Louise Tobin introduced “I Didn’t Know What Time It Was” with Benny Goodman’s band in 1939. But her biggest hit with Goodman was “There’ll Be Some Changes Made” which was number two on the Hit Parade in 1941 for 15 weeks. At the time she was married to trumpeter Harry James, whom she had worked with in Ben Pollack’s band in 1935 when they were married. Harry joined Goodman in 1936 and left to form his own band in 1939. It was Tobin who heard a young singer on the radio and recommended him to James. The singer was Frank Sinatra. After a year with the band, Sinatra left to join Tommy Dorsey, much to the regret of James.
After two children, Tobin and James divorced and he married Betty Grable in 1943. Tobin was interviewed by Peter J. Levinson for his book about James, Trumpet Blues, published in 1999.
In 1960 Tobin ran into Peanuts Hucko, a clarinetist who had played on her first recording in 1939 with Jack Jenney’s band. When Hucko opened his jazz club in Denver in 1967, he hired Tobin as his vocalist and she
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Louise Tobin dies at 104
Louise Tobin, the last surviving musician to have recorded in the 1930s, died on November 26th; she was 104. Her place in popular history was secured when she convinced her bandleader husband, Harry James, to hire a singing waiter from New Jersey named Frank Sinatra. Born in Texas, she would sing for, in roughly chronological order, Art Hicks, Ben Pollack, Bobby Hackett, Jack Jenny, Will Bradley, and Benny Goodman, from the 1930s through the early ’50s.
Louise sang for local community groups as a child, recorded radio jingles at nine years old, and won a talent contest on a CBS radio station in Dallas when she was 14. She began singing at dance functions under chaperone before joining Art Hicks band, where she met Harry James. They were married in 1935 when she was 16 and he 19, and both joined Ben Pollack’s group soon after. James would join Benny Goodman’s band by 1937, while Tobin sang for Bobby Hackett at Nick’s Tavern in Greenwich Village. It was after James had left to form his own group that John Hammond suggested Tobin to Benny Goodman and she re
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Louise Tobin
American jazz singer and musician (1918–2022)
Louise Tobin
Birth name
Mary Louise Tobin
Born
(1918-11-11)November 11, 1918 Aubrey, Texas, U.S.
Died
November 26, 2022(2022-11-26) (aged 104) Carrollton, Texas, U.S.
Genres
Jazz
Occupation(s)
Singer, musician
Years active
1934–1998
Musical artist
Mary Louise Tobin (November 11, 1918 – November 26, 2022) was an American jazz singer and musician. She appeared with Benny Goodman, Bobby Hackett, Will Bradley, and Jack Jenney. Tobin introduced "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" with Goodman's band in 1939. Her biggest hit with Goodman was "There'll Be Some Changes Made", which was number two on Your Hit Parade in 1941 for 15 weeks. Tobin was the first wife of trumpeter and bandleader Harry James, with whom she had two sons.
Early years
The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Tobin,[1] she was born in Aubrey, Texas on November 11, 1918,[2] but moved with her family to Denton, Texas, after her father died.[2] When she was 12, she appeared on stage with