Marylin Duke
Birth nameManfrey Lecta Duke
Birth dateOctober 3, 1916
Birth placeJackson, Georgia
OriginAtlanta, Georgia
Death dateAugust 7, 1995 (aged 78)
Death placeClayton County, Georgia
InstrumentVocals
GenreVocal jazz, jazz blues, torch songs, swing, blues, R&B
OccupationSinger
Years active1933–1966
LabelBluebird
RCA Victor
Websitewww.vaughnmonroesociety.org
Vaughn Monroe Appreciation Society[a]

Marilyn (Marylin) Duke (née Manfrey Lecta Duke; October 3, 1916 Jackson, Georgia[1] – August 7, 1995 Clayton County, Georgia),[2][3] was an American singer from the swing era of the mid to late 1930s and early 1940s. She began as a soloist in 1933 on radio in Atlanta, then, beginning 1936, was carried on syndicated and network radio from New York City. In the first half of the 1940s, Duke traveled and recorded as a featured singer with big bands, notably with Vaughn Monroe. She distinguished herself as a rhythm singer – that is, a singer who swings.[b] And, while with the Monroe Orchestra, she was acclaimed for having an engaging personality. Duke was a tall[c] brunette, and, according to journalists, attractive.[4] As for her hair color, Duke was a blonde when she re-joined Monroe's band in 1944. After her career with big bands – after 1945 – and into the late 1960s, she performed on-and-off as a nightclub pianist-singer in the metropolitan areas of Boston, New York City, and Newport, Rhode Island. Her recorded hits with Vaughn Monroe include "There'll Be Some Changes Made" and "The Trolley Song" – the latter being a late-1944, post-Petrillo-ban, rush-to-market, swing band vocal duet with Monroe.[Billboard 1]

Career highlights

Growing up

Marilyn Duke learned to sing in a choir at her church, likely the Macedonia Baptist Church in Jackson, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. Though, according to a 1995 interview (the year she died) in the Atlanta Constitution, at an early age, she preferred the gospel music of a nearby black church.[5]

Atlanta radio career

In 1933, under the product brand pseudonym of "Miss Seiberling," Duke performed on broadcast radio WGST, Wednesdays, 7:15 pm. The radio name was that of the Seiberling Rubber Company, a national tire manufacturer distributed by the Brooks-Shatterly Company, Inc., of Atlanta.[6][d] In 1934, Duke, under her birth name, Manfrey Duke, sang regularly on WSB radio in Atlanta.[7]

New York radio career

After winning a radio audition contest around 1934, Duke headed to New York City,[3] where, from December 30, 1934, to 1936 (and later), she sang regularly on NBC radio and the Mutual Broadcasting Company. She was billed as a blues singer and contralto. Her radio broadcasts included performances with the orchestras of Leon Brusiloff (1898–1973) and his brother Nathan Brusiloff (1904–1951)[e] and Paul Whiteman.[1] In 1935, her broadcast performances were sometimes with the Charioteers, a male choral quartet. Beginning December 30, 1934, Duke sang on WOR two or three times a week – typically Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 5:15 pm. She sang 15-minute segments, usually. The WOR broadcasts were carried on the Mutual Network.

Early dance orchestra career

From Mid to late-1930s, Duke, as vocalist, was the star attraction for Manny Gates (né Emanuel Getzholtz; 1894–1957) Orchestra in Miami[8][f] She joined Jolly Coburn's (né Frank Harry Coburn; 1900–1964)[9][g] Orchestra, a society band, around July 1937[h] after playing a piano stint at a Boston nightclub. Duke also sang with the Shep Fields Orchestra in 1937 (in Philadelphia).[10][11]

Joined Vaughn Monroe's Orchestra in 1940

On New Year's Eve 1940, at age twenty-four – after the death of her father – Duke debuted with the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra at the Statler Hotel Boston, eight months after Monroe founded the orchestra. Her father died January 8, 1940, of injuries as a pedestrian struck by a truck.[12] Monroe formed his orchestra April 1940 in Miami at the urging and sponsorship of band agent Willard Alexander (1908–1984)[i] and New England–based band leader Jack Marshard (né Jacob Marshard; 1910–1948), who saw an opportunity when offered two simultaneous bookings.[13] Marshard became his manager. Marylin Duke was Monroe's first female vocalist.[14] She had been working as a pianist-singer at a Boston nightclub; but because an infected finger interrupted her playing, she auditioned for Vaughn Monroe and was promptly signed.[15] Her notoriety rose rapidly during her tenure with Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra as a featured singer.

Departure from Vaughn Monroe's Orchestra in 1943

She left the Monroe Orchestra around June 1943 to join the WAAC,[16] but instead, continued performing, which included a two-month stint with Tommy Dorsey. That same year (1943), Duke also sang with Will Osborne and His Orchestra. Filling the void, Monroe hired Phyllis Lynne[j] July 31, 1943, in Los Angeles, to replace Duke. Monroe gave Lynne her East Coast debut on September 14, 1943, in New York City at the Paramount.

Rejoined Vaughn Monroe's Orchestra in 1944

Around June 1944, Duke began a 10-week solo engagement at the Frolic Club (aka, the Frolic Theatre Restaurant),[k] in Revere, Massachusetts, at 155 Revere Beach Boulevard.[Billboard 2] But, apparently before finishing, she was back with Vaughn Monroe by mid-July 1944, replacing Del Parker.[17][l][Billboard 3] In September 1944, she married Peter O'Brien, a Boston amusement park owner.[18]

She then permanently left the orchestra around January 1945.[19] Yet, on April 14, 1945, Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra featured Duke, with Bobby Ricky, in Dayton, Ohio, at the Lakeside Park Ballroom.

A large part of Vaughn Monroe's repertoire featured the singing of Monroe, himself, as well as Marilyn Duke, Ziggy Talent,[m] The Murphy Sisters, and The Moonmaids.

On and off solo career

In December 1945, she was performing at the Music Box in Boston.

Popularity

Polls

  • 1942: Billboard's "Collegiate Choice of Female Vocalists," Duke received votes for first and second choice.[Billboard 4]
  • April 12, 1942: A swing magazine presented Marilyn Duke with an award during Vaughn Monroe's final performance, after a long engagement, at the Commodore Hotel in New York[Billboard 5]
  • The February 1942 issue of Big Song Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 2 (OCLC 19509187), Vaughn Monroe, Marilyn Duke, and Sammy Kaye were on the cover.
  • In January 1945, Duke's rendition of "The Trolley Song," became a top-ten hit. That song, and the one on the flip side, "The Very Thought of You," were recorded Sunday, November 12, 1944, at Victor's studio in New York, 18 hours after the 27-month Petrillo Ban had been lifted. The session represented Victor's first since the ban. Both songs were pressed and on sale only 24 hours later. Victor Victor distributed 160,000 copies throughout the country before the week was out.[20][Billboard 1][n][Billboard 6]
Billboard
Week
Ending		ReviewedRecord
Sales		Juke
Box		Radio
Plugs		BB
Issue		Page(s)
'"There'll Be Some Changes Made"[21]
1941Daniel RichmanFebruary 15, 194113
"The Trolley Song"
December 9, 1944Maurie OrodenkerDecember 9, 194421
December 7, 194415December 16, 194419
December 14, 194410December 23, 194419
December 21, 194489December 30, 194412
December 28, 1944414January 6, 194520–21
January 4, 1945412January 13, 194518–19
January 11, 194512January 20, 194518–19
January 18, 19457January 27, 194516
Cashbox — "Disk-Hits Box Score" (weekly)[22]
Week
Ending		Weekly Singles
Ratings		Artist(s)Disc(s)
December 11, 19441Pied Pipers
Vaughn Monroe		Capitol 168
Victor 20-1605
December 18, 19441Pied Pipers
Judy Garland
Vaughn Monroe		Capitol 168
Decca 23361
Victor 20-1605
December 25, 19442Pied Pipers
Judy Garland
Vaughn Monroe		Capitol 168
Decca 23361
Victor 20-1605
January 1, 19452Pied Pipers
Vaughn Monroe
Judy Garland		Capitol 168
Victor 20-1605
Decca 23361
January 8, 19452Pied Pipers
Vaughn Monroe
Judy Garland		Capitol 168
Victor 20-1605
Decca 23361
January 15, 19454Vaughn Monroe
Pied Pipers
Judy Garland		Victor 20-1605
Capitol 168
Decca 23361
January 22, 19455Vaughn Monroe
Pied Pipers
Judy Garland		Victor 20-1605
Capitol 168
Decca 23361
January 29, 19457Vaughn Monroe
Pied Pipers
Judy Garland		Victor 20-1605
Capitol 168
Decca 23361
February 5, 19458Vaughn Monroe
Pied Pipers
Judy Garland		Victor 20-1605
Capitol 168
Decca 23361
February 16, 194516Vaughn Monroe
Pied Pipers
Judy Garland		Victor 20-1605
Capitol 168
Decca 23361
"The Very Thought of You"
Cashbox — "Disc-Hits Box Score" (weekly)[22]
Week
Ending		Weekly Singles
Ratings		Artist(s)Disc(s)
December 25, 194414Ray Noble
Vaughn Monroe		Columbia 36546
Victor 20-1605
January 1, 194510Ray Noble
Vaughn Monroe		Columbia 36546
Victor 20-1605
January 8, 194516Ray Noble
Vaughn Monroe		Columbia 36546
Victor 20-1605

Selected discography

Jolly Coburn and His Orchestra

  1. "Foolin' Myself" (fox trot)

Recorded June 24, 1937, New York City
Jack Lawrence (w&m)
Peter Tinturin (1910–2007) (w&m)
(audio on YouTube)
Jolly Coburn and His Orchestra
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A (matrix 11114): Bluebird B-7041-A

Wally Bishop (pseudonym of Jolly Coburn) and His Band

  1. "Foolin' Myself" (fox trot)

Recorded June 24, 1937, New York City
Jack Lawrence (w&m)
Peter Tinturin (1910–2007) (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side ? (matrix 11114): Regal Zonophone MR 2598

Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra on Bluebird

Source:[23]

  1. "There'll Be Some Changes Made"

Recorded January 13, 1941
William Benton Overstreet (1888–1935) (music)
Billy Higgins (né William Weldon Higgins; 1888–1937) (words)
(audio on YouTube)
Marylin Duke (vocalist)
Bobby Nichols (né Robert J. Nichols; 1924–1975) (trumpet solo)
Side A (matrix 060317=1): Bluebird B-11025-A
OCLC 80421652

  1. "My One Romance"

Recorded January 13, 1941
Olga Paul (words)
Tschaikowsky (music)
Helmy Kresa (arranger)
Marylin Duke (vocalist)
Side A (matrix 060318=1): Bluebird B-11045-A
OCLC 244292622, OCLC 84490225

  1. "Requestfully Yours"

Recorded February 17, 1941
Kay Werner (Kay Werner Kent) (w&m)
Sue Werner (Sue Werner McCarthy) (w&m)
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Frank Levine (alto sax solo)
Nichols (trumpet solo)
Side B (matrix 60650=1): Bluebird B-11070-B
OCLC 82407821

  1. "Just Plain Folks" (fox trot)

Recorded February 17, 1941, New York City
Tiny Hill (w&m)
Mary Ray (w&m)
Harold Dillon (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocals)
Side A (matrix 060652=1): Bluebird B-11085-A
OCLC 84124275

  1. "Thumbs Up" (fox trot)

Recorded February 17, 1941, New York City
Johnny Watson[o] (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocals)
Side A (matrix 060654=1): Bluebird B-11103-A
OCLC 244442524

  1. "G'Bye Now" (fox trot)

Recorded March 31, 1941
From the musical:

Hellz-a-Poppin

John S. Olsen (w&m)
Clifford Johnson (w&m)
Jay Levison (pseudonym of Jay Livingston) (w&m)
Ray Evans (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A (matrix 062793=1): Bluebird B-11114-A
OCLC 62468093

  1. "Music Makers"

Recorded March 31, 1941
Don Raye, Harry James Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side B (matrix 062791=1): Bluebird B-11114-B
OCLC 83466554

  1. "Yours" ("Quieréme Mucho")

Recorded April 21, 1941, New York City
Jack Sher (English words)
Agustin Rodriguez (Spanish words)
Gonzalo Roig (music)
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side B: (matrix 063796=1): Bluebird B-11146-B
OCLC 83668038

  1. "Aurora"

Recorded April 21, 1941, New York City
Roberto Roberti
Mário Lago (pt)
English lyrics by Harold Adamson
Spanish lyrics by Pedro Berriós
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
The Bostonians (vocalists)
Side A: (matrix 063795=1): Bluebird B-11160-A

  1. "The Monkey on a String"

Recorded April 21, 1941, New York City
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side B: (matrix 063794=2): Bluebird B-11160-B

  1. "Love Me As I Am"

Recorded May 19, 1941
From the Paramount film:

Caught in the Draft

Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side B (matrix 065630=2): Bluebird B-11173-B
OCLC 78131897

  1. "Daddy" (fox trot)

Recorded May 19, 1941
Robert W. Troup, Jr. (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A (matrix 065626=1): Bluebird B-11189-A
OCLC 80737103

  1. "The Worm Who Loved The Little 'Tater-Bug'" (fox Trot)

Recorded June 16, 1941
Len Charles Conn (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side B (matrix 066109=1): Bluebird B-11207-B
OCLC 81442242

  1. "Love Me A Little" (fox trot)

Recorded June 30, 1941
Herbie Holmes (w&m)
Howard Smith (w&m)
Ellen Orr (pseudonym of Harry DeCosta)[p] (w&m)
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocal refrain)
Side A (066433=1): Bluebird B-11221-A
OCLC 259959977, OCLC 83120490

  1. "One, Two, Three O'Lairy"

Recorded August 15, 1941
Don Reid[q] (w&m)
Max Chamiton (w&m)
(Oh! My! Whoa! Mary!) (fox trot)
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Vaughn Monroe (vocalist)
Arnold Ross (1921–2000) (piano solo)[r]
Side A (067581=1): Bluebird B-11283-A
OCLC 261400802

  1. "The Window Washer Man"

Recorded September 2, 1941
Hugo Malanga (words)
Marion Barry (music)
(audio on YouTube)
Ziggy Talent[m] Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side B (matrix 067734=1): Bluebird B-11303-B
OCLC 725171423

  1. "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good"

Recorded September 2, 1941
From the 1941 musical revue:

Jump For Joy

Paul Webster (words)
Duke Ellington (music)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A (matrix 067732=1): Bluebird B-11310-A
OCLC 62472084, OCLC 83383595, OCLC 83495336

  1. "I Don't Want To Walk Without You"

Recorded November 24, 1941
From the 1942 film:

Sweater Girl

Frank Loesser (words)
Jule Styne (music)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A (matrix 068349=1): Bluebird B-11399-A
OCLC 30434697, OCLC 876052838, OCLC 81829120 and OCLC 77990320

  1. "Tica Ti-Tica Ta" (fox trot)

Recorded November 24, 1941
Louis Prima (w&m)
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Ziggy Talent[m] (vocalist)
Chorus (vocals)
Side B (matrix 068348=1): Bluebird B-11433-B
OCLC 77611884

  1. "Pretty Little Busybody"

Recorded December 18, 1941
Al Lewis (w&m)
Larry Stock (w&m)
Vincent Rose (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Jack Fay (bassist and vocalist) Side B (matrix 068679=1): Bluebird B-11422-B
OCLC 78456361

  1. "Honey Dear" (fox trot)

Recorded January 15, 1942, New York City
Floyd Hunt, Lester Melrose (w&m)
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Bobby Nichols (né Robert J. Nichols; 1924–1975) (trumpet solo)
Side B (matrix 068886=1): Bluebird B-11454-B
OCLC 79121196

  1. "Somebody Nobody Loves" (fox trot)

Recorded January 15, 1942, New York City
Gus Kahn (w&m)
George Hamilton (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A (matrix 068885=1): Bluebird B-11445-A
OCLC 255971938, OCLC 78182412

  1. "My Little Cousin" (fox trot)

Recorded February 24, 1942
Yiddish version:

Abe Schwartz (music)
Hyman Prizant (1892–1947) (words)

American swing version:

Herbert ("Happy") Lewis
Sam Braverman (1898–1960)[s]
Cy Coben

Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A (matrix 071959=1): Bluebird B-11488-A
OCLC 77820128

Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra on Victor

Bluebird Records is a sub-label of RCA Victor. During the WWII years (and the recording ban), Victor reissued hundreds of jazz records from its Bluebird library. After World War II, the Bluebird label was retired and its artists were re-issued on the RCA Victor label.

  1. "Requestfully Yours"

Recorded February 17, 1941
Kay Werner (Kay Werner Kent) (w&m)
Sue Werner (Sue Werner McCarthy) (w&m)
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side B: Victor 20-2825-B
OCLC 83385963

  1. "G'Bye Now" (fox trot)

Recorded March 31, 1941
From the musical:

Hellz-a-Poppin

John S. Olsen (w&m)
Clifford Johnson (w&m)
Jay Levison (pseudonym of Jay Livingston) (w&m)
Ray Evans (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Re-issue
Side B (matrix 062793=1): Victor 20-2644-B
OCLC 14980059, OCLC 79337900

  1. "Yours" ("Quieréme Mucho") (fox trot)

Recorded April 21, 1941, New York City
Jack Sher (English words)
Agustin Rodriguez (Spanish words)
Gonzalo Roig (music)
(audio on YouTube)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A: Victor 20-2984-A
OCLC 174525696

  1. "Doodle La Do Da" (fox trot)

Recorded September 30, 1941
John D. Watson[o] (w&m)
Marilyn Duke and chorus (vocals)
Side B (matrix 071430=2): Victor 27892-B
OCLC 900226181

  1. "All I Need Is You" (fox trot)

Recorded April 7, 1942
Peter De Rose (w&m)
Benny Davis (w&m)
Mitchell Parish (w&m)
Vaughn Monroe (trumpet); George "Spots" Esposito, Irving Goodman, Jack Hansen (trumpets); Ray Conniff, Art Dedrick, Ray Heath (trombones); Andrew Bagni (né Andrew Joseph Bagni; 1907–1984), Roy Anderson (alto saxes), Frank Levine, Johnny Turnbull, Ziggy Talent[m] (tenor saxes); Arnold Ross[r] (piano, arranger); Carmen Mastren (guitar), Jack Fay (bass); Harry Yaeger (drums), Marilyn Duke, Four Vees (vocals); Jimmy Mundy (arranger)
Side A (matrix 073816=1): Victor 27910-A
OCLC 900226262, OCLC 80793993

  1. "You Were Never Lovelier"

Recorded July 17, 1942
From the 1942 film:

You Were Never Lovelier

Johnny Mercer (words)
Jerome Kern (music)
Marilyn Duke, Four Lee Sisters (vocals)
(matrix: 075433=1): Victor 27958
OCLC 900226334

27-month Petrillo Recording Ban
Began July 31, 1941
Ended November 11, 1944
  1. "Happy-Go-Lucky" (1943)

Used in the 1943 film:

Happy Go Lucky

Frank Loesser (words)
Jimmy McHugh (words)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side B: Victor 20-1524-B
OCLC 839934304

  1. "How Blue The Night"

Recorded around 1944
Harold Adamson (words)
Jimmy McHugh (music)
(female vocalist uncredited)
(likely Marilyn Duke)

  1. "The Very Thought of You"

Recorded November 12, 1944
Victor Studios, New York City
Released November 13, 1944
From the 1944 film:

The Very Thought of You

Ray Noble (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Side A: Victor 20-1605-A
OCLC 62472718

  1. "The Trolley Song" (fox trot) (1944)

Recorded November 12, 1944
Victor Studios, New York City
From the 1944 M-G-M film:

Meet Me in St. Louis

Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane (w&m)
(audio on YouTube)
Vaughn Monroe and Marilyn Duke (vocal duet)
Side B: Victor 20-1605-B
OCLC 62472718

Selected radio transcriptions

  1. WOR's Dedication of the Fifty Kilowatt Transmitter, in Newark

March 4, 1935, 8:00 pm
A variety program from Carnegie Hall, as WOR, increases its power output to fifty-thousand watts
Bert Lahr, Borrah Minevitch and the Harmonica Rascals, Deems Taylor (host), Eddie Dowling, Edward Bowes, Ethel Merman, Fannie Hurst, Gabriel Heatter, Harry Hershfield, Jack Pearl, Jan Peerce, Jean Goldkette, Lanny Ross,[r] Pat Padgett (1898–1990), Pick Malone (né Andrew Pickens Maloney; 1893–1962), Ray Bolger, Sugar Kane (11-year-old "Sweetheart of the air"), the Charioteers, the Pickens Sisters, Victor Moore, Wee Willie Robine (William Robyn; 1894–1996), Tiny Ruffner (1899–1983), Harry Salter (1898–1984) (conductor), Harlan Eugene Reid, Gene Buck (President of ASCAP), Jack R. Poppele (1898–1986) (Chief Engineer of WOR), The WOR Orchestra, Fie Dudley, William Gaxton, Frances Williams, Mischa Violin (1899–1984), Monsignor LaVelle (né Michael Joseph Lavelle; 1856–1939), Jack Arthur (né Arthur E. Campbell; 1900–1980), The Hometown Boys, Alfred McCosker (1886–1959) (president of WOR), Eddie Brown (1895–1974) (violinist),[t] Elsie Janis, Goeta Jungberg, George Schackley (WOR, musical director), Ben Bernie, The WOR Piano Quintet, John Gambling (does a satire of his gym-class program), Sandra Svenska, Joseph Weber (president of the American Federation of Musicians), The Moonbeams, Marilyn Duke, The Song Weavers, Jan Peerce

  1. Broadcast

Coca Cola Spotlight Bands
Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra
Longacre Theatre, New York City
January 13, 1942, 10:15 to 10:30 pm
WOR: Mutual Broadcasting System
Track 3: "Tica Ti-Tica Ta"

Louis Prima (w&m)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Gil Newsome (né Gilbert L. Newsome; 1916–1965) (announcer)

OCLC 733771043, OCLC 407835965

  1. Broadcast: Commodore Hotel, New York

Opening Night: Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra
September 28, 1944
Star Line SLC61105 (released 1987)
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Track 3: "Ten Days With Baby"

From the 1944 film, Sweet and Low-Down
Mack Gordon (words)
James V. Monaco (music)

Track 5: "I'm Makin Believe"

From the 1944 film, Sweet and Low-Down
Mack Gordon (words)
James V. Monaco (music)

OCLC 21730065

  1. "Every Day of My Life" (1943–1944)
Harry James (w&m)
Billy Hays (né William Silas Hays; 1898–1972) (w&m)
Morty Berk (né Marx Berkowitz; 1896–1955) (w&m)[24]

"Ten Days With Baby"

From the 1944 film, Sweet and Low-Down
Mack Gordon (words)
James V. Monaco (music)

Recorded at Liederkranz Hall, New York, July 10, 1944
Marilyn Duke (vocalist)
Lang-Worth transcription
Circle CCD116
OCLC 37209934

Selected live performances

  • April 14, 1943: Coca-Cola Victory Parade of Spotlight Bands (over 168 stations on the Blue Network), broadcast from MacArthur Stadium, Syracuse; Duke and Dick Shanahan (drummer) were featured guests with Will Osborne and His Hollywood Band.

Selected compositions

  1. "Darling I'm Dreaming of You"

Marilyn Duke (w&m)
E unpublished 175318
Miami Beach, Florida: Jack Reynolds[u]
1st copy August 29, 1938

Family

Parents

Manfrey Lecta Duke was born to William Franklin Duke, Jr. (1874–1940), and Gussie Mae Vaughn (maiden; 1895–1961) — William Duke's second of two wives. Gussie, after the death of William Franklin Vaughn, married John Richardson. Manfrey Duke had 2 brothers and 1 sister. She also had 2 half-sisters and 1 half-brother from her father's first marriage to Margaret L ("Maggie") Scarbrough (maiden; 1874–1910).

Husbands
Peter O'Brien
Sometime around the fall of 1944, Marylin Duke married Peter O'Brien, who – according to a syndicated press announcement of their marriage – was a Boston amusement park magnate.[18][25] They adopted two sons, Michael and Patrick. Their marriage ended in divorce.
Benjamin Cushing Bowker
Marylin Duke was known as Manfred L. Bowker when she died August 7, 1995, in Clayton County, Georgia. She had been residing in Fayetteville, Fayette County, Georgia. She was the widow of Benjamin Cushing Bowker (1912–1968), a native of Quincy, Massachusetts, who died in an auto accident in Jackson County, Georgia. At the time of his death, they were residents of Dorchester, Massachusetts.[26] Bowker was a 1933 alumnus of Harvard and 1934 alumnus of Boston Teachers College; early in his career, Bowker had been a journalist from Boston. He later worked in corporate public relations. Darren Bowker (born 1974), a grandson of Benjamin Bowker and Joan C. Valentas (1913–1979), Benjamin's first wife, is a winemaker with Serenity Vineyards in Penn Yan, in the Finger Lakes region of New York.
Death

Duke suffered a stroke in 1990 and was treated at Grady Memorial Hospital, Atlanta. Her maternal 1st cousin, Marilyn Jean Howell (née Vaughn), cared for her until her death August 7, 1995. Duke is buried in Crest Lawn Memorial Park, Atlanta, in the family plot of her maternal Aunt Clara Belle Tarrant (née Vaughn; 1899–1982)

Images

Original source: Nevada State Museum, Las Vegas, Jay Florian Mitchell (1900–1984) Photo Collection
Collection: The African American Experience in Las Vegas, UNLV Libraries
UNLV Libraries, Digital Collections: Images
LoCOHR N°Image N°
VR-410
VR-400-A405299-01
VR-400-B406299-02
VR-419
VR-400-F414300-01
width="20%"; style="background-color:#EEF8FC; border-radius: 0px 0px 0px 12px;" | VR-400-G415width="20%"; style="background-color:#EEF8FC; border-radius: 0px 0px 12px 0px;" | 300-02

Monroe personnel who worked with Duke

  • Four V's (aka Four Vees), male quartet culled from the band
  • 1942-194?: Four Lee Sisters (formerly known as Le Ahn Sisters), Jean, Miriam, Virginia, and Maree:
Jean(née Jean Ahn; born 1918) left in 1944 to get married
Miriamnée Miriam Florence Ahn; January 27, 1920 Girard, Ohio – February 15, 1994 Chatsworth, California, married Francis Wendell Gross (1917–2001) in the Actors Chapel, Manhattan, New York City, June 16, 1946, and subsequently moved to the British-American Compound in Iran, where Gross was a warrant officer affiliated with the United States Foreign Service.[27]
Virginia(née Virginia Annabell Ahn; September 13, 1921 Delaware County, Ohio – January 23, 1986 Ventura County, California) eloped with John Weigel New Year's Eve 1944; They divorced in the mid-1960s; she then married Holcombe; after singing with the Four Lee Sisters, she sang with the Moonmaids, then spent a year with the Andrews Sisters, filling-in for Maxene Andrews; John Weigel was the founder of Weigel Broadcasting; The late Tim Weigel, a son, was a notable sportscaster; Rafer Weigel, a grandson (Tim's son), is a news anchor in St. Louis for KTVI Fox 2, Jenniffer Weigel, a granddaughter (Tim's daughter), is a Chicago-based TV personality
Virginia is buried at Rio Verde Memorial Gardens in Rio Verde, Arizona,[28] where Maree's husband John Egers is buried
Maree

(aka Mary or Marie, née Maree L. Ahn; April 11, 1924 Delaware County, Ohio – 2016)[29] currently 102 years old, from Bellevue, Ohio, had been a singer with the Lee Sisters performing with Horace Heidt (beginning in 1940), Ted Lewis, Monroe, then as soloist with Dick Rogers (1912–1970),[v][30] then with the Norton Sisters, then, after the Moonmaids (who replaced the Norton Sisters) had been working with Monroe, she joined the Moonmaids, turning it into a quintet. In addition to her ensemble roles, she had been Monroe's lead singer. Soon after two Moonmaid singers left to get married, the quintet became a quartet again, with Maree Lee filling the third spot, replacing Katie Myatt, and June Hiett filling the fourth.[31] Lee left Monroe's band on December 20, 1952, to get married; and on December 21, 1952, she married[32] Warren Edward Grafe (1921–1973); she also had been married to George William Eger, Jr. (1918–2002)

Maree is the co-author with Robert H. Mason of Verde Valley Lore (1997), a history of Verde Valley, Arizona

  • 1942–194?: Ziggy Talent (1912–1997)[m]

Miscellaneous

References

General notes and resources

  1. "Bluebird numerical listings 11000–11500"
  2. "Victor 20000–20500" (Victor Matrix Nos.)

Inline notes

  1. ^ VaughnMonroeSociety
  2. ^ rhythm-singer-described
  3. ^ MarilynDuke's height
  4. ^ BrooksShatterly-bio
  5. ^ Brusiloff-bio
  6. ^ MannieGates-bio
  7. ^ Jolly Coburn bio
  8. ^ Henabery bio
  9. ^ WillardAlexander-bio
  10. ^ PhyllisLynne-bio
  11. ^ Craig 2004
  12. ^ DelPark-bio
  13. ^ Ziggy Talent bio
  14. ^ FlatHat 1945 Dec 6
  15. ^ JohnWatson-bio
  16. ^ HarryDeCosta-bio
  17. ^ DonReid-bio
  18. ^ Arnold Ross bio
  19. ^ SamBraverman-bio
  20. ^ Eddie Brown bio
  21. ^ JackReynolds-bio
  22. ^ DickRogers-bio

Inline citations

  1. ^ "On The Radio Waves Today: Manfrey Duke, Southern Songbird, Will Sing Over WGST Tonight," by Samuel E. Clarke, Atlanta Constitution, June 7, 1936, pg. 7K (retrieved June 16, 2016, via ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
  2. ^ "Facing the Music," by Ken Alden, Radio and Television Mirror, September 1941, pps. 9 & 71
  3. ^ "Crashing Networks Is Tough Even If You Have A Manager," by Norman Siegel, Pittsburgh Press, November 18, 1934, Society Section, pg. 5
  4. ^ "Forgotten Heroes of the Big Band Era: The early Vaughn Monroe Orchestra," by Dave Whitney, Pete Kelly's Blog (a blog maintained by Dave Whitney), June 12, 2010 (retrieved July 18, 2016)
    David George Whitney (born 1952) of Billerica, Massachusetts, is a Boston-area jazz trumpeter, vocalist, band leader, educator, and jazz musicologist; he is an influential exponent of traditional jazz and swing
  5. ^ "Jamming with the Big Guys Singer Loved It All, Well, Maybe Not The 'Apple Tree, by Michael Weiss, Atlanta Constitution, January 12, 1995 (retrieved June 16, 2016; ProQuest document ID: 293111489)
  6. ^ "Singer Features Brooks-Shatterly Weekly Broadcast," Atlanta Constitution, October 1, 1933, pg. 17A (retrieved June 16, 2016, via ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
  7. ^ "Those Wild Radio Waves: WSB," Atlanta Daily World April 7, 1934, pg. 6 (retrieved June 16, 2016, via ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
  8. ^ "The Melody Lingers on for NFL Veep," by Michael Haggerty, Nostalgia Newsletter (Chuck Schaden, publisher, Morton Grove, Illinois), Vol. 9, No. 1, December–January 1982–1983; pg. 10; OCLC 57593436
  9. ^ American Big Bands, by William Franklin Lee, Hal Leonard (2005), pps. 174–175; OCLC 62090862
  10. ^ "Camera Angles on Film Folk," by Mildred Martin, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 18, 1937, pg. 11
  11. ^ "Short, Short Story," Radio-Mirror, Vol. 8, No. 2, May 1937, pg. 74
  12. ^ "Mr. W.F. Duke Laid to Rest at Macedonia," Jackson Progress-Argus, July 18, 1930 (retrieved June 22, 2016, via www.rootsweb.ancestry.com)
  13. ^ "Tours Important to Musicians Who Want to Please the Public," by Joey Sasso, Greenfield Recorder-Gazette, April 10, 1954
  14. ^ "On The Bandwagon," by Maurice Granger, Movie and Radio Guide, Vol. 10, No. 19, February 15–21, 1941, pg. 36
  15. ^ "Society in Area Towns — Right Out of the Air," by Earle Ferris, New-York Tribune, July 16, 1942, pg. 5
  16. ^ "Music Makers," by Daniel Richman, New York Post, June 15, 1943, pg. 22
  17. ^ "Current Recording News," Jamestown Post-Journal, July 22, 1944, pg. 5
  18. ^ "Walter Winchell in New New York" (syndicated column), by Walter Winchell, Jamestown Post-Journal, September 30, 1944
  19. ^ "The Voice of Broadway" (syndicated column), by Dorothy Kilgallen, Elmira Star-Gazette, January 30, 1945
  20. ^ "Recorded Music," The Philadelphia Inquirer, November 26, 1944
  21. ^ "Song Artist 67 – Vaughn Monroe," Steve Hawtin (né Steven John Hawtin; born 1960), et al. (eds.), tsort.info/music/pk975c.htm, Basingstoke, England: Mesh Digital Limited (website registrant) (generated July 17, 2016; data version 2.5.0029. Retrieved July 21, 2016)
  22. ^ Pop Hits Singles & Albums 1940–1954 (2nd ed.), Joel Whitburn (ed.), Record Research (2002); OCLC 51670120
  23. ^ "Vaughn Monroe," The American Dance Band Discography 1917–1942 (Vol. 2 of 2), by Brian Rust, Arlington House Publishers (1975), pps. 1264–1267; OCLC 1818389
  24. ^ "Morty Berkowitz" (obituary & paid death notice), The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 6, 1955, pg. 32, cols. 3 & 4
  25. ^ "Lights of New York" (Bell Syndicate column), by L.L. Stevenson (né Louis Lacy Stevenson; 1879–1953) (longtime New York correspondent for The Detroit News), Amsterdam Evening Recorder and Daily Democrat, October 14, 1944, pg. 4, col. 5
  26. ^ "B. C. Bowker Services Tuesday in Boston," The Boston Globe, March 25, 1968, pg. 29 (retrieved June 16, 2016, via ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
  27. ^ "Couple, Recently Wed, to Make Home in Iran," Sandusky Register (Ohio), August 3, 1946, pg. 3 (retrieved July 27, 2016, via www.newspapers.com; fee required)
  28. ^ "Virginia Weigel Holcombe" (obituary), Chicago Sun-Times, January 24, 1986, OCLC 26166499
  29. ^ Maree Lee's birth certificate is digitally indexed as "Marge L. Alm" born April 11, 1924, in Delaware County, Ohio (www.ancestry.com. Retrieved July 28, 2016, subscription required)

  30. ^ Serge Chaloff: A Musical Biography and Discography, by Vladimir Simosko, Scarecrow Press (1998), pg. 13; OCLC 38557354
  31. ^ "Moonmaids: Keeping the Big-Band Sound Alive," D Magazine, July 1984
  32. ^ "Lee Sisters," by Maree Lee Eger, June 2002, posted on the Vaughn Monroe Appreciation Society website, maintained by Louis J. Kohnen, Jr. (of East Rochester, New York) and Claire Schwartz (of Dearborn, Michigan) (retrieved May 30, 2013)

Inline citations from Billboard

(1940–2010 archived online by Google Books)
  1. ^ Billboard 1944 Nov 25
  2. ^ Billboard 1944 Jun 3
  3. ^ Billboard 1944 Aug 19
  4. ^ Billboard 1942 May 2
  5. ^ Billboard 1942 Apr 25
  6. ^ Billboard 1944 Nov 18