- Margaret Whiting
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Margaret Whiting
Margaret Whiting in New York, 1940sBackground information Born July 22, 1924
Detroit, Michigan, United StatesDied January 10, 2011 (aged 86)[1]
Englewood, New Jersey, United StatesGenres 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.
Contents
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
- 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
Categories:- 1924 births
- 2011 deaths
- Cabaret singers
- American female singers
- Traditional pop music singers
- Dot Records artists
- Capitol Records artists
- Musicians from Detroit, Michigan
- Disease-related deaths in New Jersey
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