Margaret Whiting

All Music Guide:

Margaret Whiting was a dominant pop singer in the '40s and '50s, with a clear, striking voice and the kind of quasi-innocent sensibility that worked on such songs as "It Might as Well Be Spring" and "Moonlight in Vermont." The daughter of composer Richard Whiting (her aunt, Margaret Young, was a Brunswick Records recording artist of the '30s), Whiting began singing as a small child and by the age of seven she was working with Johnny Mercer, the popular songwriter and founder of Capitol Records, for whom her father worked. When Mercer and two partners launched Capitol, Margaret Whiting was one of their first signings.

Whiting started recording for the label in 1942, her first major hit being the Mercer/Harold Arlen composition "That Old Black Magic," as featured singer with Freddie Slack & His Orchestra. That was followed in 1943 by "Moonlight in Vermont," with Whiting singing as a member of Billy Butterfield’s Orchestra, and "It Might as Well Be Spring," with Paul Weston & His Orchestra, from the film musical State Fair. Whiting first recorded under her own name in late 1945, singing the Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II composition "All Through the Day," which became a best-seller in the spring of 1946, and "In Love in Vain," both of which were featured in the film Centennial Summer.

Whiting also had hits with songs from the Broadway musicals St. Louis Woman and Call Me Mister in 1946. Those first recordings under her name were recorded in New York. In late 1946 Whiting returned to California and began recording there, with Jerry Gray & His Orchestra; "Guilty" and "Oh, But I Do" were the best-selling fruits of that session. Whiting’s hit streak continued in 1948-1949. Owing to a musician’s strike in the USA, orchestral tracks were recorded outside of the country and vocals added in US studios. Whiting supplied vocals to tracks cut by Frank De Vol & His Orchestra, including "A Tree in the Meadow," a number one hit in the summer of 1948, recorded in London. Her next number one occurred in 1949 with "Slipping Around," one of a series of duet recordings made with country film star Jimmy Wakely. Also during that year, Whiting recorded a duet with Mercer, "Baby, It’s Cold Outside." In 1950, she had a hit with "Blind Date," a novelty record she made with Bob Hope and the Billy May Orchestra. Whiting continued recording for Capitol into the mid-'50s, until her run of hits dried up. She left the company in 1958 for Dot Records but achieved only one hit on that label. She switched to Verve Records in 1960 and recorded a number of albums, including one with jazz vocalist Mel Tormé. A brief return to Capitol was followed by a hiatus, after which Whiting signed to London Records in 1966, for whom she recorded her last two charting pop singles. Her recordings continued to appear on the easy listening charts into the '70s. Whiting was still recording in the early '90s, and performing in cabaret and concerts. She died at the Actors' Fund Home in Englewood, New Jersey on 10 January 2011 at the age of 86.

Wikipedia:

Margaret Eleanor Whiting (July 22, 1924 – January 10, 2011) was a singer of American popular music and country music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.

Biography

Youth

Margaret Whiting was born in Detroit, but her family moved to Los Angeles in 1929, when she was five years old. Her father, Richard, was a composer of popular songs, including the classics "Hooray for Hollywood", "Ain't We Got Fun?", and "On the Good Ship Lollipop". Her sister, Barbara Whiting, was an actress (Junior Miss, Beware, My Lovely) and singer.

An aunt, Margaret Young, was a singer and popular recording artist in the 1920s. In her childhood, Whiting's singing ability had already been noticed, and at the age of only seven she sang for singer-lyricist Johnny Mercer, with whom her father had collaborated on some popular songs ("Too Marvelous for Words"). In 1942, Mercer co-founded Capitol Records and signed Margaret to one of Capitol's first recording contracts.

Recording career

Whiting's first recordings were as featured singer with various orchestras:

In 1945, Whiting began to record under her own name, making such recordings as:

Until the mid-1950s Whiting continued to record for Capitol, but as she ceased to record songs that charted as hits, she switched to Dot Records in 1957 and to Verve Records in 1960. Whiting returned to Capitol in the early 1960s and then signed with London Records in 1966. On London, Whiting landed one last major hit single in 1966, "The Wheel of Hurt", which hit #1 on the Easy Listening singles chart. Her final solo albums were made for Audiophile (1980, 1982, 1985) and DRG Records (1991). Her distinguished conductors and musical arrangers through the years included Frank DeVol, Russell Garcia, Johnny Mandel, Billy May, Marty Paich, Nelson Riddle, Pete Rugolo, and Paul Weston.

Television career

Margaret and Barbara Whiting starred as themselves in the situation comedy Those Whiting Girls. The show, produced by Desilu Productions, aired on CBS as a summer replacement series (in place of I Love Lucy) between July, 1955 and September, 1957.

Margaret Whiting was a regular guest on variety shows and talk shows throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, including Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, when the musical series focused on Whiting's hometown of Detroit; The Big Record, The Bob Hope Show, The Colgate Comedy Hour, The Tony Martin Show, The David Frost Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The George Jessel Show, The Guy Mitchell Show, The Jonathan Winters Show, The Merv Griffin Show, The Mike Douglas Show, The Nat King Cole Show, Over Easy, The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom, The Patti Page Show, The Red Skelton Hour, The Steve Allen Show, The Ford Show Starring Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Texaco Star Theater, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, The Virginia Graham Show, and The Voice of Firestone.

In the 2000s, she appeared in several documentaries about singers and songwriters of her era, including Judy Garland: By Myself (2004), Fever: The Music of Peggy Lee (2004), Anita O'Day: The Life of a Jazz Singer (2007), Johnny Mercer: The Dream's on Me (2009), and Michael Feinstein's American Songbook (2010).

Marriages

Death

Whiting died on January 10, 2011, aged 86, from natural causes at the Lillian Booth Actors' Home in Englewood, New Jersey.

Sources

Claire Chatwin was the singer on his version: see his album, "Here's To The Ladies Who Sang With The Band" - the latter can also be found here