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KALLEN, Kitty

(b Katie Kallen, 25 May 1921, Philadelphia PA; d 7 January 2016, Cuernavaca, Mexico) Singer. Began on local children's radio show; sang on radio with Jan Savitt at 14; with Jack Teagarden, Jimmy Dorsey, Harry James, others '39-45; on radio with Danny Kaye, David Rose, etc. Sang duet with Bob Eberly on no. 1 Dorsey hit 'Besame Mucho' ('Kiss Me A Lot') '41; top ten hits with James band: '45: 'I'm Beginning To See The Light', '11:60 P.M.', 'I'll Buy That Dream', 'It's Been A Long, Long Time' (no. 1), 'Waitin' For The Train To Come In'. Recorded with Artie Shaw on Musicraft ('My Heart Belongs To Daddy'); along with many other band singers she carried on as a single when the Swing Era was over, on Musicraft, Signature, Mercury, then Decca.

She had excellent diction and pitch; her interpretations were sweet, but not too sweet. Her manager, then husband, Budd Granoff (once Frank Sinatra's manager), marveled at the fact that unlike her siblings she had no trace of the south Philadelphia accent. She had three hits in '54 and 'Little Things Mean A Lot' was one of the biggest of the year: the lovely song suited her perfectly, written by Carlton Franklin Stutz (b 19 December 1915, Richmond VA; d 1996; was an accountant, a teacher, then a disc jockey as well as a songwriter) and Edith Lindeman Calisch (b 21 March 1898, Pittsburgh; d 22 December 1984; wrote children's books, worked for the Richmond Times Dispatch '33-64). The big hit revived Kallen's career; 'In The Chapel In The Moonlight' was top five, 'I Want You All To Myself' top 30. She took some time off but came back '59 and had top 40 hits 'If I Give My Heart To You' '59 on Columbia, 'My Coloring Book' '62 on RCA. Albums included a 10-inch Mercury LP, It's A Lonesome Old Town on Decca, If I Give My Heart To You on Columbia, My Coloring Book on RCA, Delightfully on Movietone. A two-CD set The Kitty Kallen Story on Sony Special Music Products compiled the Swing Era tracks.