Martha Tilton
Martha Ellen Tilton (called Liltin Miss Tilton ; born November 14, 1915 in Corpus Christi , Texas ; † December 8, 2006 in Brentwood , California ) was an American swing singer , best known from her time with Benny Goodman .
Life
Martha Tilton grew up as the daughter of a banker in a musical family in Los Angeles . After a friend of her father's heard her sing, he arranged a successful audition for her on a radio station. She then left high school, sang in the Coconut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel, toured for three years with Hal Grayson's band and in 1936 with the popular vocal quartet Three Hits and a Miss. In 1937 she was with Jimmy Dorsey and appeared in the comedy film Topper - The blonde ghost .
In 1937 she was hired as a chorus singer (with Jo Stafford, among others ) by Benny Goodman for his radio show Camel Caravan . From 1937 to 1939 she was the successor to Helen Ward , who had married, in the Benny Goodman Orchestra and also took part in the legendary Carnegie Hall Concert of 1938 ( Loch Lomond , You are beautiful with me) . In 1939 she had her greatest success with Goodman with And the Angels Sing (by Ziggy Elman and Johnny Mercer ). In the same year Goodman, who had not been satisfied with any of his singers after Helen Ward, replaced her with Louise Tobin, the wife of Harry James .
Then she was with Paul Whiteman in a radio show and made her first solo recordings. In the early 1940s, she also temporarily had her own radio show on NBC . She starred in two films ( Swing Hostess, 1944; Crime Inc., 1945) and gave voice to stars such as Barbara Stanwyck in Sugarpuss (Ball of Fire) in Gene Krupa's 1941 Drum Boogie . A year later she was signed to her friend Johnny Mercer's Capitol Records label and had hits like I'll Walk Alone (1944), I should Care (1945), How are things in Glocca Morra? (1947) and A Stranger in Town (1945). During the Second World War she was u. a. worked with Jack Benny in troop support. Her time at Capitol Records ended in 1949.
After she married a manager in the aircraft industry, a former, so-called aviator of the Second World War, in 1953, she largely withdrew from the music business. In 1955 she sang her big hit And the Angels Sing again in the film The Benny Goodman Story and then recorded a few albums, including a. with the singer Curt Massey ( We Sing the Old Songs, 1957), with whom she also hosted a radio show from 1949 to 1953 called Alka Seltzer Time (after the sponsor of the same name) and with whom she hosted a television show together at the end of the 1950s was in Los Angeles. In the 1980s she toured Australia with a swing revival show.
Her sister Liz Tilton was also a singer. a. with Bob Crosby , Jan Garber and Buddy Rogers . Martha Tilton was married three times.
Web links
- Martha Tilton at Allmusic (English)
- Martha Tilton in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Martha Tilton at Discogs (English)
- Obituary in the Washington Post
Remarks
- ↑ Martha Tilton at Find A Grave
- ↑ According to George T. Simon , Goodman put her in a touch of bad mood, triggered by the loss of many top musicians, to get close
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tilton, Martha |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Tilton, Martha Ellen (full name); Liltin Miss Tilton (stage name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American swing singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 14, 1915 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Corpus Christi , Texas |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 8, 2006 |
| Place of death | Brentwood , California |