Eddy Howard

Eddy Howard 1960

Eddy Howard (real Edward Evan Duncan Howard ; born September 12, 1914 in Woodland , California , † May 23, 1963 in Palm Desert ) was an American singer and bandleader who was popular in the 1940s and 1950s.

biography

Howard's father, Aubrey Howard, was a doctor in Woodland, California. Eddy Howard attended San José State College from 1931 to 1933 and then studied medicine at Stanford University before dropping out and singing romantic ballads on radio stations in Los Angeles . He later sang in big bands led by Ben Bernie and Dick Jurgens , whose lead singer he became in 1934. The first joint single on Decca Records in 1934 was "The Martinique" . His hits with Jurgens include the songs he wrote, "My Last Goodbye , " "If I Knew Then , " "A Million Dreams Ago," and "Careless," which became his signature tune and was even more successful in a version by Glenn Miller . However, Jurgens' greatest joint hit with Howard as a singer was "In an Old Dutch Garden (By an Old Dutch Mill)" in 1940.

In 1940 he left the Jurgens Orchestra and became the singer in a band of George Olsen for a few months . He then recorded some tracks for Columbia Records with a studio band consisting of Charlie Christian and Teddy Wilson , among others .

In September 1941, he took over as band leader of the Billy Baer Orchestra from Milwaukee , Wisconsin , which was now called The Eddy Howard Orchestra . The band's pianist Hil Radtke became its main arranger. The band became well-known through frequent engagements in the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago and also through its radio broadcasts ( Big Band Remotes ). Howard was the regular singer on It Can Be Done , Edgar A. Guest's 1941 radio program on NBC Blue Network Wednesday through Friday. Howard's orchestra was heard on the NBC radio shows Carton of Cheer 1944-1945 and The Sheaffer Parade 1947-1948. From 1941 to 1948, NBC ran the Sunday afternoon program The Eddy Howard Show .

The first number one single was "To Each His Own" ( Majestic Records , catalog numbers 7188 and 1070) in 1946 , which topped the charts for 5 weeks and stayed in the sales charts for 19 weeks. The song was included in the movie Mutterherz (Originally To Each His Own ), which brought Olivia de Havilland and screenwriter Charles Brackett an Oscar .

In 1949 Howard signed with Mercury Records . Its popularity continued into the 1950s with titles like "Maybe It's Because" and "Sin (It's No) Sin," which became Howard's second number one hit and sold over a million records. Howard was awarded a gold record for this. It also became a million seller for The Four Aces . Howard's last hit was "Teen-Ager's Waltz," which reached # 90 on the 1955 Billboard Hot 100 . 1952–53 it could be heard on CBS Thursday night 10:45 p.m., with additional broadcasts on Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. 1955–56. The rise of rock music led to the decline of Howard's popularity.

He died in his sleep of a cerebral haemorrhage in May 1963 at the age of 48. He was buried in the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City . Howard was married to Jane Howard, born in 1938. Fuermann, and had a daughter (Lynn, * 1942) and a son (Eddy jr., * 1948).

Howard's star rose again in the 1960s as part of the renewed interest in big band music and radio-era nostalgia. Howard's saxophonist and singer-bandleader Norman Lee acquired the rights to use the name Eddy Howard Orchestra and the band arrangements. Lee and the orchestra performed as a dance orchestra throughout the American Midwest. Headquartered in Wichita , Kansas , they toured extensively and recorded under their own record label , Marian Records . Lee led the orchestra under his own name in the late 1960s, but several Howard standards remained in their repertoire. After Lee and his wife were murdered by one of the band's former trumpeters, the orchestra disbanded in the late 1970s.

Howard received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (6724 Hollywood Boulevard).

Singles

year	title	Charts
		US
1941	Remember Pearl Harbor	-
1946	To Each His Own	1
	The Rickety Rickshaw Man	6th
	(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons	2
	My best to you	17th
1947	The Girl That I Marry	23
	My Adobe Haçienda	2
	Heartaches	11
	I Wonder, I Wonder, I Wonder	2
	Ragtime Cowboy Joe A	16
	Kate (Have I Come Too Early, Too Late)	7th
	To Apple Blossom Wedding	9
1948	Now Is the Hour (Maori Farewell Song)	8th
	Just Because	20th
	Put 'em in a Box, Tie' Em with a Ribbon, and Throw 'Em in the Deep Blue Sea	23
	(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China	6th
	Dainty Brenda Lee	27
1949	Candy kisses	20th
	Love me! Love me! Love me!	24
	Red Head	29
	Room full of roses	4th
	Yes, yes, in your eyes	21st
	Maybe It's Because	9
	Tell Me Why	25th
1950	Half a Heart Is All You Left Me (When You Broke My Heart in Two)	28
	Rag mop	24
	American Beauty Rose	21st
	To Think You've Chosen Me	9
1951	A Penny a Kiss - A Penny a Hug	14th
	The Strange Little Girl	28
	What Will I Tell My Heart	27
	(A Woman Is a) Deadly Weapon	22nd
	Sin (It's No Sin)	1
1952	Stolen Love	11
	Wishin '	17th
	Be Anything (But Be Mine)	7th
	Goodbye sweetheart	4th
	Mademoiselle	14th
	I don't want to take a chance	26th
	It's Worth Any Price You Pay	11
1953	Gomen-nasai	17th
1954	Melancholy Me	16
1955	Teenager's Waltz	90

• ^A Ragtime Cowboy Joe also peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Country Singles.

Web links

• Eddy Howard in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• "The Song Remains: Eddy Howard"
• Eddy Howard sings To Each His Own
• Biography on bigbandlibrary.com
• Biography at Bigbands Database ( Memento from September 22, 2003 in the Internet Archive )

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://stevensorchestra.tripod.com/id55.html Stevens Orchestra Project
2. ↑ http://www.otrrpedia.net/getpersonF.php?PN=3049 OTTRpedia: Eddy Howard