Beryl Davis

Cuimean

Wikipedia says that Beryl Davis died today, but I can't find any further info online. Anyone have any further details?

gpurdy

BERYL DAVIS, British Singer - Career Spanned Eight Decades in U.K. and U.S.

British-born Beryl Davis, whose eight-decade career included singing with Maj. Glenn Miller, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, has died. She was 87.

The daughter of English band leader Harry Davis, she spent her formative years traveling with his Oscar Rabin-Harry Davis Band and was the band’s featured singer by age eight.

At age 12, she was booked with the Quintet of The Hot Club of France, which featured Django Reinhardt and Stephane GrappellI. After touring for three years and multiple recordings, war broke out. She and Grappelli returned to England, and were joined by a young pianist by the name of George Shearing. That group performed in London clubs throughout the blitz.

Later, she rejoined the Davis/Rabin band and had her own BBC radio show.

She soon came to the attention of Captain Glenn Miller and, on August 17, 1944—the day he was promoted to Major, began singing with his band. She was the only British civilian ever officially attached to the Eighth Air Force, taking her orders directly from General James Doolittle. Her last broadcast with Miller was on December 12, 1944 at the Queensbury Club, and her final number was “I’ll Be Seeing You.” Three days later, Miller took his fateful flight over the English Channel.

After the war, Bob Hope invited her to come to the States to appear on his radio show. Six weeks after her American debut, she was preparing to return to England when Frank Sinatra invited her to join him on “Your Hit Parade” as his singing partner, leading to featured spots with Benny Goodman, Vaughn Monroe, David Rose and many others.

In 1948, she married Hollywood radio and television personality Peter Potter, who was host of “Peter Potter’s Platter Parade” and later, the Emmy-winning nationally-broadcast “Jukebox Jury.” The couple had three children and divorced in 1965.

In 1954, Davis, along with friends Jane Russell, Connie Haines and Della Russell, performed a little-known gospel song entitled “Do Lord” for a church benefit. They recorded the song and it immediately went Gold, selling 2 million copies. Rhonda Fleming later replaced Della Russell and the group continued recording and performing their gospel-inspired show in the nation’s top nightclubs and casino showrooms.

As a solo act, she performed in theaters and concert venues around the globe, and was a regular guest artist at music festivals and events honoring Reinhardt and Miller. She also performed on multiple cruise ships, including Princess Cruises, where she was known as “The First Lady of Song” for over 30 years. She was long admired and respected by the many Big Band musicians with whom she worked.

She was preceded in death by her life partner of 35 years, record executive and concert producer Buck Stapleton, in 2003. They were longtime residents of Toluca Lake, California, where she served as Honorary Mayor. The couple also resided in Palm Springs, California, where she received her star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame.

On November 11, 2000, she was a special guest at the ground breaking ceremonies of the National WW II Memorial in Washington, D.C. where she sang “I’ll Be Seeing You,” by then her trademark song. Dignitaries that day included President Bill Clinton, who personally commended her performance at a post-event reception.

She is survived by her children, Bill Moore, Merry Moore and Melinda Moore Garber; her sister, Lisa “Cherry” Davis; and grandchildren, Shannon Moore and Asher Ferguson.

Funeral services are planned for 12:30 p.m. on Friday, November 4, 2011 at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills, Church of the Hills. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------EDITOR’S NOTE: For additional information, please contact family representative Greg Purdy at 760-808-3650 or gmpurdy@dc.rr.com.

Phil

I'm saddened to hear this. Beryl was great. I recall first hearing her sing "Don't worry about me" on Django's recording, it was simply lovely. I was honoured to be able to see her perform with John Jorgensen at DFNW in 2005 or was it 2006? I'll have to check. I'll post a photo and hopefully a video clip that I have of her performance from that show.
cheers,
Phil

Teddy Dupont

I think both her recordings with the HCQ are really good. She swings incredibly well for her age and sounds far older. Django must have liked her singing because she was the only vocalist to last any length of time at all with him.

A great pity they did not record more together. - Another link with the great man gone.

Together backstage in Stockholm, 1939:-

Heretic

What sad news this is. I loved her voice above all others of the period. What a good thing John Jorgenson did by getting to sing with is group. I'll miss her.

Phil

Here's Beryl performing "Don't Worry About Me" with John Jorgensen at DFNW Sept 30, 2005...with Gonzalo on Rhythm guitar.

http://youtu.be/8HO6P5CRMrE

Beryl we'll miss you. Thanks for the memories.
Enjoy - cheers,
Phil

thickpick

Here's another nice one...

Bob Holo

Phil wrote:

or was it 2006?
Phil

I thought it was '06 but maybe it was '05.

I remember she was having a conversation out front of WICA with - I think it was Simon. She was "all there" and I remember thinking - "Unbelievable - she must be 80 and she's not just "all there" but she's hot - what a lady."

Alzheimer's is definitely a disease we would be better off without.

Sad news. Flags at half-staff today.

Stringswinger

It was Djangofest LA when John brought Ms. Davis out of retirement. There were tears in the eyes of all members of John's crew when she sang. It was really heavy. And beautiful.

While sad news, 87 is a pretty good run. Perhaps she is doing a command performance for the Creator of the universe accompanied by Django and Stephane at this very moment. Where she went, we all shall follow.

RIP

Mike

Is she the last that was still alive that played with Django? Is there anyone else left?

Archtop Eddy

Thanks Phil for posting the clip from DFNW. It was a great show and a wonderful memory for all who were there. We'll miss you Beryl. Thanks for bringing your beautiful music and presence into our world. AE