Charlie Byrd born 16 September 1925

Charlie Byrd (September 16, 1925 – December 2, 1999) was an American jazz guitarist. Byrd was best known for his association with Brazilian music, especially bossa nova. In 1962, he collaborated with Stan Getz on the album Jazz Samba, a recording which brought bossa nova into the mainstream of North American music. Byrd played fingerstyle on a classical guitar. 

Charlie Lee Byrd was born in Suffolk, Virginia, and grew up in the borough of Chuckatuck. His father, a mandolinist and guitarist, taught him how to play the acoustic steel guitar at age 10. Byrd had three brothers, Oscar, Jack, and Gene "Joe" Byrd, who was an upright bass player. In 1942, Byrd entered the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and played in the school orchestra. In 1943, he was drafted into the United States Army, saw combat in World War II, and was stationed in Paris in 1945. There he played in an Army Special Services band and toured occupied Europe in the all-soldier production G.I. Carmen.

 After the war, Byrd returned to the United States and studied composition and jazz theory at the Harnett National Music School in Manhattan, New York City. During this time, he began playing a classical guitar. His first nylon string classical guitar is believed to be a 1933 Vincente Tatay which he purchased in a NYC music store. After moving to Washington, D.C., in 1950, he studied classical guitar with Sophocles Papas for several years. In 1954, he became a pupil of the Spanish classical guitarist Andrés Segovia and spent time studying with him in Italy. Byrd's earliest and greatest influence was the gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, whom he saw perform in Paris. 

In 1957, Byrd met double bassist Keter Betts in a Washington, D.C., club called the Vineyard. The two men began performing gigs together, and by October were frequently performing at a club called the Showboat. In 1959, they joined Woody Herman's band and toured Europe for three weeks as part of a State Department-sponsored goodwill tour. The other members of the band were Vince Guaraldi, Bill Harris, Nat Adderley, and drummer Jimmy Campbell. Byrd led his own groups that sometimes featured his brother Joe. Byrd was also active as a teacher in the late 1950s; he trained guitar students at his home in Washington, D.C., each being required to audition before he agreed to be their teacher. 

                                   

Byrd was introduced to Brazilian music by Felix Grant, a friend and radio host who had contacts in Brazil in the late 1950s, and who was well-known there by 1960 due to the efforts of Brazilian radio broadcaster Paulo Santos. A tour of South America under the aegis of the U.S. State Department in 1961, proved to be a revelation, for it was in Brazil that Byrd discovered the emerging bossa nova movement. Once back in D.C., he played some bossa nova tapes to Stan Getz, who then convinced Verve's Creed Taylor to record an album of Brazilian music with himself and Byrd. 

That album, Jazz Samba, became a pop hit in 1962 on the strength of the single "Desafinado" and launched the bossa nova wave in North America. Thanks to the bossa nova, several albums for Riverside followed, including the defining Bossa Nova Pelos Passaros, and he was able to land a major contract with Columbia, though the records from that association often consisted of watered-down easy listening pop.  In 1963, Byrd toured Europe with Les McCann and Zoot Sims. Between 1964 and 1965, he appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival with Episcopal priest Malcolm Boyd, accompanying prayers from his book Are You Running With Me Jesus? with guitar. In 1967, Byrd brought a lawsuit against Stan Getz and MGM, contending that he was unfairly paid for his contributions to the 1962 album Jazz Samba. The jury agreed with Byrd and awarded him half the royalties from the album. 

In 1973, he formed the group Great Guitars with Herb Ellis and Barney Kessel and also that year, wrote an instruction manual for the guitar that has become widely used. From 1974 onward, Byrd recorded for the Concord Jazz label in a variety of settings, including sessions with Laurindo Almeida and Bud Shank. From 1980 through 1996, he released several of his arrangements to the jazz and classical guitar community through Guitarist's Forum. 

He also collaborated with the Annapolis Brass Quintet in the late 1980s, appearing with them in over 50 concerts across the United States and releasing two albums. Byrd played for several years at a jazz club in Silver Spring, Maryland, called The Showboat II which was owned and managed by his manager, Peter Lambros. He was also home-based at the King of France Tavern nightclub at the Maryland Inn in Annapolis from 1973 until his death. 

He died at his home in Annapolis, at the age of 74 on December 2, 1999 after a long bout with lung cancer. 

(Edited from Wikipedia & AllMusic)

 

Cannonball Adderley born 15 September 1928

Cannonball Adderley (September 15, 1928 – August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. 

Adderley is perhaps best remembered by the general public for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", which was written for him by his keyboardist Joe Zawinul and became a major crossover hit on the pop and R&B charts. A cover version by the Buckinghams, who added lyrics, also reached No. 5 on the charts. Adderley worked with Miles Davis, first as a member of the Davis sextet, appearing on the seminal records Milestones (1958) and Kind of Blue (1959), and then on his own 1958 album Somethin' Else. He was the elder brother of jazz trumpeter Nat Adderley, who was a longtime member of his band. 

Julian Edwin Adderley was born in Tampa, Florida, to high school guidance counselor and cornet player Julian Carlyle Adderley and elementary school teacher Jessie Johnson. Elementary school classmates called him "cannonball" (i.e., "cannibal") for his voracious appetite. 

Cannonball moved to Tallahassee when his parents obtained teaching positions at Florida A&M University. Both Cannonball and brother Nat played with Ray Charles when Charles lived in Tallahassee during the early 1940s. Adderley moved to Broward County, Florida, in 1948 and studied music at Florida A&M University and pledged the Beta Nu chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. He then became the band director at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, a position which he held until 1950.

Adderley was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1950 during the Korean War, serving as leader of the 36th Army Dance Band. He left Southeast Florida and moved to New York City in 1955, seeking graduate studies at local conservatories. One of his known addresses in New York was in the neighborhood of Corona, Queens. One night in 1955 he brought his saxophone with him to the Café Bohemia and was asked to sit in with Oscar Pettiford in place of his band's regular saxophonist, Jerome Richardson, who was late for the gig. The "buzz" on the New York jazz scene after Adderley's performance announced him as the heir to the mantle of Charlie Parker. 

                                   

Adderley formed his own group with his brother Nat after signing with the Savoy jazz label in 1955. He was noticed by Miles Davis and, because of his blues-rooted alto saxophone, was asked to play with his group. He joined the Davis band in October 1957, three months prior to the return of John Coltrane to the group. Davis notably appears on Adderley's solo album Somethin' Else (also featuring Art Blakey and Hank Jones), which was recorded shortly after the two met. Adderley then played on the seminal Davis records Milestones and Kind of Blue. This period also overlapped with pianist Bill Evans' time with the sextet, an association that led to Evans appearing on Portrait of Cannonball and Know What I Mean? His interest as an educator carried over to his recordings. In 1961, Cannonball narrated The Child's Introduction to Jazz, released on Riverside Records. In 1962, Cannonball married actress Olga James. 

The Cannonball Adderley Quintet featured Cannonball on alto sax and his brother Nat on cornet. Cannonball's first quintet was not very successful; however, after leaving Davis' group, he formed another group again with his brother. The new quintet, which later became the Cannonball Adderley Sextet, and Cannonball's other combos and groups, included such noted musicians as saxophonists Charles Lloyd and Yusef Lateef, pianists Bobby Timmons, Barry Harris, Victor Feldman, Joe Zawinul, Sérgio Mendes, Hal Galper, Michael Wolff, and George Duke, bassists Ray Brown, Sam Jones, Walter Booker, and Victor Gaskin, and drummers Louis Hayes and Roy McCurdy. 

By the end of the 1960s, Adderley's playing began to reflect the influence of electric jazz. In this period, he released albums such as Accent on Africa (1968) and The Price You Got to Pay to Be Free (1970). In that same year, his quintet appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival in California, and a brief scene of that performance was featured in the 1971 psychological thriller Play Misty for Me, starring Clint Eastwood. In 1975 he also appeared in an acting role alongside José Feliciano and David Carradine in the episode "Battle Hymn" in the third season of the TV series Kung Fu. 

In July 1975, Adderley suffered a stroke from a cerebral hemorrhage and died four weeks later, on August 8, 1975, at St. Mary Methodist Hospital, in Gary, Indiana. He was 46 years old. He was buried in the Southside Cemetery, Tallahassee. Later in 1975, he was inducted into the DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame. 

(Edited from Wikipedia) 

 

Piano C. Red born 14 September 1922

                           

 Piano C. Red (September 14, 1933 – June 3, 2013), was an American Chicago blues and boogie-woogie pianist, singer and composer. 

He was born Cecil Fain* in Montevallo, Alabama, United States. Inspired by a spiritual singing mother, he was tutored by a local pianist, Fat Lily, who needed the incentive of bottles of moonshine whiskey. By the age of 12, Fain had learned the rudiments of blues and boogie-woogie piano playing, before he relocated to Atlanta, Georgia, four years later. There he started playing the piano semi-professionally, billed as James Wheeler. 

While he was performing there he acquired the name 'Red', in view of the red suit he wore on stage. He then added the "C" to differentiate himself from another Georgian pianist, Piano Red. He moved again in 1956, this time to Chicago, Illinois, where he remained for the rest of his life. He played with the Count Basie Band at Chicago's High Chaparral club and had a regular spot performing at Joe Chamble's Club. However the income was insufficient to sustain him and Piano "C" Red became a taxicab driver by day and performed at night time. 

He was a regular performer on Maxwell Street, and by the early 1960s, Red had sat in with musicians including Elmore James, Eddie Taylor, Jimmy Rogers, Hound Dog Taylor and Sonny Boy Williams. Red had a short recording career in 1963 with Chess Records, who issued versions of "Slow Down and Cool It" and "Hundred and Two". Despite this, unlike many of his acquaintance, Red never had a full-time recording contract. Nevertheless, as well as Chess, Red ultimately had work released on Sound, Dawn, Big Boy, New Rose Records and Boogie On The Boogie. 

                                    

His regular daytime employment inspired his most successful recording, "Cab Driving Man", which he also used as the title of his 1999 album. Red often performed on Maxwell Street with his longstanding backing ensemble, the Flat Foot Boogie Men. When the area was threatened with redevelopment, Red was foremost in the campaign to preserve the area and its blues heritage. Although unsuccessful, Red and his band continued to play in and around the site, as well as in Chicago blues clubs. 

During his time, Red played accompaniment to Muddy Waters, Memphis Slim, B.B. King, Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, Little Walter, Junior Wells, and Fats Domino. By the 1990s, Red's name had spread beyond just Chicago. His debut album was released in 1992 on New Rose Records. The collection titled, Piano "C" Red, included his regularly played song, "Flat Foot Boogie". He was featured in the June 1996 issue of Living Blues, and interviewed by Niles Frantz from WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight program. In 1999, Red released a CD entitled Cab Driving Man, on Boogie On The Boogie. Red continued to lead his Flat Foot Boogie band, playing in and around the Chicago scene. 

On March 23, 2006, Red and a friend parked at a gas station in South Holland, Illinois, where two men demanded the keys to his 1994 model Chevrolet automobile. After Red yelled, "Police!", one of the two shot him in the spine, leaving Red paralysed. Not long after the shooting, his former employer, Simon Garber of Chicago Carriage Cab Co., donated a refurbished taxi with wheelchair accessibility aimed to transport Red, his band and musical instruments. The comeback did not materialise, although Red did make the occasional appearance, such as a side-stage performance at the Chicago Blues Festival. His health progressively worsened, ending his performances. Red spent his final years moving from one nursing home to another. Piano "C" Red died on June 3, 2013, at the age of 79. 

“He was one of the many really great unknown musicians in Chicago,” said blues piano player and historian Barrelhouse Bonni McKeown. 

(Edited from Wikipedia) (* other sources state birth name was James Cecil Wheeler)

James Johnson born 13 September 1939

James Johnson (13 September 1937 – September 2004)* was a founder member and first tenor of the doo-wop and pop vocal groups The Jayhawks and The Vibrations. 

The Jayhawks were one of those West Coast groups who changed names, personnel and labels at the drop of a hat. Their career spanned over two decades, but only two years as the Jayhawks. The original group was formed in 1955 at Los Angeles Jefferson High School and included Jimmy Johnson (lead), Carl Fisher (tenor), Dave Govan (baritone) and Carver Bunkum (bass). An encounter with Flash Records owner Charlie Reynolds led to a recording contract with Al Curry as their manager, who lso named the group The Jayhawks. Reynolds liked their ballad "Counting My Teardrops", which was released on Flash 105 in October 1955. It sold well enough locally to give the group a second chance. 

The novelty rocker "Stranded in the Jungle" came out in May 1956. It was written by group member Jimmy Johnson, the Jayhawks' manager Al Curry and local teenage girl Ernestine Smith. In spite of the record's low fidelity and the Jayhawks' shaky harmony, "Stranded in the Jungle" became an instant hit. By June 30, it was a Pick Of The Week in the trades. It eventually rose to #9 on the national R&B charts and #18 on Pop. The song was doing so well, in fact, that Al Curry arranged an East Coast tour for the Jayhawks. They were young, with no real experience with routines that varied between rough and non-existent. But by the end of the week they'd found some acceptance. 

                                   

Modern Records, recognizing the song's potential, recorded a more polished, more powerful and better recorded version with the Cadets. In fact, most people think that the Cadets' version is the original. Their version peaked at # 15 in Billboard's pop charts, bypassing the Jayhawks' version (# 18) and another cover by the Gadabouts on Mercury (# 39).

The Jayhawks' hit proved to be a one-shot. A third single on Flash, "Love Train", derailed early and two singles on Aladdin in 1957 also failed to catch on. They changed their name to the Vibes for two singles on the Allied label, but in 1959 they were again credited as the Jayhawks for a further two singles on Eastman Records. Then, in 1960, they changed their name - almost for the last time - to the Vibrations. 

Carver Bunkum had left the group and with the addition of Don Bradley (bass) and Richard Owens (tenor, ex-Six Teens), the group was now a quintet, with much-improved harmonies. They had a series of lead vocalists including Carlton Fisher, James Johnson, Richard Owens, Rene Beard and Dave Govan, and were particularly known for having a high tenor out in front. There was one release on the small Bet label before the Vibrations were signed by Checker Records in Chicago, a subsidiary of Chess. With their third single for that label, the group returned to the charts after a 5-year absence. Released in early 1961, "The Watusi" went to # 25 pop and # 13 R&B. The melody was almost a note-for-note copy of Hank Ballard's "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go" from a few months earlier. 

Two weeks after "The Watusi" dropped off the Hot 100, the group entered the charts again, but not as the Vibrations. H.B. Barnum, A&R man for Arvee Records, had a problem. His hot act the Olympics were touring on the East Coast and he needed a new single immediately. Barnum persuaded the Vibrations to do a little moonlighting, and an Olympics styled novelty called "Peanut Butter" was cut and credited to "The Marathons". It peaked at # 20, but Leonard Chess discovered the fraud and filed a lawsuit against Barnum and his label. The Arvee single was stopped and Chess-Checker released a re-recorded version of "Peanut Butter" on both Chess 1790 and Argo 5389, labeled as "The Vibrations named by others as Marathons" ("Vibrations recorded as Marathons" on some pressings). Arvee kept the name the Marathons for use with another group to record a Marathons LP. 

By 1964 the Vibrations were progressing from a dance group with hits like "My Girl Sloopy" (# 26) on Atlantic to a more ballad-oriented sophisticated soul sound on Okeh. Erroll Garner's "Misty" was another Vibrations hit, in 1965 (# 63 pop, # 26 R&B) and in 1968 they had their final chart entry with "Love In Them There Hills" (# 93 pop, # 38 R&B). 

They signed to Neptune Records in 1969, resulting in three singles, followed by singles on Mandala and North Bay in 1972. The final Vibrations single was released by Chess in 1974, "Make It Last"/ "Shake It Up". Carl Fisher had left the group in 1973, after 18 years. He was not replaced and the group continued as a quartet. The Vibrations struggled on until 1976, when they finally called it quits. 

*I could find no more information regarding James Johnson from thereon until I found comments regarding his death during September 2004 in the Soulful Detriot archives. 

(Edited from This Is My Story, Marv Goldberg & Jazz Weekly)

 

Maurice Chevalier born 12 September 1888

Maurice Chevalier (12 September 1888 – 1 January 1972) was a French singer, actor, and entertainer. He is best known for his signature songs, including "Livin' In The Sunlight", "Valentine", "Louise", "Mimi", and "Thank Heaven for Little Girls", and for his films, including The Love Parade, The Big Pond, The Smiling Lieutenant, One Hour with You, and Love Me Tonight. His trademark attire was a boater hat and tuxedo. 

Born Maurice Auguste Chevalier in Paris, he was the youngest of nine children, quitting school at the age of 11 to work as an apprentice engraver and factory worker. Chevalier also later performed as a circus acrobat, but after suffering serious injuries he instead turned to singing in Parisian cafes and music halls; although his voice lacked power, he compensated with his fine comedic skills, and before long was among the most popular performers in France, often partnering with the infamous Minstinguett in the Folies-Bergere. 

Upon making his film debut in the 1908 silent comedy Trop Crédule, a series of other film roles followed before Chevalier joined the French forces fighting in World War I; from 1914 to 1916, he was held as a POW by the Germans, learning English from his fellow prisoners. He was later awarded a Croix de Guerre for his wartime service. After his release, Chevalier returned to the cinema, as well as the cabaret circuit; clad in his trademark straw boater and bow tie, in 1925 he introduced "Valentine," one of the songs with which he remained identified for the duration of his career. 

Upon learning of the advent of motion picture sound, Chevalier relocated to Hollywood in 1928; a year later he made his American debut in Innocents of Paris, which popularized his song "Louise." He then traveled to New York, where he performed backed by Duke Ellington; returning to Hollywood, he next appeared opposite Jeanette MacDonald in Ernst Lubitsch's hit The Love Parade, a role which earned him an Academy Award nomination in the Best Actor category. 

                                

                                   

Chevalier and MacDonald made a total of four films together, the most successful of them Rouben Mamoulian's 1932 effort Love Me Tonight, which included several original compositions by Rodgers & Hart, among them "Mimi" and "Isn't It Romantic." With his happy-go-lucky charm and suave sophistication, Chevalier became a romantic superstar, but he abruptly left Hollywood in 1935, reportedly incensed over receiving second billing in a film; he returned to Europe a triumphant global success, quickly reclaiming his cabaret throne and continuing to appear in a variety of motion pictures. 

However, with the outbreak of World War II, Chevalier was reluctant to perform live in Nazi-occupied areas; he finally agreed to perform in Germany in 1941 on the condition that a group of French POWs be released. (Such dealings ultimately led to charges of Nazi collaboration, although he was later vindicated.) In the late 1940s, Chevalier developed a one-man stage show which he took to London and later the U.S.; after appearing in the 1950 feature Le Roi, he again attempted to return to America, but was denied re-entry after signing the anti-nuclear document known as the Stockholm Appeal. 

In 1957, after several years away from the spotlight, Chevalier made a surprise return to Hollywood, appearing in Billy Wilder's Love in the Afternoon; a year later he starred in Gigi, the film's Lerner & Loewe score providing him with two of his signature songs, "Thank Heaven for Little Girls" and "I Remember It Well," the latter performed with Hermione Gingold. In 1959, Chevalier was awarded an honorary Oscar for "contributions to the world of entertainment for more than half a century." 

In 1960, he co-starred with Frank Sinatra and Louis Jourdan in Can-Can, but after 1961's Fanny he began appearing in smaller roles, typically cast as a patriarchal figure. After 1967's family comedy Monkeys, Go Home!, Chevalier retired from the screen, and his vocal rendition of the title song to the 1970 animated Disney feature The Aristocats was his last work in Hollywood. 

Chevalier suffered from bouts of depression throughout his adult life. On 7 March 1971, he attempted suicide by overdosing on barbiturates. Rushed to the hospital, Chevalier was saved but suffered liver and kidney damage as a result of the drug. In the following months, he suffered memory lapses, chronic tiredness, and spent much of his time alone. On 12 December, he fell ill and was taken to Paris's Necker Hospital and placed on dialysis. By 30 December, doctors announced his kidneys were no longer responding to dialysis. 

Too frail for a transplant, he underwent surgery as a last-ditch effort to save his life. It was unsuccessful; Chevalier died from a cardiac arrest following kidney surgery on New Year's Day 1972, aged 83. 

(Edited from AllMusic & Wikipedia)

 

Lorraine Geller born 11 September 1928

Lorraine Geller (September 11, 1928 – October 13, 1958) was a talented American jazz pianist who was one of the first females to break into a male-dominated genre of music. 

She was born Lorraine Winifred Walsh in Portland, Oregon  and studied classic piano in high school before she was introduced to jazz music in the African American community of Jumptown. In 1942 she was playing with the “Boogie-Woogie Quartet” at Franklin High School. She started with one of the first integrated all-female bands, “Sweethearts of Rhythm,” in 1949 which had for two years, Anna Mae Winburn, a well-known jazz vocalist. 

She and the band followed alto saxophonist Herb Geller and his band to New York City in 1951, where she and Geller married. That year, she played with trumpeter Norma Carson’s all-female group, which did a brief residency at The Welcome Bar in Atlantic City. By 1952 the couple were in Los Angeles, California. Her husband joined with Billy May and became a practitioner of the "West Coast" sound. Being a white female in this genre of music gave her an advantage with recording contracts as it seemed that aged, talented African American men were by-passed for this young, white girl. 

                     Here’s “Clash By Night” from above album. 

                                    

During her short professional career, she recorded three albums with her husband for EmArcy, a few titles with him for Imperial, and made a trio set of her own for Dot in 1954 “Lorraine Geller at Piano,” which is now a collector's item. In 1957 she performed on Red Mitchell “Presenting Red Mitchell,” which was her most successful recording financially.

Herb Kimmel, Lorraine Geller, Will MacFarland 1954

During her seven years in California, she performed in West Coast clubs or on LP's with greats in the jazz world such as Kay Smith, Miles Davis, Philly Joe Jones, Shorty Rogers, Zoot Sims, Stan Getz, Charlie Parker, Dinah Washington, Dizzie Gillespie, and more. At one point when the couple could not find a job, they would play for strip joints to make a paycheck as did many jazz bands during this era. 

In 1957 she worked as Kay Starr’s accompanist, but suffering from being short of breath, she was diagnosed with asthma. With the birth of her daughter, Lisa, in September of 1957, her respiratory condition declined greatly, following with a six-month stay in the hospital that her health insurance would not pay. This caused a financial burden on her family's budget, hence her husband left to tour to earn a better income. 

During 1958 she concentrated on bringing up her daughter, so did not often perform, but she did play at the first Monterey Jazz Festival on October 3rd 1958. A week later while her husband was on tour, she had another critical episode of respiratory distress. 

She did not recover from this episode but died of pulmonary edema as a complication of a respiratory infection on October 13, 1958 shortly after her 30th birthday. Her mother had to phone her husband, who was on tour, to tell him of her death. Sadly, she is among the most underrated and barely celebrated pianists from the 1950s and is all but forgotten today. 

(Edited from bio by Linda Davis, Wikipedia & AllMusic)

Pam Garner born circa 1937

Pam Garner was one of the many jazz singers who had a brief moment of fame in the 1950s and early sixties then faded, not because they ceased to be good but because popular music changed so radically.

According to liner notes Pam Garner was Born in Big Spring, Texas circa 1937, but Hollywood was her home since 1943 when she was 8 years old. After studying voice under Marie Rubens and Dr. Lillian Goodman in Los Angeles, she began her Californian career working in a mortgage company during the day and making her first professional appearance singing country and western songs on the local Radio Station KFWB with Stuart Hamblen. 

There is not much information regarding her early years, even if Pam Garner was her actual name or a stage name,  but she is mentioned many times in Billboard magazine. In June 1953 she is appearing in the chorus line at the Sands and by November that year she is mentioned as a budding young “thrush” who has been playing a series of dates at Victorille. 1956 finds her recording “Bell Bottom Blues” for the budget record label Tops. Yet her next recording is an album during 1958 for Coral Records titled “Pam Garner Sings Quietly” with an orchestra conducted by Charles Dant. 

                                                                

The liner notes state that Pam, a new engaging singer was all the more refreshing to hear and contemplate in the light of the current plethora of electronically created stars. Though a good portion of any contemporary listening audience takes to gimmicks to clam an insatiable appetite for the new and different, there are those who cast their votes for the artist who gives herself and communicates on the strength of sensitivity and talent alone. It is to this stable that Pam Garner appeals. 

She sings honestly and well, using her vocal and emotional equipment with a maturity and polish befitting an artist older and more experienced. And much to the listener’s satisfaction, Miss Garner sings in tune, something of a rarity for girl singers these days. A single was also released from the album followed by a 1959 pairing with Les Brown & His Band of Renown. During that year she had a guest spot on the Steve Allen show. With the exception of a country-wide tour with the Chuck Cabot band, she has worked excusively as a “single”, concentrating her activities in California, appearing on the Earl Grant Show, Stars of Jazz, The Lawrence Welk Show, and others.  

During January 1960 Pam spent a two week engagement at Ye Little Club in Beverly Hills. An A&R executive signs her for Columbia records and during February she records her second album “Pam Sings Ballads For Broken Hearts” with an orchestra directed by a young John Williams. After this a long lost Italian Cinebox/ Scpotone film from 1962 appears on DVD. But then her internet trail comes to a grinding halt. Little is known about Pam Garner after the early 1960s. The limited public information about her post-singing career has led to questions and speculation among some fans. Yet although her career was quite short and did not achieve great commercial success, she is still remembered for her warm voice and graceful performing style. 

(Edited from Billboard magazine, Album liner notes  and Discogs)

 Now usually I only post one video, but in this case I have opted for two. In 1959, Pam Garner appeared on The Steve Allen Plymouth Show and performed "The Girl With The Long Black Hair," the vocal version of the theme from the TV series Richard Diamond, Private Detective. 

My second video is Pam Garner - Take Me to Disneyland. Now, first off, nothing is known about this curiosity. It is assumed that may be Pam Garner riding the rails as it certainly looks like her, but this cannot be guaranteed. One would suppose that anything Disney would be clearly documented so everyone would know about every little detail. Not so. The title card for this Scopitone video credits the song to "Sherman-Ellis". In fact the tune was copyrighted in '62. by Sherman K. Ellis, a retired ad exec who got into the music biz in the mid fifties and helmed the Sherm Ellis Orchestra until he passed in 1964.