Vaughn monroe ballerina
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Vaughn Monroe
American singer (1911–1973)
Musical artist
Vaughn Wilton Monroe (October 7, 1911 – May 21, 1973)[1] was an American baritone singer, trumpeter and big band leader who was most popular in the 1940s and 1950s. He has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for recording and another for radio performance.
Early life
Monroe was born in Akron, Ohio.[2] He graduated from Jeannette High School in Pennsylvania in 1929.[3]
Career
Monroe formed his first orchestra in Boston in 1940 and became its principal vocalist. He began recording for RCA Victor's subsidiary label, Bluebird. That same year, Monroe built The Meadows, a restaurant and nightclub to the west of Boston on Massachusetts Route 9 in Framingham, Massachusetts. After he ceased performing, he continued running the club until his death in 1973.[4]
The summer of 1942 brought a 13-week engagement on radio, as Monroe and his orchestra had a summer replacement program for Blondie on CBS.[5]
Monroe hosted the Camel Caravan radio prog
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On the Web
Vaughn Monroe. Despite an early talent for the trumpet, Vaughn Monroe's desire to become an opera singer eventually landed him almost ten number one hits during the '40s as well as a host of nicknames for his rich baritone, including "The Voice with Hairs on Its Chest" and "Old Leather Tonsils." Born in Akron, OH, Monroe moved to Wisconsin while still a child and focused on his trumpet talent for most of his boyhood. Another early ambition, to be an opera singer, resulted in his signing on as a vocalist with territory bands led by Austin Wylie, Larry Funk (for whom he made his recording debut) and Jack Marshard. While based in Boston with Marshard, Monroe formed his first orchestra and began recording for Victor's low-priced Bluebird label. One of his first singles, "There I Go," spent three weeks at the top of the Hit Parade in 1940. Though his orchestra was rather tame (even for the time), it was voted top college band that year. His longtime theme song "Racing with the Moon" debuted in 1941, and the following year-and-a-
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About Vaughn Monroe
Like most big bands of the 1940s, a number of well-known artists got their start with Vaughn Monroe. Ray Conniff, guitar legend Bucky Pizzarelli, songstress Georgia Gibbs, and Boston saxophone master Andy Bagni all performed with the orchestra. Although most of the big bands broke up after the 1947 musician's union strike, Monroe went on to record his biggest hit in 1949: Ghost Riders In the Sky. From 1940 to 1954, Monroe had close to 70 chart records, including many #1 hits. Three of those songs, Let It Snow, Ghost Riders and Ballerina, rank among the all-time top #1 songs, each dominating the Billboard charts for 10 weeks or more.
From a 1945 souvenir booklet:
Monroe is a man of many hobbies. He likes photography, motorcycling, miniature trains, carpentry, swimming, golf, and especially flying. His earnings are large enough to permit him to be an active flying enthusiast and he owns two planes– Cantina II and Cantina III (named from first three and last four letters of his daughters' names). On dates played within three hundr
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