Sunday 17 January 2021

Irene Daye born 17 January 1918


Irene Daye (January 17, 1918 -November 1, 1971) was an American jazz singer. 

Born Irene Endyke in Lawrence, Massachusetts, singer Irene Daye landed her first professional singing job with orchestra leader Dan Murphy shortly before her high school graduation in 1935. She flew back to her hometown on graduation night to receive her diploma.

She remained with Murphy two-​and-a-half years before joining Mal Hallett. Five months after she began with Hallett, bandleader Gene Krupa heard her sing at an engagement in Philadelphia and asked her to try out for his group. When her night’s work with Hallett had ended, she made a 4 a.m. audition and landed the job. 

With Krupa, Daye found success. She had an attractive voice and a lightly swinging style, and improvised with subtlety while respecting the melody and words of the songs she interpreted. She quickly became one of the top vocalists in the country. Daye recorded 63 songs while with Krupa. She made each tune seem worthwhile, even the duds, and had success with "Jeepers Creepers," "Bolero at the Savoy," "The Lady's in Love with You," "Drummin' Man," "The Rumba Jumps," "Rhumboogie," and "Yes, My Darling Daughter." On January 17, 1941, during what would be her final record date with Krupa, she had her biggest hit, "Drum Boogie." Her voice is also heard singing "Drum Boogie" in the movie Ball of Fire, although she was ghosting for actress Barbara Stanwyck. 

                          

                               

She remained with Krupa from 1938 to 1941 when she quit at the age of 23 so that she could travel to the West Coast and marry left-​handed trumpeter Corky Cornelius. If she had stayed with Krupa's band, which was on the brink of making it big, she probably would have been featured on "Let Me Off Uptown" instead of her replacement, Anita O'Day. 

While Cornelius joined the Casa Loma Orchestra, Daye sang for Sam Donahue, who had also recently left Krupa to front his own band again. After her stint with Donahue, Daye happily settled into the life of a housewife, giving birth to a daughter in 1943. 

Sadly, Cornelius passed away from nephritis in August of that year, and Daye returned to singing. She auditioned for Charlie Spivak and was performing with the band by October. With Spivak, Daye found even greater success, making several hit records with the band, including “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home,” “It’s Been a Long, Long Time,” “Golden Earrings” and “I’ll Never Say Goodbye.” Daye also found romance. She and Spivak were married in 1950. 

In the late 1950s, Spivak and Daye moved to Miami, Florida, where he fronted a small outfit with Daye managing his business affairs. Illness forced him to retire briefly in 1963. After recovering, he led bands in Las Vegas and Miami before organizing another small outfit in 1967 that played regularly at the Ye Olde Fireplace restaurant in Greenville, South Carolina, with Daye as vocalist. Daye battled cancer during the last years of her life, finally losing her fight in 1971, age 53. 

During the height of her singing career, she was ranked in official music publications as one of the leading female vocalists. One of the top compliments ever paid her came from Bing Crosby, who said, "Irene Daye is one of the finest girl singers I have ever heard." 

(Edited from Bandchirps & All Music)

Here’s a clip of "The Call Of The Canyon" with Gene Krupa Orchestra featuring Babe Wagner on Trombone. The vocals are by Irene Daye & Howard Dulany. (1941) 

5 comments:

boppinbob said...

Here’s a small compilation of Irene Daye’s songs from her Gene Krupa and Charlie Spivak recordings that I’ve selected from various sources, so quality may vary. I have deleted my first upload as I found some better quality recordings which I have replaced. (I noticed two people were very quick in downloading my first attempt. This one's better)

So for “Irene Daye – Some Like It Hot” (1938 – 1947) go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/12777062/Irene_Daye.rar.html

01) Bolero At The Savoy (1938)
02) Meet The Beat Of My Heart
03) Drummin Man (1939)
04) I Like To Recognize The Tune
05) My Hands Are Tied
06) Never felt Better Never Had Less
07) Some Like It Hot
08) The Lady's In Love With you
09) Boog It (1940)
10) Chop Chop Charlie Chan
11) How Bout That Mess
12) Rhumboogie
13) The Rhumba Jumps
14) The Woodpecker Song
15) Yes My Darling Daughter
16) Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy (1941)
17) Drum Boogie
18) Do You Care
19) Cuddle Up A Little Closer (1943)
20) Accentuate The Positive (1944)
21) I Used To Love You
22) Mean To Me
23) More Than You Know
24) It's Been A long Long Time (1945)
25) Saturday Night Is The Loneliest Night Of The Week
26) Sweetheart Of All My Dreams
27) Golden Earings (1947)

Orchestras:
Gene Krupa (tracks 1–17)
Sam Donahue (track 18)
Charlie Spivak (tracks 19-27)

rntcj said...

Hi!

Thanx for this one. A "new" artist here = "new" hears here. LUV the "Drum Boogie" track.

Cheers!
Ciao! For now.
rntcj

Crab Devil said...

Thanks!

Tune Smith said...

Hi Bob!

I really appreciate the devotion to music amply shown in this marvelous work you've been doing for the most part of this year. I praise you for this. I found facts I didn't know about and some tunes that were new to me (which is not that easy).
This is the case of Irene Daye. I tried to download but the link is dead.
Is it to much to ask you to to upload it again?
I'm at your disposal for anything you might want.

Tunesmith

boppinbob said...

Hi Tune Smith!
It is never too much to assist an old friend, especially if it's your good self from the "Loadsamusics Forum" days. I see Les is still active on his original blog. Here's the new link
https://krakenfiles.com/view/cY7zV9S6tT/file.html
Regards, Bob