Margaret Whiting
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| Margaret Whiting | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 22, 1924 |
| Genre(s) | Traditional Pop |
| Years active | 1942-1990s |
| Label(s) | Capitol, Dot, Verve, London |
| Website | Musical biography of Margaret Whiting |
Margaret Whiting (born July 22, 1924, Detroit, Michigan) is a singer of American popular music who first made her reputation during the 1940s and 1950s.
Margaret's musical talent may have been inherited; her father Richard Whiting, was a famous composer of popular songs. She also had an aunt, Margaret Young, who was also a singer and popular recording artist in the 1920s. In her childhood her singing ability had already been noticed, and at the age of only seven she sang for singer-lyricist Johnny Mercer, with whom her father had collaborated on some popular songs. In 1942, Mercer started Capitol Records and signed Margaret to one of Capitol's first recording contracts.
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)"
Until the mid-1950s, Whiting continued to record for Capitol, but as she ceased to record songs that charted as hits, switched to Dot Records in 1958 and to Verve Records in 1960. She came back to Capitol in the mid-1960s but went with London Records in 1966. On London, Whiting landed one last major hit single in 1966, "The Wheel Of Hurt," which hit #1 on the Easy Listening singles chart.
She continued to sing into the 1990s.
During the 1950s Whiting was married to record executive Lou Busch, who also recorded semi-anonymously as ragtime pianist Joe "Fingers" Carr. They had one daughter. Her late-life marriage to young porn star Jack Wrangler raised many eyebrows. When the couple first began dating, Wrangler protested, "But I'm gay!" to which Whiting replied, "Only around the edges, dear."[1]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ John Stark. "(reprint) After Three Marriages, Crooner Margaret Whiting Lands Her Ideal in X-Rated Star Jack Wrangler", People Magazine, May 4, 1987.
