Margaret Whiting

Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting in New York, 1940s
Background information
Born	July 22, 1924(1924-07-22) Detroit, Michigan, United States
Died	January 10, 2011(2011-01-10) (aged 86)[1] Englewood, New Jersey, United States
Genres	Jazz, traditional pop, country
Occupations	Singer
Years active	1942–2010
Labels	Capitol, Dot, Verve, London, Audiophile, DRG
Website	Musical biography of Margaret Whiting

Margaret 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

Whiting was born in Detroit and her family moved to Los Angeles in 1929. Her father, Richard A. Whiting, was a composer of popular songs ("Hooray for Hollywood," "Too Marvelous for Words"). 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. In 1942, Mercer co-founded Capitol Records and signed Margaret to one of Capitol's first recording contracts.^{[citation needed]}

Recording career

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

• "That Old Black Magic", with Freddie Slack and His Orchestra (1942)
• "Moonlight in Vermont", with Billy Butterfield's Orchestra (1943)
• "It Might as Well Be Spring", with Paul Weston and His Orchestra (1945)

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

• "All Through the Day" (1945, becoming a bestseller in the spring of 1946)
• "In Love in Vain" (1945)

(these two from the movie "Centennial Summer")

• "Guilty" (1946)
• "Oh, But I Do" (1946)
• "A Tree in the Meadow" (a number 1 hit in the summer of 1948)
• "Slippin' Around", a duet with country music star Jimmy Wakely (a number 1 hit in 1949)
• "Baby, It's Cold Outside" (duet with Johnny Mercer, 1949)
• "Blind Date", a novelty record with Bob Hope (1950)
• "Faraway Places (With Strange Sounding Names)"
• the Christmas song Silver Bells (duet with Jimmy Wakely, 1951)

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 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 Show, The Patti Page Show, The Red Skelton Hour, The Steve Allen Show, The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show, 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

• Hubbell Robinson Jr., a writer, producer, and television executive (December 29, 1948 - divorced August 18, 1949)^[2]
• Lou Busch, a ragtime pianist known as "Joe 'Fingers' Carr" (divorced; one daughter, Deborah, born 1950)
• John Richard Moore, a founder of Panavision (married 1958 - divorced)
• Jack Wrangler (né John Stillman; 1994 – April 7, 2009; his death from emphysema

Death

Whiting died on January 10, 2011, aged 86, from natural causes at the Lillian Booth Actors' Home in Englewood, New Jersey. Burials Antioch Cemetery Hamilton County Illinois.^{[citation needed]}

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	US Pop LPs	Label
1950	Margaret Whiting Sings Rodgers and Hart		Capitol
1954	Love Songs by Margaret Whiting
1956	Margaret Whiting Sings for the Starry-Eyed
1957	Goin' Places		Dot
1958	Margaret
1959	Margaret Whiting's Great Hits
	Ten Top Hits
1960	Just a Dream
	Margaret Whiting Sings the Jerome Kern Songbook		Verve
	Broadway, Right Now! (with Mel Tormé)
1961	Past Midnight		MGM
1967	The Wheel of Hurt	109	London
	Maggie Isn't Margaret Anymore
1968	Pop Country
1980	Too Marvelous for Words		Audiophile
1982	Come a Little Closer
1985	The Lady's in Love with You
1991	Then and Now		DRG

Singles

Year	Single	Contributing Artist	Chart Positions
			Pop	Country	AC
1942	"That Old Black Magic"	Freddie Slack & His Orchestra	10	-	-
1943	"My Ideal"	Billy Butterfield & His Orchestra	12	-	-
1944	"Silver Wings In the Moonlight"	Freddie Slack & His Orchestra	19	-	-
1945	"Moonlight In Vermont"	Billy Butterfield & His Orchestra	15	-	-
	"It Might as Well Be Spring"	Paul Weston & His Orchestra	6	-	-
1946	"All Through the Day"	Carl Kress orchestra	11	-	-
	"In Love In Vain"	Carl Kress orchestra	12	-	-
	"Come Rain or Come Shine"	Paul Weston orchestra	17	-	-
	"Along With Me"	Jerry Gray orchestra	13	-	-
	"Passe"	Jerry Gray orchestra	12	-	-
	"Guilty"	Jerry Gray orchestra	4	-	-
	"Oh, But I Do"	Jerry Gray orchestra	7	-	-
1947	"Beware My Heart"	Frank DeVol orchestra	21	-	-
	"Old Devil Moon"	Frank DeVol orchestra	11	-	-
	"Ask Anyone Who Knows"	Frank DeVol orchestra	21	-	-
	"Little Girl Blue"	Frank DeVol orchestra	25	-	-
	"You Do"	Frank DeVol orchestra	5	-	-
	"Lazy Countryside"	Frank DeVol orchestra	21	-	-
	"Pass That Peace Pipe"	Frank DeVol orchestra	8	-	-
1948	"Let's Be Sweethearts Again"	Frank DeVol orchestra	22	-	-
	"But Beautiful"	Frank DeVol orchestra	21	-	-
	"Now is the Hour"	Frank DeVol orchestra	2	-	-
	"What's Good About Goodbye"	Frank DeVol orchestra	29	-	-
	"Please Don't Kiss Me"	Frank DeVol orchestra	23	-	-
	"A Tree in the Meadow"	Frank DeVol orchestra	1	-	-
	"Far Away Places"	Frank DeVol orchestra	2	-	-
1949	"Forever and Ever"	Frank DeVol orchestra	5	-	-
	"A Wonderful Guy"	Frank DeVol orchestra	12	-	-
	"Baby, It's Cold Outside"	Johnny Mercer	3	-	-
	"Slippin' Around"	Jimmy Wakely	1	1	-
	"Wedding Bells"		30	6	-
	"Dime a Dozen	Frank DeVol orchestra	19	-	-
	"I'll Never Slip Around Again"	Jimmy Wakely	8	2	-
1950	"Broken Down Merry Go Round"		12	2	-
	"The Gods Were Angry With Me"		17	3	-
	"I Said My Pajamas (and Put on My Prayers)"	Frank De Vol	21	-	-
	"Let's Go to Church (Next Sunday Morning)"	Jimmy Wakely	13	2	-
	"My Foolish Heart"	Frank DeVol orchestra	17	-	-
	"Blind Date"	Bob Hope	16	-	-
	"A Bushel and a Peck"	Jimmy Wakely	6	6	-
1951	"When You and I Were Young, Maggie, Blues"		20	7	-
	"Good Morning, Mr. Echo"	Lou Busch orchestra	14	-	-
	"I Don't Want to Be Free"	Jimmy Wakely	-	5	-
1952	"I'll Walk Alone"	Lou Busch orchestra	29	-	-
	"Outside of Heaven"	Lou Busch orchestra	22	-	-
1953	"Why Don't You Believe Me?"	Lou Busch orchestra	29	-	-
1954	"Moonlight In Vermont" new version	Lou Busch orchestra	29	-	-
1956	"The Money Tree"	Billy May orchestra	20	-	-
1958	"I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)"	Billy Vaughn orchestra	74	-	-
1966	"Somewhere There's Love"	-	-	-	29
	"The Wheel of Hurt"	Arnold Goland orchestra	26	-	1
1967	"Just Like a Man"	-	132	-	29
	"Only Love Can Break a Heart"	Arnold Goland orchestra	96	-	4
	"I Almost Called Your Name"	-	108	-	4
1968	"I Hate to See Me Go"	-	127	-	27
	"It Keeps Right On a Hurtin'"	-	115	-	28
	"Faithfully"	-	117	-	19
	"Can't Get You Out of My Mind"	-	124	-	11
1969	"Where Was I"	-	-	-	24
1970	"(Z Theme) Life Goes On"	-	-	-	14
	"Until It's Time For You to Go"	-	-	-	32

References

1. ^ Margaret Whiting, Fresh-Faced Singer of Jazz and Pop Standards, Dies at 86
2. ^ Museum TV: Hubbell Robinson

• Margaret Whiting at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview by KUOW-FM’s Amanda Wilde: Part One and Part Two
• Pop ranking from Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954, published in 1986 by Record Research Inc., Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
• Contributing artists from booklet with the "My Ideal" four CD set by Jasmine Records in 2007; confirmed by Time-Life Music tape set "Late 40's" released in 1991, and by Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Some Internet sources give Tex Beneke's orchestra as accompanying Whiting's hit, "A Wonderful Guy," but Beneke says 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 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Im_in_Love_with_a_Wonderful_Guy

Persondata
Name	Whiting, Margaret
Alternative names
Short description	American singer
Date of birth	July 22, 1924
Place of birth	Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Date of death	January 10, 2011
Place of death