Connie Francis is the prototype for the female pop singer of today. At the height of her chart popularity in the late '50s and early '60s, Francis was unique as a female recording artist, amassing record sales equal to or surpassing those of many of her male contemporaries. Ultimately, she branched into other styles of music -- big band, country, ethnic, and more. She still challenges Madonna as the biggest-selling female recording artist of all time.
The 1957 LP Dinah Washington Sings Fats Waller appropriately brings together Waller's vivacious songs and Washington's demonstrative vocal talents. The jazz diva effortlessly handles Waller classics like "Keeping out of Mischief Now," "Just Squeeze Me," and "Ain't Mibehavin'," while turning in particularly emotive renditions of "'Tain't Noboby's Biz-Ness If I Do" (actually a Clarence Williams tune), and "Jitterbug Waltz" (this last cut featuring Washington's keen and signature blend of blues vocal power and streamlined diction). Adding nice variety to the already strong set, Washington's husband at the time, saxophonist Eddie Chamblee, joins the singer for playful duets on "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Everybody Loves My Baby" (ironically, the love sentiments of both songs were not to stick, as the couple called it quits after just a year of marriage). In addition to "Everybody Loves My Baby" and "'Tain't Noboby's Biz-Ness If I Do," Washington covers other songs associated with Waller, but not penned by him, including "Christopher Columbus" and the highlight of the set, "Somebody's Rocking My Dreamboat." Topped off with solidly swinging charts by Ernie Wilkins and fine backing by an all-star band, the date registers as one of Dinah Washington's best and most enjoyable records. [Reissued in the '90s by Verve as The Fats Waller Songbook.]
June Christy (1925-1990) was one of many female vocalists, like Peggy Lee and Doris Day, who emerged from the rigors of the Big Band era of the 1930s and ‘40s to become major recording artists in their own right. Today, Christy is best known as an innovator in the Cool Jazz genre of the 1950s; her voice—a smoky, slow vibrato, originating deep in the chest—will forever be an important part of The Great American Songbook.
Eartha Kitt was born in the cotton fields of South Carolina. Kitt's mother was a sharecropper of African-American and Cherokee Native American descent. Her father's identity is unknown. Given away by her mother, she arrived in Harlem at age nine. At 15, she quit high school to work in a Brooklyn factory. As a teenager, Kitt lived in friends' homes and in the subways. However, by the 1950s, she had sung and danced her way out of poverty and into the spotlight: performing with the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe on a European tour, soloing at a Paris nightclub and becoming the toast of the Continent. Orson Welles called her "the most exciting girl in the world". She also spoke out on hard issues. She took over the role of Catwoman for the third and final season of the television series Batman (1966), replacing Julie Newmar. Eartha Kitt died of colon cancer in her home in Weston, Connecticut, on Christmas Day 2008.
Patti Page was born Clara Ann Fowler in Oklahoma in 1927. She began her professional singing career at KTUL, a Tulsa radio station. Since the program was sponsored by Page Milk, she adopted the moniker Patti Page, and it stuck. Patti toured the US in the late 1940s with Jimmy Joy, and notably sang with the Benny Goodman band in Chicago. In 1950 she recorded "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming", her first platinum-selling record. In 1951 her rendition of "The Tennessee Waltz" became the biggest hit of her career. It was #1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there for 30 weeks; over the years it would sell 10 million copies. Patti was the best-selling female vocalist of the 1950s, and was wildly popular all through the 1960s.
With a voice that was both bright and warm, singer, guitarist, and dancer Caterina Valente was a multilingual European artist who became one of the most beloved performers of her generation. After emerging on the continent in 1954 with "Istanbul," she had her first British and American hits with 1955's "Malagueña" and "The Breeze and I," the biggest single of her career. After further establishing herself with full-length releases like 1956's The Hi-Fi Nightingale and next year's Plenty Valente!, she was nominated for a Grammy in 1959 for "La strada del amore" (Best Vocal Performance, Female). Valente went on to release hundreds more albums, many of them dedicated to a particular region of the world (for example, Argentina, Australia, or the U.S.) or a particular language (she spoke six languages and sang in 12).
Known as the Queen of Cabaret, Julie Wilson was born on October 21, 1924 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA. Her mother was a hairdresser, her father a coal salesman. She graduated from Omaha Benson High School of Omaha Nebraska in 1942 and studied music and drama at Omaha University but dropped out after successfully auditioning for Earl Carroll's Vanities. She was a one-time band vocalist with Johnny Long and later Ray Anthony & His Orchestra and later had a successful career as a nightclub and cabaret singer. Julie was also an actress, known for This Could Be the Night (1957), Kiss Me, Kate (1958) and Monsters (1988). In 1989 she as nominated for Broadway's Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Musical) for "Legs Diamond." She was married to Michael McAloney, Harvey Bernhard and Barron Polan. She died on April 5, 2015 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
One of the wealthiest men in the world, Jean-Marc Clement (Yves Montand) is rich in money, but lacking in love. While seeking someone who adores him for his personality rather than his fortune, Clement learns that he is the subject of a satirical theater production. Unrecognized as he visits the play's set, Clement is offered the part as himself by the show's unwitting producers, and he takes the gig to be close to the gorgeous yet down-to-earth actress Amanda Dell (Marilyn Monroe).
Lorez Alexandria was a popular attraction for several decades. She sang gospel music with her family at churches starting in the mid-'40s and worked in Chicago nightclubs in the 1950s. With the release of several albums for King during 1957-1959, Alexandria became popular beyond her hometown, and by the early '60s she was living and working in Los Angeles. In addition to the King label, her earlier recording sessions were for Argo and Impulse, while her later albums were for Discovery and Muse. Despite a long period off records (only a few private recordings during the 1965-1976 period), Alexandria survived through the many changes in musical styles and could be heard in excellent form up until she retired in the mid-'90s. Not long after retiring, Alexandria suffered a stroke, and her health declined until her death in May 2001.
Cleo Brown performed in the Chicago area during the late 1920s. In 1935, she replaced Fats Waller on his New York radio series on WABC, and soon began recording. Her version of "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" was influential on pianists that came after her, and she is credited with being an early influence on Dave Brubeck, who played during the intermissions of her shows, and Marian McPartland, among others. Through the 1950s she worked frequently at that city's Three Deuces club, establishing a reputation as a two-fisted, driving pianist. Brown began to gain international renown for her work, and she continued to perform regularly in New York, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco until 1953, making records for Capitol Records and performing with the Decca All-Stars, among others.