. My favorite '20s/'30s vocalists are Libby Holman and Helen Morgan.

 

[dhermann1]

From the 50's, Julie London, a very sexy voice.
But for one of the all time great female vocalists of the 20th century, who sadly doesn't get her due, check out Mildred Bailey.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

Thanks, some good suggestions here. I already checked out Martha Tilton and downloaded every single one of those mp3s on her website! And Liz Tilton too!

 

[Hondo]

I have to be honest, not much for female or male crooners fan from radio era.
But I do like the list or enjoy the list you all have as favorites,
at one time or another, I've had the pleasure to reminisce some of those fine voices.
I will say that Peggy Lee always held a special place in my heart and ears.
Days when drinking and smoking were not thought of as bad for your health.
I'm sure we all miss those days which is why were here.
Hey! their playing Peggy Lee's "Fever"

 

[Fletch]

As a man who's a sucker for a low-pitched female voice (hello, Ramona?...Lee Wiley? :whistling), I want to put in a good word for Greta Keller, whose delicate Viennese singing out-Dietrich'd Dietrich in the 30s.

She made it to Hollywood when the war started, but never quite became a big name, probably because of discrimination. In 1942, her actor husband was found murdered by a friend. During the case it was revealed he and she were both gay and "fronting" for each other. She then became a favorite in cabarets and small clubs, where she sang well into the (her) 70s.

 

[Mildred]

favorite singers

I like Marjorie Hughes and Kitty Kallen. Someone mentioned Jo Stafford, she is wonderful too.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

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

 

[Cousin Hepcat]

...and especially, June Christy ("Something Cool")

Yes! Favorite female vocal single.
Second the vote for Jo Stafford- general favorite singer.

 

[Tommy Fedora]

More to the 50's but I thought Rosemary Clooney was super.
She didn't want to record " Come ona my house " but the studio overruled her. As a protest, she sang it with the accent and it became her biggest hit.

 

[HadleyH]

Another beautiful voice of the 30s and 40s was that of Anne Lenner, the vocalist in the Carroll Gibbons and His Savoy Orpheans Orchestra, singing such songs as "A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square", I think her voice has a very nostalgic quality to it, very nice.

 

[Dr Doran]

Late 50s: I find Blossom Dearie interesting. Not really a crooner, I suppose.