Buddy Clark
Encyclopedia
Buddy Clark was a popular American singer in the 1930s and 1940s.
. He made his Big Band
singing debut in 1934 with Benny Goodman
on the Let's Dance radio program. In 1936 he started to perform on the show, Your Hit Parade
, and lasted until 1938. In the mid-1930s he signed with Vocalion Records
, having a top-20 hit with "Spring Is Here". He did not have another hit until the late 1940s, but continued recording, appearing in movies, and dubbing other actors' voices.
In 1946 he signed with Columbia Records
and scored his biggest hit with the song "Linda
" recorded in November of that year, but hitting its peak in the following spring. Linda was written especially for the six-year-old daughter of a show business lawyer named Lee Eastman
, whose client, song-writer Jack Lawrence, wrote the song at Lee’s request. Upon reaching adulthood and becoming famous as a photographer, Linda was, for a while, something of a musician, later becoming a prominent spokeswoman for vegetarianism and animal rights, and broke a generation of teenage girls' hearts when she married Beatle Paul McCartney.
1947 also saw hits for Clark with such titles as "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?
" (from the musical Finian's Rainbow
), which made the Top Ten, "Peg O' My Heart
", "An Apple Blossom Wedding", and "I'll Dance at Your Wedding". The following year he had another major hit with "Love Somebody" (a duet with Doris Day
, selling a million and reaching #1 on the charts) and nine more chart hits, and extended his success into 1949 with a number of hits, both solo and duetting with Day and Dinah Shore
. A month after his death, his recording of "A Dreamer's Holiday
" hit the charts.
On October 1, 1949, just as the 37 year old was reaching new heights of popularity (and was scheduled for his weekly appearance on The Carnation Contented Hour
the following evening), Clark and five other friends rented a small plane to attend a Stanford vs. Michigan college football
game. On the way back to Los Angeles
after the game, the plane ran out of fuel, lost altitude and crashed on Beverly Boulevard
in Los Angeles. Clark didn't survive the crash.
Life and career
Clark was born Samuel Goldberg to Jewish parents in Dorchester, MassachusettsDorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester is a dissolved municipality and current neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is named after the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset, from which Puritans emigrated and is today endearingly nicknamed "Dot" by its residents. Dorchester, including a large...
. He made his Big Band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
singing debut in 1934 with Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
on the Let's Dance radio program. In 1936 he started to perform on the show, Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade
Your Hit Parade, is an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1955 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During this 24-year run, the show had 19 orchestra leaders and 52 singers or...
, and lasted until 1938. In the mid-1930s he signed with Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records
Vocalion Records is a record label active for many years in the United States and in the United Kingdom.-History:Vocalion was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Piano Company of New York City, which introduced a retail line of phonographs at the same time. The name was derived from one of their...
, having a top-20 hit with "Spring Is Here". He did not have another hit until the late 1940s, but continued recording, appearing in movies, and dubbing other actors' voices.
In 1946 he signed with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and scored his biggest hit with the song "Linda
Linda (1946 song)
"Linda" is a popular song. It was written by Jack Lawrence, and published in 1946.The song was actually written in 1942 when Lawrence was in the service during World War II, taking its name from the then one-year-old daughter of his attorney, Lee Eastman...
" recorded in November of that year, but hitting its peak in the following spring. Linda was written especially for the six-year-old daughter of a show business lawyer named Lee Eastman
Linda McCartney
Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney was an American photographer, musician and animal rights activist. Her father and mother were Lee Eastman and Louise Sara Lindner Eastman....
, whose client, song-writer Jack Lawrence, wrote the song at Lee’s request. Upon reaching adulthood and becoming famous as a photographer, Linda was, for a while, something of a musician, later becoming a prominent spokeswoman for vegetarianism and animal rights, and broke a generation of teenage girls' hearts when she married Beatle Paul McCartney.
1947 also saw hits for Clark with such titles as "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?
How Are Things in Glocca Morra?
"How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" is a popular song about a fictional village in Ireland.The music was composed by Burton Lane and the lyrics written by E. Y. Harburg. The song was published in 1946 and introduced in the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow. There is no actual Glocca Morra in Ireland...
" (from the musical Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow
Finian's Rainbow is a musical with a book by E.Y. Harburg and Fred Saidy, lyrics by Harburg, and music by Burton Lane. The 1947 Broadway production ran for 725 performances. Several revivals and a 1968 film version followed. A Broadway revival ran from October 8, 2009 until January 17, 2010...
), which made the Top Ten, "Peg O' My Heart
Peg o' My Heart
"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher. It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies. The song was first performed publicly by Irving Kaufman in 1912 at The College Inn in New York City after he had stumbled across a...
", "An Apple Blossom Wedding", and "I'll Dance at Your Wedding". The following year he had another major hit with "Love Somebody" (a duet with Doris Day
Doris Day
Doris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
, selling a million and reaching #1 on the charts) and nine more chart hits, and extended his success into 1949 with a number of hits, both solo and duetting with Day and Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore
Dinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
. A month after his death, his recording of "A Dreamer's Holiday
A Dreamer's Holiday
"A Dreamer's Holiday" is a popular song.The music was written by Mabel Wayne, the lyrics by Kim Gannon. The song was published in 1949.Hit versions of the song were recorded by Perry Como and Buddy Clark....
" hit the charts.
On October 1, 1949, just as the 37 year old was reaching new heights of popularity (and was scheduled for his weekly appearance on The Carnation Contented Hour
The Carnation Contented Hour
The Carnation Contented Hour was a long-running radio music series, sponsored by the Carnation Milk Company, which premiered April 26, 1931 on the regional NBC West Coast network...
the following evening), Clark and five other friends rented a small plane to attend a Stanford vs. Michigan college football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
game. On the way back to Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
after the game, the plane ran out of fuel, lost altitude and crashed on Beverly Boulevard
Beverly Boulevard
Beverly Boulevard is one of the main east-west thoroughfares in Los Angeles, California. It begins off Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills and ends on the Lucas Avenue overpass near Downtown Los Angeles to become 1st Street...
in Los Angeles. Clark didn't survive the crash.
Hit songs
- "An Apple Blossom Wedding" (1947)
- "Baby, It's Cold OutsideBaby, It's Cold Outside (song)"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a pop standard with words and music by Frank Loesser.-Background:Loesser wrote the duet in 1936 and premiered the song with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their Navarro Hotel housewarming party...
" (1949) (Duet with Dinah ShoreDinah ShoreDinah Shore was an American singer, actress, and television personality...
) - "BallerinaBallerina (song)"Ballerina" is a popular song.The song was written by Sidney Keith Russell and Carl Sigman. Published in 1947, the tune is listed as ASCAP Title Code 320012517.Hit versions were recorded by:* Vaughn Monroe * Buddy Clark...
" (1948) - "ConfessConfess (song)Confess is a popular song written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss.The song figures in the early careers of two important female singers:...
" (1948) (Duet with Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
, flip side of Love Somebody, Columbia 38174; also a hit for Patti PagePatti PageClara Ann Fowler , known by her professional name Patti Page, is an American singer, one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and has sold over 100 million records...
) - "Don't You Love Me Anymore" (1947)
- "A Dreamer's HolidayA Dreamer's Holiday"A Dreamer's Holiday" is a popular song.The music was written by Mabel Wayne, the lyrics by Kim Gannon. The song was published in 1949.Hit versions of the song were recorded by Perry Como and Buddy Clark....
" (1949) (bigger hit for Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
) - "Girl Of My Dreams" (with Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra)
- "How Are Things in Glocca Morra?How Are Things in Glocca Morra?"How Are Things in Glocca Morra?" is a popular song about a fictional village in Ireland.The music was composed by Burton Lane and the lyrics written by E. Y. Harburg. The song was published in 1946 and introduced in the 1947 musical Finian's Rainbow. There is no actual Glocca Morra in Ireland...
" (1947) (bigger hit for Dick HaymesDick HaymesRichard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
) - "I'll Dance at Your Wedding" (1947) (flip side of These Things Money Can't Buy)
- "I'll Get By (As Long As I Have You)" (with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra)
- "I Love You So Much It Hurts" (1949)
- "It's a Big, Wide, Wonderful WorldIt's A Big, Wide, Wonderful World"It's A Big, Wide, Wonderful World" is a popular song written by John Rox and published in 1939.The song first appeared in the 1940 Broadway musical play All In Fun.The version by Buddy Clark reached a peak on the Billboard charts at #25 in 1949....
" (1949) (with Mitchell Ayres and His Orchestra) - "LindaLinda (1946 song)"Linda" is a popular song. It was written by Jack Lawrence, and published in 1946.The song was actually written in 1942 when Lawrence was in the service during World War II, taking its name from the then one-year-old daughter of his attorney, Lee Eastman...
" (1947) - "Love Somebody" (1948) (Duet with Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
) - "Matinee" (1948)
- "May I Have the Next Romance?" (1936)
- "My Darling, My DarlingMy Darling, My Darling"My Darling, My Darling" is a popular song.It was written by Frank Loesser. The song was published in 1948.It was originally introduced by Byron Palmer and Doretta Morrow in the Brodway musical Where's Charley?...
" (1948) (Duet with Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
) - "Now Is the HourNow Is the Hour"Now Is the Hour" is a popular song, though often described as a traditional Māori song. It is usually credited to Clement Scott, Maewa Kaihau & Dorothy Stewart....
" (1948) (bigger hit for both Bing CrosbyBing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
and Gracie FieldsGracie FieldsDame Gracie Fields, DBE , was an English-born, later Italian-based actress, singer and comedienne and star of both cinema and music hall.-Early life:...
) - "Peg O' My HeartPeg o' My Heart"Peg o' My Heart" is a popular song written by Alfred Bryan and Fred Fisher. It was published on March 15, 1913 and it featured in the 1913 musical Ziegfeld Follies. The song was first performed publicly by Irving Kaufman in 1912 at The College Inn in New York City after he had stumbled across a...
" (1947) (bigger hit for Jerry Murad and the Harmonicats) - "Powder Your Face with SunshinePowder Your Face with Sunshine"Powder Your Face with Sunshine" is a popular song written by Carmen Lombardo and Stanley Rochinski, and published in 1948. The two biggest hit versions of the song were recorded by Evelyn Knight and by the Sammy Kaye Orchestra....
" (1949) (Duet with Doris DayDoris DayDoris Day is an American actress, singer and, since her retirement from show business, an animal rights activist. With an entertainment career that spanned through almost 50 years, Day started her career as a big band singer in 1939, but only began to be noticed after her first hit recording,...
) - "Rosalie" (with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra)
- "The Rhythm of the Rhumba" (Duet with Joe Host and the Lud GluskinLud GluskinLudwig Elias Gluskin was a jazz bandleader.Gluskin drummed for bands in France in the 1920s, including at the Casino de Paris...
orchestra) (1936) - "Serenade" (1948)
- "She Shall Have Music" (1936)
- "South America, Take It Away!" (with Xavier Cugat and His Orchestra)
- "Spring Is Here" (1938)
- "Take My Heart" (1936) (flip side of These Foolish Things)
- "These Foolish ThingsThese Foolish ThingsThese Foolish Things is a 1973 album by Bryan Ferry, containing cover versions of standard songs. It was his first solo effort, still being Roxy Music's lead singer...
" (1936) - "These Things Money Can't Buy" (1947) (flip side of I'll Dance at Your Wedding)
- "The Treasure of Sierra Madre" (1948)
- "Until Today" (1936)
- "Where the Apple Blossoms Fall" (1948)
- "You Are Never Away" (1948)
- "You're Breaking My HeartYou're Breaking My Heart"You're Breaking My Heart" is a popular song. The song was published in 1948. Though credited to Pat Genaro and Sunny Skylar, the song is just an American version of the famous Italian song 'Mattinata' written by Ruggero Leoncavallo in the beginning of 20th century.Popular versions on the charts...
" (Orchestra & Chorus Conducted by Harry Zimmerman)
Further reading
- Bloom, Ken. American song. The Complete Musical Theater Companion. 1877–1995’’, Vol. 2, 2nd edition, Schirmer Books, 1996.
- Clarke, Donald (Ed.). The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Viking, 1989.
- Cuscuna, Michael; Ruppi, Michel. The Blue Note Label. A Discography, Greenwood Press, 2001.
- Larkin, Colin. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Third edition, Macmillan, 1998.
External links
- Buddy Clark biography on Yahoo! site
- Buddy Clark biography by Frank Dee
- Buddy Clark biography on the Interlude Era site