Friday, January 14, 2011

Saying 'Goodbye' to an Icon of the Twentieth Century...

Three days ago, one of the most popular and well-liked songstresses of the mid-twentieth century passed away.
Margaret Whiting worked with almost all of the great pop and many of the jazz artists of renown, and made many memorable records during her long career. Her father, Richard Whiting, was a leading composer of pop music, and is, perhaps, best known by way of a rousing tune which splashed all over the radio world of that period, "Hooray for Hollywood." Her sister, Barbara Whiting, was a well-known film actress who was featured in a handful of films made during the same period of time.
Her work with the fabled British pianist George Shearing is still a morsel to summon up and listen to, as well as her work with the likes of Bob Crosby and the Bobcats and countless other luminaries of the pop world, and resulted in her becoming a household name, especially during the war years. Some years after her career was over, Whiting appeared on the Larry King program with George Shearing, singing some of her fabled arrangements with the luscious taste of the Shearing piano as a redolent accompaniment.
She was not as gifted technically as an Ella Fitzgerald or a Cleo Laine, but she possessed a pure, simple truthful approach to pop singing which endeared her to the public.
Margaret Whiting will be remembered by many, and missed.

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