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Kitty Kallen

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Kitty Kallen
Kallen in 1947
Born
Katie Kallen

(1921-05-25)May 25, 1921
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJanuary 7, 2016(2016-01-07) (aged 94)
Cuernavaca, Mexico
Spouses
  • Clint Garvin (annulled)
  • Bernard Granoff
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1948; died 1996)​
ChildrenJonathan Granoff
Musical career
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • actor
InstrumentVocals
Years active1930s–1965
Labels

Kitty Kallen (born Katie Kallen; May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, to include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-World War II pop scene and the early years of rock 'n roll. Kallen performed with popular big band leaders of the 1940s, including Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James,[1] before establishing a solo career.

She is widely known for her 1954 solo recording '"Little Things Mean a Lot", a song that stayed at the U.S. Billboard number one spot for nine consecutive weeks and took top honor as 1954's #1 song of the year, charted in the U.S. for almost seven months, hit No. 1 on the UK singles chart, and sold more than two million copies.[2] Voted "most popular female singer" in 1954 in both Billboard and Variety polls,[3] Kallen lost her voice at the London Palladium in 1955 at the top of her career[4][3][5] and stopped singing before an audience for four years.[4] After testing her voice under a pseudonym in small town venues, she ultimately returned and went on to achieve 13 top-ten career hits.

Early life

[edit]

Born Katie Kallen (her birth name at times erroneously reported as Katherine Kalinsky)[4][6] on May 25, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,[4][7] to Russian Jewish immigrants Samuel and Fannie Kalinsky (later Kallen), she was one of seven children.[8] As a child, she won an amateur contest by imitating popular singers. When she returned home with her prize, a camera, her father did not believe her, and punished her for stealing the camera. Only when neighbors subsequently visited to congratulate her did Kallen's father realize she had actually won it.[3]

Career

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As a young girl, she sang on The Children's Hour, a radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart, the legendary automat chain. As a preteen, Kallen had a radio program on Philadelphia's WCAU and sang with the big bands of Jan Savitt[7] in 1936, Artie Shaw in 1938,[9] and Jack Teagarden in 1939. It was with Teagarden's band that Kallen cut her first records, eight sides in total.

Shortly before her 21st birthday, on May 5, 1942, she sang the vocals for "Moonlight Becomes You", with Bobby Sherwood and His Orchestra at the second ever session for what was then still called Liberty Records but would soon be renamed Capitol Records. It was her only session for the label.

At 21, she joined the Jimmy Dorsey band, replacing Helen O'Connell. One of her recordings with Dorsey was a favorite of American servicemen: "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" reached the No. 2 position in the Billboard charts in 1944.[10] The same year, Kallen performed the vocals for Dorsey's number-one hit "Besame Mucho". Most of her singing assignments were in duets with Bob Eberly, and when Eberly left to go into the service toward the end of 1943, she joined Harry James's band.

Between January and November 1945, she had two songs recorded with the Harry James Orchestra in the top twenty, six in the top ten, and two at the No. 1 spot: "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "It's Been a Long, Long Time",[11] which remains deeply associated with the end of World War II and the returning troops. In 1951, Kallen appeared with Buster Crabbe as the Queen and King of Winter at the Lake Placid resort.[12]

As a solo performer following the war, Kallen bounced from label to label--a brief stint with Musicraft in 1946 and then three years at Mercury in 1949-51, followed by a stint at Columbia and a reunion with Harry James. Despite covering a number of songs that had been hits for other singers, she still failed to produce a major hit. It was not until signing with Decca in 1953 that she at last enjoyed chart success.

With the 1954 hit "Little Things Mean a Lot", she was voted the most popular female singer in Billboard and Variety polls. AllMusic called the recording a "monster hit",[4] and music historian Jonny Whiteside said the song "ably characterizes Kallen's impressive, and graceful, transition from classic big band swing to modern post-war pop".[13] She followed up the song with "In the Chapel in the Moonlight", another million selling record,[2] in the U.S. and a version of "True Love" for Decca.

Kallen performed at numerous prominent live venues including Manhattan's Copacabana, Morris Levy's Versailles, the Capitol Theater, the Maisonette Room at the St. Regis,[14] the Cafe Rouge at the Hotel Pennsylvania and the Plaza Hotel's Persian Room. As well as this, she starred on Broadway in Finian's Rainbow; in the 1955 film The Second Greatest Sex[15] and on numerous television shows including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Big Beat with singer-host Richard Hayes,[16] American Bandstand, and Fred Allen's Judge for Yourself.

In 1956, rock-and-roll was dominating the charts and nosing out most older singers. Kallen experienced a mental breakdown during this time in which she found herself unable to sing live, although she could perform in the studio with no problems. She sought help from a psychiatrist but ended the sessions after he asked her to undress as part of therapy. Kallen's psychological issues and the changing music landscape convinced her to retire from performing, but three years later she decided to make a comeback and signed with Columbia.

In 1959, she recorded "If I Give My Heart to You" for Columbia and in 1963, she recorded a top-selling version of "My Coloring Book" for RCA Victor. Her final album was Quiet Nights, a bossa nova–flavored release for 20th Century Fox Records after which she retired from recording permanently.

During the height of her popularity, three imposters billed themselves as Kitty Kallen. When one of them, Genevieve Agostinello, died in 1978, it was incorrectly reported that Kallen herself had died.[15] On February 8, 1960, Kallen received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (located on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard at #7021).[3]

A compilation of her hits on various labels remains available on the Sony CD set The Kitty Kallen Story.

Marriages

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While performing with Jack Teagarden's band, she married Clint Garvin, the band's clarinet player. When Teagarden fired Garvin, Kallen left as well, later annulling the marriage. In 1948, Kallen married Bernard "Budd" Granoff, a publicist, agent, and television producer[17] — who later became a pioneering television syndicator.[17] The couple, married for over forty-five years until Granoff's death in 1996, had a son, Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute and Adjunct Professor of International Law at Widener University School of Law.[17]

Later years

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In 1977, Kallen sued her dermatologist, Norman Orentreich, after he prescribed an estrogen drug, Premarin, for her small facial wrinkles. She subsequently suffered blood clots in her lungs, caused directly by the drug, and was awarded $300,000 by a court.[18]

In 2008, Kallen joined artists Patti Page, Tony Martin, Dick Hyman, Richard Hayman and the estates of Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, Woody Herman, Les Brown, the Mills Brothers, Jerry Murad, Frankie Laine, and the gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in a suit against the world's then largest music label,[19] Universal Music Group, alleging the company had cheated them on royalties.[20]

In 2009, Kallen was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Kallen had homes in Englewood, New Jersey, and Cuernavaca, Mexico. By the end of her life, she lived full-time in Cuernavaca, where she died on January 7, 2016, at the age of 94. She was in a relationship with Sonny Shiell in her later years.[21]

Singles discography

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Year Single (A-side, B-side)
Both sides from same album except where indicated
Unrelated B-sides not shown 		Chart positions Album
U.S. U.S.
R&B[22] 		U.S.
AC 		UK[23] Cash Box Music Vendor/Record World
1943 "They're Either Too Young or Too Old" (with Jimmy Dorsey) / 2 Non-album tracks
"Star Eyes" (with Jimmy Dorsey & Bob Eberly) 3
1944 "Bésame Mucho (with Jimmy Dorsey & Bob Eberly)
 1
"When They Ask About You" (with Jimmy Dorsey and Barbara Witsen 4 10
1945 "I'm Beginning to See the Light"(with Harry James) 1
"I Don't Care Who Knows It" (with Harry James) / 8
"I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" (with Harry James) 16
"Yah-Ta-Ta, Yah-Ta-Ta" (with Harry James) 11
"11:60 PM" (with Harry James) 8
"I'll Buy That Dream" (with Harry James) 2
"It's Been a Long, Long Time" (with Harry James) 1
"Waitin' for the Train To Come In" (with Harry James) 6
1946 "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" (with Artie Shaw) 22
1949 "Silver Bells"
b/w "A Bushel and a Peck"
Both sides with Richard Hayes 		Kitty Kallen Sings
"Kiss Me Sweet"
b/w "I Don't See Me in Your Eyes Anymore" (from Kitty Kallen Sings) 		30 Non-album tracks
"I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outa My Hair"
b/w "Happy Talk"
"Milwaukee"
b/w "Fellow in Yellowstone Park"
"Mad About the Boy"
b/w "A Man Wrote a Song"
1950 "I Got Tookin'"
b/w "If You Smile at the Sun"
"Juke Box Annie"
b/w "Choo'n Gum" 		17
"You Missed the Boat"
b/w "Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday"
Both sides with Jimmy Carrol Orchestra
"Mother, Pin a Rose on Me"
b/w "Willya, Won'tcha (Kinda Sorta)"
Both sides with Mitch Miller
"Our Lady of Fatima"
b/w "Honestly, I Love You"
Both sides with Richard Hayes 		10 Kitty Kallen Sings
"Get Out Those Old Records"
b/w "It Is No Secret"
Both sides with Richard Hayes
1951 "Aba Daba Honeymoon"
b/w "I Don't Want to Love You" (Non-album track)
Both sides with Richard Hayes 		9
"Last Night My Heart Crossed the Ocean"
b/w "If You Want Some Lovin'" 		Non-album tracks
"Old Soft Shoe"
b/w "I Wish I Had a Daddy in the White House" 		30 Kitty Kallen Sings
"Another Human Being of the Opposite Sex"
b/w "More! More! More!" 		Non-album tracks
1952 "When I Dream (I Always Dream of You)"
b/w "To Be Loved by You"
Both sides with Harry James
1953 "Lonely"
b/w "Heartless Love"
"Are You Looking for a Sweetheart?"
b/w "A Little Lie" (Non-album track) 		27 38 Little Things Mean a Lot
1954 "Little Things Mean a Lot"
b/w "I Don't Think You Love Me Anymore" (Non-album track) 		1 1 1 12
"In the Chapel in the Moonlight" / 4 5 7
"Take Everything but You" 44 24 Non-album track
"I Want You All to Myself (Just You)" / 23 24 22 Little Things Mean a Lot
"Don't Let The Kiddy Geddin" 31 26 Non-album tracks
"Baby Brother (Santa Claus, Dear Santa Claus)"
b/w "The Spirit Of Christmas"
1955 "I'd Never Forgive Myself" / 32
"Honestly" 31 38
"Kitty Who?"
b/w "By Bayou Bay" 		83
"Forgive Me"
b/w "If It's a Dream" 		41
"Just Between Friends"
b/w "Let's Make the Most of Tonight" (Non-album track) 		75 It's a Lonesome Old Town
"Come Spring"
b/w "Only Forever" (from Little Things Mean a Lot) 		Non-album tracks
"Sweet Kentucky Rose" / 76 30 23
"How Lonely Can I Get?" 33 Little Things Mean a Lot
1956 "Go on with the Wedding"
b/w "The Second Greatest Sex"
Both sides with Georgie Shaw 		39 16 54 Non-album tracks
"Will I Always Be Your Sweetheart?"
b/w "True Love" (from Little Things Mean a Lot) 		74
"How About Me?"
b/w "The Lonely One" 		72 It's a Lonesome Old Town
"Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah"
b/w "Saturday Blues" (Non-album track) 		Little Things Mean a Lot
1957 "Star Bright (Mara)"
b/w "Gently, Johnny" 		Non-album tracks
"Hideaway Heart"
b/w "Teen-Age Heart"
"Lasting Love"
b/w "Long, Lonely Nights" 		39
"Crying Roses"
b/w "I Never Was the One" 		82
1958 "Love Is a Sacred Thing"
b/w "When Will I Know" (Non-album track) 		82 If I Give My Heart to You
1959 "If I Give My Heart to You"
b/w "The Door That Won't Open" (Non-album track) 		34 25 27
1960 "That Old Feeling" / 55 100 87
"Need Me" 91 Non-album track
"Got a Date with an Angel"
b/w "Always in My Heart" 		111 If I Give My Heart To You
"Make Love to Me"
b/w "Heaven Help Me" 		Non-album tracks
"Be True to Me"
b/w "Come Live with Me"
"The Things You Left in My Heart"
b/w "I Believe in You"
1961 "Hey, Good Lookin'"
b/w "Raining in My Heart" 		117 Honky Tonk Angel
"Summertime Lies"
b/w "Yassu" 		118 Non-album tracks
1962 "It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels"
b/w "You Are My Sunshine" 		101 137 Honky Tonk Angel
"My Coloring Book"
b/w "Here's To Us" (Non-album track) 		18 7 13 8 My Coloring Book
1963 "Please Don't"
b/w "Star Eyes" (from My Coloring Book) 		121 Non-album tracks
"I'll Teach You How to Cry"
b/w "We'll Cross That Bridge" 		99
1964 "Make Someone Love You"
b/w "Lies and More Lies"
1965 "It's Almost Tomorrow"
b/w "All I Do Is Dream of You"
"No One Will Ever Know"
b/w "So Many Others"
1966 "One Grain of Sand"
b/w "From Your Lips to the Ears of an Angel"
1967 "Oba, Oba"
b/w "Summer, Summer Wind"

References

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  1. ^ Bernstein, Adam (January 7, 2016). "Kitty Kallen, silken-voiced pop singer of 'Little Things Mean a Lot,' dies at 94". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved January 11, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 69. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  3. ^ a b c d "Kitty Kallen". Hollywood Walk of Fame. October 25, 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e "Kitty Kallen profile". AllMusic. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
  5. ^ "Jefferson City Daily Capital News". January 26, 1963. suffering paralyzed vocal cords
  6. ^ Adam Burnstein (January 7, 2016). "Kitty Kallen, silken-voiced pop singer of 'Little Things Mean a Lot,' dies at 94". The Washington Post.
  7. ^ a b JC Marion (2002). "Kitty Kallen". Home.earthlink.net. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 9, 2016.
  8. ^ "Father of Kitty Kallen dies". The New York Times. January 14, 1955. PHILADELPHIA Jan. 13 Samuel Kallen, father of Kitty Kallen, the singer, died last night at Einstein Hospital at-the age of 61. His widow, Rose, and six other children, survive.
  9. ^ "Kitty Kallen". Archived from the original on March 8, 2005.
  10. ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954. Wisconsin, USA: Record Research Inc. p. 132. ISBN 0-89820-083-0.
  11. ^ "Pop Chronicles 1940s Program #1". 1972.
  12. ^ "Placid's Royalty Named" (PDF). The New York Times. December 20, 1951. Former Olympic champion Buster Crabbe and singer Kitty Kallen of Broadway will act as King and Queen of Winter at Lake Placid's twenty-sixth annual coronation ceremonies Dec. 29. Mr. Crabbe and Miss Kallen, who had the lead in Finian's Rainbow will succeed Faye Emerson and Skitch Henderson, last Winter's royal couple. The coronation traditionally opens the winter season at Lake Placid and includes an ice show and hockey game.
  13. ^ Whiteside, Jonny (June 24, 2010). "Kitty Kallen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
  14. ^ "Mr. Pop's Ultimate 1960 Timeline, February". Mr. Popculture.com.
  15. ^ a b "Kitty Kallen dead? No, Singer Reports". The Free Lance-Star. Fredericksburg, Virginia. April 21, 1978.
  16. ^ "Kitty Kallen Solo Star Now". The Pittsburgh Press. November 6, 1949.
  17. ^ a b c Thomas, Robert McG. Jr. (May 1, 1996). "Budd Granoff Is Dead at 77; A Show-Business Innovator". The New York Times.
  18. ^ "Notes on People" (PDF). The New York Times. October 7, 1977. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  19. ^ "Music greats say Universal owes them". Los Angeles Times. February 16, 2008.
  20. ^ EDIDIN, PETER (February 16, 2008). "Universal Royalty Suit". The New York Times. The estates of some of American music's biggest names, including Count Basie, Benny Goodman and Sarah Vaughan, have sued Universal Music Group for more than $6 million, claiming the company cheated them out of royalties, The Associated Press reported. The lawsuit, which was also filed on behalf of some living artists, asserts that the company withheld record royalties, engaged in self-serving schemes with record clubs and suppressed payments from Apple's iTunes and other digital distributors. The court papers accuse Universal of breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment. The 14 plaintiffs are Patti Page, Tony Martin, Dick Hyman, Richard Hayman, Kitty Kallen and the estates of Basie, Goodman, Vaughan, Woody Herman, Les Brown, the Mills Brothers, Jerry Murad, Frankie Laine and the gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The lawsuit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, says Universal has been using questionable accounting practices since at least 1998. "We believe that these claims are baseless, and we are confident that we will prevail in court," said Peter Lofrumento, a spokesman for the Universal Music Group.
  21. ^ Grady, Denise (January 7, 2016). "Kitty Kallen, Big Band Singer of 'Bésame Mucho,' Dies at 94". The New York Times. Retrieved January 7, 2016.
  22. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 169.
  23. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 296. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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