MUSIC BREAK: MARTHA TILTON - THE LAST TIME I SAW PARIS

SINGER SPOTLIGHT: MARTHA TILTON - PART ONE

One of the most beautiful of the musical songbirds was the great  Martha Tilton. This bio of the Liltin' Martha Tilton was taken from a website dedicated to her. A link to the great website is provided below...

Born on November 14th, 1915, her family moved to Edna, Kansas a short time after; then, in 1922, they settled on Laurel Avenue in Los Angeles. Her father worked as a banker in Los Angeles. and he did well (considering this was during the Great Depression), he soon moved his family to a nice home at 507 Highland Avenue in Los Angeles. This is the home Martha's parents lived in for the remainder of their lives and which Martha only recently sold.

The Tiltons were a close-knit family; aunts and uncles and grandparents all lived within a few blocks of each other. Martha's mother played piano and her father had a beautiful singing voice, and the whole extended family loved to sing whenever they got together. Some of Martha's favorite singers at the time were Ruth Etting and Connee Boswell.

Martha also had a younger sister named Liz who was born in 1918, whom Martha claims was even prettier then she (although it's hard to believe). Liz was also a talented singer, singing with Jan Garber's orchestra in the mid-1940s and also Bob Crosby's band; her recordings are rare, so we have included a few on this site for your enjoyment (see "Audio" page). When Liz's husband returned from WWII, Liz left the music business. Liz passed away a few years ago, in 2003.

While Martha attended Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, she met up with a girl friend who had an older sister dating a fellow from U.S.C. college. These fellows had a small band that performed on a local radio station. She went on to sing at the Ambassador Hotel's Coconut Grove with Sid Lippman's Band.

In 1937, Martha joined the Jimmy Dorsey Band and spent a few months with that organization. During that time Dorsey recorded many records, but none included Martha unfortunately.

Still in 1937, she appeared in her first movie, the Roland Young film "Topper," with Cary Grant and Constance Bennett. She had an uncredited part as a lounge singer, fronting the group "Three Hits and a Miss."

Besides appearing in the movie "Topper," Martha also appeared in the films "Irene," "You'll Never Get Rich," "Sunny," "Strictly In The Groove," "Crime Inc.," "Swing Hostess" and "The Benny Goodman Story." Her last film, "The Queen of the Stardust Ballroom," was made in 1975. Most of these movies are available for purchase online.

While with "Three Hits and a Miss," Martha was the first girl singer to sing four-part harmony with a pop group. About this time, Benny Goodman was in Hollywood filming "Hollywood Hotel" and became aware of Martha, and she was asked to audition to replace Helen Ward. Goodman seemed to be going through a lot of girl singers at this time. Martha later commented that the band worked 365 days straight for two years, with no breaks. With that kind of a schedule, one can see why some singers and band members might leave looking for easier work hours.

During her years with Goodman, Martha made over 80 recordings--some really great, some pretty bad. According to Martha, Benny would record anything that came along, knowing his established popularity would make them hits. Unfortunately, performers like Martha who sang with a popular big band got little recognition. While she lent her beautiful voice to a recording (and without her voice, a song may not have been nearly as popular), Benny Goodman got the credit.

Early in her career with the Goodman organization, Martha was singing at the SunnyBrook Ballroom in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. When it came time for Benny to introduce her, he gave her a big buildup: "Here is a pretty gal from Hollywood that's really going places." But Martha missed her cue. When she didn't appear on stage, after a moment Benny ad-libbed, "She's not going places, she's already gone."

One of the biggest hits Martha had with Goodman was the song "And The Angels Sing." This tune was recorded on the spur of the moment, after the band had just come off a road trip. Johnny Mercer was still working on the lyrics as they went into the recording studio. After each take, Johnny would make changes and they'd do it all over again. Ziggy Elman, trumpet player, had a lengthy solo in the second half of the record; needless to say, after so many takes, his lips had taken a pretty bad beating.

After the song was put to bed, Martha commented to Harry James that this particular tune would never be a hit. Much to her surprise, she was wrong. "And The Angels Sing" is one of those songs that will endure forever and no one has ever sang it as beautifully as Martha. Of the many different recordings of the song she made over the years, I prefer the one done in 1955 with Capitol Records.

January 16, 1938 was a very special day; not just for Martha, but also for the Goodman organization and the wonderful music they brought to the world. That evening, the Goodman band broke tradition when they played swing music to a packed house at Carnegie Hall. Martha was 23 years old and must have felt a strong sense of fulfillment when she sang "Lock Lomond" and received the longest ovation of the entire evening. She also sang "Bei Mir Bist Du Schon." I believe this solidly set Martha as one of the great swing vocalists.

Martha's career with Goodman ended in April 1939, when the band broke up. This was bound to happen considering the rigorous schedule Goodman worked under. Also a number of strong solo performers had started out by working for Benny: Lionel Hampton, Harry James, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa, to name a few; they were ready to make their own marks on the music world. The remaining members of the band were saddened by Martha's leaving. Louise Tobin, who was then married to Harry James, replaced her....

TO BE CONTINUED...

SOURCE

CELEBRITY ADS: FRED MACMURRAY

I doubt this beer maker is still in business, but here is Fred MacMurray advertising it in 1949...

MUSIC BREAK: BING CROSBY - WHAT'S MORE AMERICAN

HOLLYWOOD BEAUTY: GINNY SIMMS

 Ginny Simms was famous for her vocals with Kay Kyser & His Orchestra, but she also tried to hand in acting and was one of the most beautiful woman vocalists in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Here are some prime examples of her beauty:

RECENTLY VIEWED: NO HARD FEELINGS

Normally I got to the movies with my daughter who is a movie junkie! My older son is like my wife, in that they do not care for going to the movies. My son, who is a teenager now wanted to see a movie with me! I jumped at the chance to spend some time with him, and we saw the comedy No Hard Feelings. Directed by Gene Stupnitsky from a screenplay he co-wrote with John Phillips, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence (who also produces) as a down-on-her-luck young woman who answers a listing to date an introverted 19-year-old (played by Andrew Barth Feldman) in order to get him out of his shell prior to college. Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, and Matthew Broderick co-star.

The project was announced on October 2021, when Sony Pictures Releasing and Columbia Pictures won a bidding war between Apple Original Films, Netflix and Universal Pictures. Lawrence was joined the cast and produced the film with Stupnitsky attached to direct the film. Much of the cast joined in September to October 2022. Filming expected begin in late September in various Nassau County locations in New York City. No Hard Feelings was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing on June 23, 2023. It received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $24 million.

I enjoyed the film overall. Because of our society's constant struggle with political correctness, there has not been many comedies lately. The genre needs revived, because I am bored of super hero movies and franchises. No Hard Feelings put a lot of their best moments in the trailer, but the movie was great. It is surprising to see oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence in a comedy role, but she is really believable as a 32 yeard old woman with no future. An added addition to the cast is Matthew Broderick as the hippy father. I would have liked to have seen more of him!

The movie is R-rated for language and nudity, so I do not recommend this for children. My son who is mature for his age, got all of the inneudos, and he really liked the movie. He did not care for the ending, and it did kind of just taper off, but if you are in the mood for a fast and breezey movie that is not all CGI or superhero, then check out this film. The humor was sometimes crude, but the laughs we had were real...

MY RATING: 8 out of 10

BORN ON THIS DAY: PHIL HARRIS

Phil Harris was many things in Hollywood. He was a singer, comedian, actor, band leader, and just an all around fun guy. He was born on this day in 1904. Harris was born in Linton, Indiana, but grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, and identified himself as a Southerner. His hallmark song was "That's What I Like About the South." He had a trace of a Southern accent and in later years made self-deprecating jokes over the air about his heritage. His parents were circus performers. His father, a tent bandleader, gave him his first job as a drummer with the circus' band.

Phil Harris began his music career as a drummer in San Francisco, in the mid-1920s playing drums in the Henry Halstead Big Band Orchestra. He formed an orchestra with Carol Lofner in the latter 1920s and started a long engagement at the St. Francis Hotel. In the 1930s, Lofner-Harris recorded swing music for Victor, Columbia, Decca, and Vocalion. The partnership ended by 1932, and Harris led a band in Los Angeles for which he was the singer and bandleader. In 1936, Harris became musical director of The Jell-O Program Starring Jack Benny singing and leading his band, with Mahlon Merrick writing much of the show's music. When Harris exhibited a knack for snappy one-liners, he joined the cast, portraying himself as a hip, hard-drinking Southerner whose good nature superseded his ego. He gave the others nicknames, such as "Jackson" for Jack Benny. (Addressing a man as "Jackson" or sometimes "Mr. Jackson" became popular slang in the early 1940s.) His signature song was "That's What I Like About the South." Many of his vocal recordings were comic novelty "talking blues," similar to the songs of Bert Williams, which are sometimes considered a precursor to rap. He remained on the Jack Benny program until 1952. He also starred in his own radio show with his wife Alice Faye from 1946 to 1954.

In 1956, Harris appeared in the film Good-bye, My Lady. He made numerous guest appearances on 1960s and 1970s television series, including The Steve Allen Show, the Kraft Music Hall, Burke's Law, F Troop, The Dean Martin Show, The Hollywood Palace, and other musical variety programs. He appeared on The American Sportsman which took celebrities on hunting and fishing trips around the world.

Harris worked as a voice actor for animated films, providing the voice of Baloo the bear in The Jungle Book (1967), Thomas O'Malley in The Aristocats (1970), and Little John in Robin Hood (1973). In 1989, he reprised his role as Baloo for the cartoon series TaleSpin, but after a few recording sessions he was replaced by Ed Gilbert. Harris's final film role was in Rock-a-Doodle (1991).

Harris spent time in the 1970s and early 1980s leading a band that appeared often in Las Vegas, often on the same bill with bandleader Harry James.This "man of the south" led a full life and died at the age of 91 in 1995...