DICK HAYMES AT 100

There was a time when the name Dick Haymes meant more to the record buying audience than Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby. However, September 13th marks what would have been Haymes 100th birthday. Many people will not remember this crooner with one of the best voices in the business. Dick Haymes was most popular in the 1940s but early on he worked with several bandleaders before beginning a solo career that took him to Hollywood stardom. His brother, Bob, was a successful songwriter. (Bob Haymes wrote the standard "That's All").

In 1937, the family briefly settled in California, where Dick’s mother hobnobbed with movie stars, before returning to New York. Both brothers set their sights on singing. Many auditions later, Haymes landed a spot with Bunny Berigan’s orchestra in 1939 but left after only a few dates. Berigan’s band was in serious decline at that point, and Haymes had other ambitions.

Haymes found sporadic work singing on the radio and decided to try his hand as a songwriter. After pitching his work to bandleader Harry James, he ended up being hired as a vocalist. His deep baritone voice quickly won over both the critics and the public. He remained with James until the end of 1941 when, expecting his first child, he left for greener pastures.

In January 1942, Haymes signed with CBS for his own three times weekly radio series, and in May, he organized his own band in which he was to play piano as well as sing. The endeavor quickly fell victim to the draft, and he joined Benny Goodman as vocalist. He left Goodman at the end of 1942, finding a new home with Tommy Dorsey.

Haymes stayed with Dorsey for only a few months, going solo in May 1943. He signed a recording contract with Decca and in August signed a film contract with Twentieth Century Fox, beginning what would be a very successful screen career. He starred in many of the top Fox musicals of the era, including Billy Rose’s Diamond Horseshoe and State Fair. He hosted his own new CBS radio program from 1944 to 1948, teamed up with singer Helen Forrest in the first two years. The pair often recorded together. Haymes also appeared on various other radio programs in the 1940s and 1950s.

Near the end of the war, Haymes faced the prospect of being drafted, and he registered as a resident alien, waiving his right to citizenship in order to avoid being called to duty. He claimed he only did so due to a family crisis which needed his attention. He later volunteered for the service but was refused on medical grounds, so he became one of the USO’s most ardent volunteers instead.

In 1947, when his Fox contract ran out, Haymes signed with Universal for two pictures. His records still sold well but a troubled home life began to take its toll. Problems with drinking and his handling of money caused his career to suffer. During the early 1950s, he appeared in several B movies and starred in an action/adventure radio series on ABC. His contract with Decca ended in 1952.

He made a few outstand recordings for Capitol in the late 1950s before moving to Ireland in 1961, where he spent the decade cleaning up his life. When he did manage to make records, they are all wonderful and shows a crooner in great voice. He began to make a comeback in the 1970s and returned to the U.S. in 1972, but his chance at good fortune was short-​lived. Dick Haymes died in 1980 after losing a fight with lung cancer. Dick Haymes deserves to be remembered especially now on his century birthday...

FRANK SINATRA AT 100

It is hard to believe that Francis Albert Sinatra was born 100 years ago on December 12th, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Little did everyone know that the skinny little Sinatra boy would grow into an international superstar. Frank himself once said "may you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine". He has been gone for over 17 years now, but his voice lives on. One thing I must admit while I'm writing this article is that for a long time I did not even like Sinatra.

Growing up under my Grandfather's watchful eye in regards to music, he instilled in me a love of the great music of the 1930s and 1940s. His basement was full of 78rpms, and I doubted his cold and dank basement as "record heaven" which is really was. There were hundreds of Decca 78rpms of Bing Crosby, loads of Capitol 78rpms of such crooners as Andy Russell and Gordon MacRae, and a healthy amount of Columbia 78rpms of Buddy Clark. However, there was not much room left in my Grandfather's collection for many Sinatra records. As a matter of fact, my Grandfather pretty much despised Sinatra. My Grandfather would call the crooner "Frank Snot Rag", and he resented Sinatra for not fighting in the war. Surprisingly though one of my Grandparent's favorite records was Sinatra's version of "I Fall In Love Too Easily". While I like that early Sinatra recording, I think I prefer it by Dinah Shore.

I learned to appreciate Frank Sinatra more through appearances he made with my favorite singers Bing Crosby and Dean Martin. While I always liked the personality of Crosby and Dino more, Sinatra really had a way with a song. Sinatra dominated the 1950s and 1960s concept album market. Two of my favorite albums by Ole Blue Eyes was his "In The Wee Small Hours" album for Capitol Records in 1955 and his masterful "Moonlight Sinatra" for his own Reprise record company in 1964.

While Frank Sinatra stayed in the game too long (in my opinion he should have never done the Duets albums in the early 1990s), Sinatra really defined a generation. He appealed to the Bing Crosby generation of the 1930s, while also seeming like a swinging rebel to the younger Elvis Presley generation of the 1950s. His personality was not always the best, but he taught everyone how to be cool. No performer in this modern generation can come close to Frank Sinatra in talent, charisma, and swagger. No performer ever will. Is Frank Sinatra my favorite singer - no, not even close. I prefer other crooners like Crosby, Dino, Bobby Darin, and even Tony Martin. However, I can not deny this boy from Hoboken had talent and deserves to be remembered 100 years after his birth. One other funny thing about Sinatra - my Grandfather was born the same day as Sinatra. However, my Grandfather was born 13 years after the crooner. Until my Grandfather's dying day I think he held that against Frank Sinatra as well...

VAUGHN MONROE AT 100

The name Vaughn Monroe might not be known much to the average Joe on the street. However, to fans of the music of the 1940s and 1950s, Vaughn's booming and soaring voice made many records of that era very enjoyable. This month Vaughn Monroe celebrated what would have been his 100th birthday. He died many years ago, but his memory lives on with the hundreds of songs he recorded for RCA, and the great appreciation society which helps to keep his memory alive.

Monroe was born in Akron, Ohio on October 7, 1911. He graduated from Jeannette High School in Pennsylvania in 1929 where he was senior class president and voted "most likely to succeed." After graduation, he attended the Carnegie Institute of Technology, where he was an active member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity. Monroe attended New England Conservatory for one semester in 1935, studying voice with Clarence B. Shirley.

He formed his first orchestra in Boston in 1940 and became its principal vocalist. He began recording for Victor's low-priced Bluebird label. That same year, Monroe built The Meadows, a restaurant and nightclub on Route 9 in Framingham, Massachusetts, west of Boston. He hosted the Camel Caravan radio program from there starting in 1946. It burned to the ground in December 1980.

Monroe was tall and handsome which helped him as a band leader and singer, as well as in Hollywood. He was sometimes called "the Baritone with Muscles", "the Voice with Hair on its Chest", "'ol Leather Tonsils", or "Leather Lungs".

He recorded extensively for RCA Victor until the 1950s and his signature tune was "Racing with the Moon" (1941). Among his other hits were "In the Still of the Night" (1939), "There I Go" (1941), "There I've Said It Again" (1945), "Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow" (1946), "Ballerina" (1947), "Riders in the Sky" (1949), "Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)" (1949), "Sound Off" (1951), and "In the Middle of the House" (1956).
Monroe also wrote a number of songs ranging from "Army Song" to less-known ones like the "Jeannette High School Alma Mater".

Movies also beckoned, although he did not pursue it with vigor. Monroe appeared in 1944's Meet the People, Carnegie Hall (1947), Singing Guns (1950), and The Toughest Man in Arizona (1952). He co-authored The Adventures of Mr. Putt Putt, a children's book about airplanes and flying, published in 1949.

He hosted The Vaughn Monroe Show on CBS television from 1950–51 and from 1954–55, and also appeared on Bonanza and The Mike Douglas Show, as well as The Ed Sullivan Show, Texaco Star Theatre, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Tonight Show, and American Bandstand. He was a major stockholder in RCA and appeared in print ads and television commercials for the company's TV and audio products.

Like most big bands of the 1940s, a number of well-known artists got their start with Vaughn Monroe. Ray Conniff, guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli, and songstress Georgia Gibbs all performed with the orchestra. Although most of the big bands broke up after the 1947 musician's union strike, Monroe kept on chugging, and went on to record his biggest hit in 1949: Ghost Riders In the Sky. Eventually the same fate befell Monroe's orchestra. With the band still at the height of its popularity, concert attendance began to drop.

Monroe himself attributed the decline to increased expenses, and above all, television. When expenses drove ticket costs to the breaking point in 1952, the violins were dismissed. More attrition followed, and Monroe called the orchestra business quits in 1953. Of the top orchestras from the 1940s, only Guy Lombardo and Count Basie would continue with a sizable show into the 1960s and 1970s.

With the loss of his touring band, the hit records stopped. But Monroe's personal popularity was as strong as ever; he continued to be successful touring as a solo act, using whatever band or orchestra was on the bill. He was also popular as a pitchman, promoting everything from Camel cigarettes and RCA radios to the US Forest Service's Smokey the Bear campaign. Monroe was a spokesman for RCA televisions well into the 1960s. He continued to headline decent sized showrooms and theatres until his passing in 1973.

Monroe died on May 21, 1973 at Martin County Memorial Hospital, shortly after having stomach surgery. He was buried in Fernhill Memorial Gardens and Mausoleum in Stuart, Florida...

For more information on singer Vaughn Monroe please visit:The Vaughn Monroe Appreciation Society