When I was a teenager, I came upon a record album in my parents’ huge LP collection, along with some cassette tapes and even some eight tracks. It was a Reader’s Digest multi-record album called The Swing Years. I can’t recall what made me pick it up and put it on the turntable but, when I did, it immediately made me smile. I soon became familiar with many of the great big bandleaders as well as their lead singers. I even got to hear (and meet!) Tex Beneke, Helen Forrest, Ray Eberle, and Helen O’Connell when they performed at the local summer music venues where I lived. I even have a friend who plays trombone in one. To this day, swing and big band music hold a special place in my heart.
But what fascinated me most were the girl singers, those glamorous female singers who fronted the bands in a gorgeous dress.
Here were some of the big ones in no particular order:
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Jo Stafford: beginning with the Pied Pipers , she progressed to lead singer for Tommy Dorsey’s band before launching a solo career with her husband, arranger Paul Weston.
- Peggy Lee: she got her start with Benny Goodman before embarking on a solo career. Lee was also a songwriter, composer, and arranger.
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Helen Forrest: this powerhouse sang with three of the biggest big bands ever: Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, AND Harry James before going solo and dueting with crooner Dick Haymes in the late 1940s. Juicy tidbit: she was in love with Harry James before he fell for film star, Betty Grable.
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Connie Haines: Tommy Dorsey’s girl singer with the Pied Pipers before Frank Sinatra eclipsed them all.
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Helen O’Connell: the lead girl singer for Jimmy Dorsey’s band, Tommy’s brother. Incidentally, Jimmy Dorsey’s lead male singer was Bob Eberly, Ray Eberle’s older brother (who sang with Glenn Miller).
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Ginny Simms: also a minor film star (she starred with Abbott & Costello in Hit the Ice), she sang with Kay Kyser and Woody Herman.
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Anita O’Day: “The Jezebel of Jazz” sang with many bands including Stan Kenton, Woody Herman, and Gene Krupa.
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Doris Day: Long before she became a huge film star and, later, an animal activist, Day sang in Les Brown and His Band of Renown.
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Marion Hutton: This Hutton was chosen over her erratic sister Betty to sing with the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
-Maria, with thanks to my co-worker, Tim, for previously mentioning FM 90.5 Rhythm Sweet & Hot, which plays music of the swing era on Saturdays from 6-8pm.
Eleventh Stack 