Big Band Era singer Margaret Whiting has died at age 86 at the Lillian Booth Actors’ Home in Englewood, N.J.
Her musical talent may have been inherited; her father Richard Whiting, was a famous composer of popular songs. In her childhood her singing ability was already noticed, and at the age of only seven years she sang for Johnny Mercer, for whom her father worked. In 1942, Mercer started Capitol Records with two partners, and signed her as one of their earliest recording artists.
Her 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 (1943)
In 1945 she 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)
*"Slipping Around", a duet with country music star Jimmy Wakely (a number 1 hit in 1949)
*"Baby, It's Cold Outside" (1949)
*"Blind Date", a novelty record with Bob Hope (1950)
*"Faraway Places (With Strange Sounding Names)"
One of her biggest hits was "Moonlight In Vermont." The top paper in Vermont is the Burlington Free-Press. Here is a portion of their story about Whiting and the impact of the song on the state;
"The singer who popularized the tune “Moonlight in Vermont” and in the process helped craft the image of the state as a rustic haven illuminated by a silvery glow is dead.
Whiting was a young Hollywood singer who had never been to Vermont when she first recorded “Moonlight” in the midst of World War II. The bittersweet ballad was broadcast on Armed Forces Radio and brought images of a quietly beautiful Vermont to people around the globe.
The song contributed to the Vermont brand, starting with the impact it had on World War II soldiers, said Harry Orth of Shelburne, professor emeritus at the University of Vermont and co-author of the Vermont Encyclopedia.
The song is beautiful yet reflective, said Orth, who wrote the entry about “Moonlight in Vermont” in the Vermont Encyclopedia.
“It’s a very contemplative song,” he said. “You could really see some soldier leaning back in a bunk or in a foxhole and just wishing he could be in such a wonderful place.”
The song was written by Karl Seussdorf and John Blackburn. Neither one was a Vermonter — which might explain why sycamore trees appear in the “Moonlight” lyrics but make so few appearances in the Vermont woods." Source: The Burlington Free-Press
Visit THE MEMORY LANE SHOP to buy Margaret's music.
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