Funny. I was thinking about doing a blog entry about Margaret Whiting, one of the last of the great singers. This past week she died at age 86.Of course once again the news media of today simply ignored it. Even though I had intended on posting this salute to a living legend now it will become a tribute.
Margaret's quintessential song is "Moonlight In Vermont", a song with such beautiful lyrics it really is poetry. She was so young when she recorded it she didn't really even understand what the lyrics were talking about as she said she had never even been to Vermont. The song has always been one of my favorites. Click here for a link to the song on Youtube.
She recorded plenty of music, including the novelty songs that were so well received back in the 40s and 50s. A duet she did with Jimmy Wakely was one of the most popular country songs of the day. Listen here. As corny as it still is, it still is catchy!
Back in the 1950s Margaret had a connection to the iconic Desilu studios as she starred in a summer replacement show for "I Love Lucy" called "Those Whiting Girls." I found a rare clip here of that show (you might recognize the Desilu announcer....he's the same one that says "And Now...I Love Lucy..." or "It's The Lucy Show!").
Whiting sang well into her senior years, touring around the country. She married gay film star Jack Wrangler who was 22 years younger than she was. He came up with a broadway show for her -- a tribute to her mentor, the musical genius Johnny Mercer.
When I asked several friends and coworkers this week, no one seemed to recall Miss Whiting or her music. Sad. If you saw the movie "Julie and Julia", you might have heard Whiting's rendition of "Time After Time." Lovely.
"Moonlight in Vermont" is such a great tune and Whiting had a charming personality. Once again the Nostalgic Rambler is glad to be able to bring this lady into the spotlight again this week.
pics above of Whiting and her husband
She was an amazing singer...and her last husband was pretty amazing at what he did, too :-). Check out my FB Wall pictures for an great autographed shot of Margaret...a very glamorous portrait that she told me (in al letter)she had no memory of at all.
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