Every Big Band of the Swing Era (1935-48) had a female vocalist (aka “Canary”) in order to get some hits played on the radio and support the band. Here are two ladies that showed the strengths and weaknesses of this genre. Could these female vocalists survive on their own?
Martha Tilton was the vocalist of the early swing era, “liltin’” with Benny Goodman’s orchestra at it’s heyday. This two disc, 50 song collection includes all of her big hits, including a definitive read of Duke Ellington’s “I Let A Song Go Out Of My Heart,” the dittie hit “Bob White” , the mega hit “Loch Lomond” and the Klezmer classic “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen” with the famous trumpet solo by Ziggy Elman. These songs, particularly the gorgeous “And The Angels Sing”, define the era the last era when the best music was also the most popular. Once she left Goodman’s band and went on her own, however, Tilton seems to lose her footing, as the second disc shows her doing material ranging from lushe and delicate takes of “I Should Care” and the nostalgic “That’s My Desire” (with vocal chorus backing) to a bunch of novelty pieces like “”Ready, Set, Go!”, “I Said My Pajamas (and Put On My Prayers)” with Harry Babbit and “Ballin’ The Jack” with Hal Derwin. She finally feels at ease and relaxed with Les Brown with a swinging “Few and Far Between”, but it took a few years for her to learn that, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, there’s no place like home.
Kay Starr actually came around just after the Big Band era, with Swing just starting to wane. This two disc 49 song collection includes all her big hits such as “Bonaparte’s Retreat”, “Rock and Roll Waltz” and “Comes A-Long A-Love” while also showing the wide range of her musical talents, covering just about every genre from swing to gospel. Starr had a voice sort of like a jazz version of Patsy Cline, a bit of an earthy twang, but with Billie Holiday’s sense of swing, even sounding a bit like Ella Fitzgerald on her early material like “You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling In Love”. She swings hard on the bouncy “How It Lies, How It Lies, How It Lies” and saucy as all get out on the naughty “Come On-A My House”. She milks the lyrics as she sways to the saxes on her big hit “Wheel Of Fortune” and doo wops with luscious support on “I Waited A Little Too Long” and the R&B-ish “Fool, Fool, Fool”. As with many vocalists in the 1950s, she veered towards pop material as on “Changing Partners” but still could get deep and desultory as on “Fortune In Dreams”, while still oozing out her emotions on the earthy “Stroll Me”. This lady could work up a sweat! I saw her perform back in the 1990s, and felt like I was trying to be seduced by my mother in law! She packed heat until the end!