- James Melton
James Melton (
January 2 ,1904 , inMoultrie , Georgia –April 21 ,1961 inNew York City ,New York ) was a popular singer in the 1920's and early 1930's who later began a career as an operatic singer whentenor voices went out of style in popular music around 1932-1935. His singing talent was similar to that ofRichard Crooks ,John Charles Thomas orNelson Eddy .Melton usually catered to what has been described as a "musically middlebrow audience," emitting romantic airs and popular ballads with sugary precision. He was born in
Moultrie, Georgia but was raised inCitra, Florida , where his parents grew melons and handled hogs.In 1920, he graduated from high school in
Ocala, Florida and then attended a series of colleges in three different states: Florida, Georgia, andTennessee . He received vocal instruction from Gaetano de Luca inNashville from 1923 to 1927 before moving to New York where he studied withBeniamino Gigli 's teacher, Enrico Rosati. Melton also worked in dance bands, playing saxophone in a college jazz ensemble and performing withFrancis Craig 's Orchestra inAtlanta in 1926.Radio
The following year, he began singing on New York radio for no pay. He joined "Roxy's Gang", a cabaret group led by
Samuel Roxy Rothafel , who worked with theSieberling Singers . He made records forVictor Records , singing as one of the tenors withThe Revelers and forColumbia Records with the same group under the pseudonym of The Singing Sophomores.Melton had recorded his first songs under his own name for Columbia in the autumn of 1927. He quickly became a popular singer and made numerous vocal recordings as well as singing vocal choruses for dance records. By 1931, the Great Depression along with the rise of conservatism and a religious revival initiated a movement to more masculine sounding voices in popular music. Singers such as
Franklyn Baur ,Nick Lucas ,Harold Scrappy Lambert , etc. saw their careers end while singers with baritone voices such asBing Crosby andRuss Columbo quickly became popular. Tenor voices quickly became viewed as outdated in popular music. Melton was forced to change paths and decided to try to continue his career with classical music. He began to train his voice with help from the pianistMichael Raucheisen inBerlin , and gave his first concert performance atTown Hall onApril 22 ,1932 , in New York and embarked on an American andCanadian concert tour along with songwriterGeorge Gershwin in 1934.Melton continued to perform on the radio, as a "
Voice of Firestone " on "The Firestone Hour" beginning in 1933, on "Ward's Family Theater" in 1935, "The Sealtest Sunday Night Party" (1936), "The Palmolive Beauty Box Theater" (1937), "The Song Shop" (1938), the "Bell Telephone Hour " (1940), "Texaco Star Theater " (1944) and "Harvest of Stars " (1945).Films
Although not distinguished as a dramatic actor, he also appeared in movies, including "Stars Over Broadway" (1935), "Sing Me a Love Song" (1936), "Melody for Two" (1937), and the
MGM revue, "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946).Opera
After voice training with Angelo Canarutto, Melton's operatic singing career took off in 1938 when he appeared with the
Cincinnati Zoo Opera Company as Pinkerton inPuccini 's "Madama Butterfly " and also with theSt. Louis Opera Company as Alfredo inVerdi 's "La Traviata ". He worked with theChicago Civic Opera from 1940 to 1942, appearing withHelen Jepson in Butterfly, withLily Pons inDonizetti 's "Lucia di Lammermoor " and inFlotow 's "Martha ". On7 December 1942 , Melton debuted at theMetropolitan Opera as Tamino inMozart 's "The Magic Flute ". He continued to perform at the Met through 1950, Melton spent the 1950s making records, singing in nightclubs, appearing on television and collecting rare automobiles. His last stage production wasSigmund Romberg 's "The Student Prince ".He established an auto museum in
Hypoluxo, Florida , which he called the Autorama.Ken Purdy interviewed him on his collection and wrote a book about it. The museum was dispersed after his death. Melton has two stars on theHollywood Walk of Fame , one for radio and the other for recording.External links
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0578393/ James Melton at IMDB]
* [http://www.lostparks.com/melton.html James Melton Autorama]
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