Teresa Brewer

 Teresa Brewer (May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007)

She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. An agent, Richie Lisella, heard her sing and took her career in hand, and soon she was signed to a contract with London Records. In 1949 she recorded the song Copenhagen (a jazz perennial) with the Dixieland All-Stars. For the B side she recorded the song "Music! Music! Music!". Unexpectedly, it was not the A side but the B side which took off, selling over a million copies and becoming Teresa's signature song. Another novelty song, "Choo'n Gum", hit the top 20 in 1950, followed by "Molasses, Molasses". Although she preferred to sing ballads, her only recorded ballad to make the charts was "Longing for You" in 1951. In 1951 Brewer switched labels, going to Coral Records. Since she never learned to read music, she had demos sent to her to learn the melodies of the songs she would record. Despite her lack of formal training, she had a number of hits for Coral. In 1952, she also recorded "You'll Never Get Away" in a duet with Don Cornell, followed in 1953 by her best selling hit, "Till I Waltz Again with You". In the mid-1950s she did a number of covers of rhythm and blues songs like "Pledging My Love" and "Tweedle Dee". She covered some country songs like "Jilted", "I Gotta Go Get My Baby", and "Let Me Go, Lover!".

In 1956 she co-wrote "I Love Mickey", about New York Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantle, who appeared on the record with Brewer. She appeared as Pat Edmonds in the 1953 film musical Those Redheads from Seattle – she was a natural redhead herself. Her song from the film, "Baby Baby Baby" was successful as a single. Brewer re-emerged as a jazz vocalist on Thiele's Amsterdam label in the 1980s and 1990s recording a number of albums including tribute albums to Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Irving Berlin. Brewer died of a neuromuscular disease, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), at her home on Pinebrook Boulevard in New Rochelle, New York, aged 76.