{"id":2111,"date":"2020-09-11T00:32:47","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T18:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=2111"},"modified":"2025-05-22T01:03:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-21T19:03:16","slug":"tracing-linda-keene-part-2-the-moment-in-my-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/?p=2111","title":{"rendered":"TRACING LINDA KEENE, PART 2: THE MOMENT IN MY LIFE"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Welcome to the second in a series of blahgs where I try to trace musical star Linda Keene through the media.\u00a0 \"Early<\/a>If you haven’t read my two previous blahgs about Linda then you really should because it will give you context.\u00a0 In my first blahg, Down A Rabbit Hole With Linda Keene<\/a>, I talk about how I became fascinated with Linda Keene.\u00a0 After that blahg, I noted that I couldn’t get Linda Keene off my mind and I wanted to find out more.\u00a0 I decided that other than the two articles, one by Prof. Eves Raja and the other by Opal Nations, I needed to see if I could trace her through old newspapers and magazines and find out what happened in her life.\u00a0 In the last blahg, TRACING LINDA KEENE, PART 1: THE FLORENCE SUTTLE YEARS<\/a> I traced Linda from her first newspaper appearance under her original name as Florence McCroy through her years under her married name of Florence Suttle.\u00a0 At the end of that blahg, she had made the transformation to Linda Keene.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0Although my last blahg was detailed in some aspects, I believe it was lacking in others.\u00a0 It is very difficult now 80 years later to try and trace Linda’s movements.\u00a0 There are some good resources online and a number of websites where you can search through old periodicals.\u00a0 The difficulty comes if some newspapers do not have searchable text.\u00a0 Also, that says nothing of newspapers that are not available to review at all.\u00a0 I’ve tried to expand my scope to include magazines of the time like Variety and Billboard but these do not always have searchable text options therefore I’m bound to miss something and have to resort to scanning page after page trying to catch her name.\u00a0 In this Part 2, I am now going to try and piece together her movements from late 1937 through 1945.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0It is not without design that I chose to focus on these particular years.\u00a0 In 1937, Florence Suttle made the change to Linda Keene; naming herself after Ginger Rogers’ character in 1937’s “Shall We Dance”.\u00a0 By 1945 she had made the last of her officially released recordings.\u00a0 Her star appeared to be on the rise and she was seeking fame and recognition.\u00a0 There is a line in her recording of “You’re The Moment In My Life” that goes “You’re the moment in my life that comes and goes, but then again, I don’t suppose, you were ever meant to stay.”\u00a0 She might have been singing about fame in those lyrics.\u00a0 That’s why I chose it as part of the title of this blahg.\u00a0 1937 to 1945 was the moment in her life.\u00a0 Clever?\u00a0 I have my moments too.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0In my two previous blahgs dedicated to Linda Keene, \"\"<\/a>I reprinted articles about her by Opal Nations and Prof. Eves Raja.\u00a0 Prof. Raja also produced the wonderful CD “Linda Keene – Recordings and Soundies.”\u00a0 I finally located a copy of this excellent CD and found that the booklet included in the CD was another source of information produced by Prof. Raja.\u00a0 Here are reprints of the booklet which I will refer to throughout this blahg.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/p>\r\n

I won’t revisit the early years when she was appearing around the USA as Florence Suttle but will draw on this booklet and the other article by Prof. Raja and the one by Opal Nations, along with my own research, to try and chronicle Linda Keene’s movements beginning with 1937.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

1937 <\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0When I last left off my previous blahg, \"Florence<\/a>Florence Suttle had made her transformation to Linda Keene and was appearing with Nye Mayhew’s band in Boston, as evidenced in the article from Birmingham News on December 4th, 1937.
\"Linda<\/a> To be accurate however, Linda Keene had been appearing with Nye Mayhew since September 30th.\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The article to the left from\u00a0The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts), September 25th, 1937 states “Nye Mayhew and his orchestra will open at the Hotel Statler, Thursday evening,” which would make the opening on September 30th, 1937.\u00a0 Linda received her first media mention, that I could find, under her new name with the compliment that she was a “charming girl from New Orleans, who combines a soft, mellow contralto voice with an ability to hit a falsetto range.”\u00a0 She was in reality from Mississippi but maybe this was part of her reinvention.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0On the first page of the CD Booklet, Prof. Raja provided the following information:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

“When Linda Keene arrived in Boston in the fall of 1937, she had convinced all those in the entertainment circles that she was 19 when her true age was actually 25. She was determined to succeed in the highly competitive world of professional singers despite the constant flow of new young talent.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Was changing her age along with her name, another part of her transformation?\u00a0 I find it unlikely that she would not try to build on the reputation she had made while singing as Florence Suttle with George Duffy’s orchestra in 1935 or her appearances at the Mayfair Room in Detroit in 1936, and subsequent appearances with Coleman Sachs in Birmingham for six weeks at Club Rex and her stint in Atlanta at the ill-fated Casa Loma.\u00a0 Okay, maybe she might have left the Casa Loma off her r\u00e9sum\u00e9 but you’ll have to read my previous blahg for details on that.\u00a0 Suffice it to say, she had a good history and lying about her age would have eroded that history…unless Nye Mayhew believed she was performing with George Duffy when she was 16 or 17 in order to keep up with the change in her age.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0It has been difficult to determine how long Linda stayed with Nye Mayhew in Boston.\u00a0 Prof. Raja’s booklet states “a very promising seven week stand at the Statler in Boston and her first job as a band singer with Nye Mayhew moved her up to the next level.”\u00a0 <\/em><\/span>Seven weeks would have put her stay with Mayhew around the end of November.\u00a0 The notice below from Billboard Magazine November 27, 1937 traces acts and notes where they are appearing.\u00a0 According to this, Linda was still at The Statler with Mayhew as of the time of this notice:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"Billboard<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Ads like the one to the right from the Boston Globe, October 14, 1937, ran throughout October and November but none mentioned Linda Keene.\u00a0 In fact Mayhew’s band was still playing at the Statler up to April 29, 1938.\u00a0 There was a small mention of Mayhew and his orchestra in the Boston College Heights newsletter <\/span><\/strong>from May 6, 1938 stating Mayhew had finished up at the Statler the previous Friday, being April 29.
<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"Nye<\/a><\/p>\r\n

I can find nothing that mentions when Linda took her departure as vocalist with Mayhew’s band.\u00a0 I can also find no other mention in print for Linda Keene in 1937.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

1938<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a01938 was a significant year for Linda.\u00a0 After the last notice regarding Linda in the Birmingham News in December of 1937, I found nothing in print for her until the end of October 1938 (more on that later).\u00a0 It wasn’t until I expanded my search that I actually came across an article that mentioned what we long heard and suspected of Linda Keene in 1938.\u00a0 In The Times Record (Troy, New York) from February 25, 1954 there was an article about ‘local boy’ Al Masten who had performed with Glenn Miller’s Orchestra from 1938 to 1941.\u00a0 The article, besides carrying a picture of Masten, also highlighted the picture below of the band at\u00a0 Hamid’s Million Dollar Steel Pier in Atlantic City:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a>Linda Keene is mentioned as Linda “Keane” but it’s a wonderful photo, which you can click on to get a larger image, that proves that Linda Keene was with Miller’s Orchestra in 1938.\u00a0 A very similar picture to the one above is to be found in the book “Chattanooga Choo Choo: The Life and Times of the World Famous Glenn Miller” by Richard Grudens:
<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a>The photo also includes signatures of everyone in the photo, including Linda’s, but furthermore narrows down the date of the Steel Pier engagement to August 1938.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 There are other books and articles that talk about Glenn Miller and the summer of 1938.\u00a0 From John Flower’s book, “Moonlight Serenade A bio-discography of the Glenn Miller Civilian Band”, Flower discusses 1938 and we learn the following:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

During the summer the female vocalist position had a turnover: Virginia Vonne replaced Gail Reese and Linda Keene replaced Virginia Vonne.<\/em><\/h4>\r\n

September 1938: Sometime during this month Glenn signed a recording contract with RCA Victor…also during this month Marion Hutton joined the band replacing Linda Keane as vocalist.<\/em><\/h4>\r\n

Flower mentions Linda once as “Keene” and then as “Keane”.\u00a0 Keane was how she was represented in the 1954 article in The Times Record (Troy, New York).\u00a0 Flower’s work also includes an itinerary of dates from 1938 including recording sessions and concert appearances.\u00a0 Unfortunately none of the concert appearances note the date that Linda Keene joined with Miller.\u00a0 There exists a few radio transcriptions of Glenn Miller’s Orchestra from 1938 and the one from June 27th, 1938 still has Gail Reese singing with the band.\u00a0 So, Linda Keene would have had to become the female vocalist after that but before the appearance in August at Hamid’s Million Dollar Pier.\u00a0 \"Glenn<\/a>The advertisement on the left is from The Morning Post (Camden, New Jersey) August 19, 1938.\u00a0 If Glenn Miller was appearing for a week, ending August 26, then it is likely the appearances at the Pier began on August 19th.\u00a0 There would be other advertisements similar to this one but Linda Keene’s name is not mentioned.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 I have tried to follow the itinerary in John Flower’s book by checking periodicals starting with Glenn Miller’s appearance at Beach Point Club, Mamaroneck, Long Island on August 13th, through the band’s appearance at Hamid’s Million Dollar Pier, and on into September ending with the band at the Memorial Auditorium, in Raleigh, North Carolina September 9th and 10th, 1938.\u00a0 I have found one advertisement and two articles for some of those dates:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"Glenn<\/a><\/p>\r\n

August 15, 1938, Lakewood Park, Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

\"Glenn<\/a><\/p>\r\n

August 17 – September 2nd, 1938, Guy Hunt’s Ocean Pier, Wildwood, New Jersey<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

\"Glenn<\/a><\/p>\r\n

September 9\/10, 1938 Memorial Auditorium, <\/strong>Raleigh, North Carolina<\/strong><\/h4>\r\n

None of these articles or advertisements mention Linda Keene.\u00a0 We can only assume that Marion Hutton replaced Linda Keene in late August or early September.\u00a0 Glenn Miller was looking for a sound and Marion Hutton would be his female vocalist on and off from 1938 until 1942.\u00a0 \"Linda<\/a>With any other singer, you could say singing with Glenn Miller’s Orchestra was the height of fame.\u00a0 With Linda Keene, she came and went too quickly with the band.\u00a0 She was still getting credit \"Glenn<\/a>as late as November of 1938 for the time she served with Miller.\u00a0 The article to the upper left and advertisement to the right are from the The Journal (Meriden, Connecticut), November 25th, 1938 and Linda Keene was still being associated with Miller’s name.\u00a0 Miller’s Orchestra wouldn’t really make it big until 1939 and become the Glenn Miller Orchestra we know today.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Update (May 10, 2023):\u00a0\"Linda<\/a> I found a new reference to Linda Keene still performing with Glenn Miller as of September 14, 1938.\u00a0 The article on the right, from the\u00a0 Winston-Salem Journal, North Carolina, September 14, 1938 details that Glenn Miller’s orchestra was performing for the Downtown and Country Club members and that Linda Keene was the girl vocalist with the band.\u00a0 If Linda Keene was indeed performing with Miller on September 14th, 1938 then her departure from Miller had to be around the middle of September or later in the month.
<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Although 1938 appeared to be short on mentioning Linda Keene in the media, the year was still a success.\u00a0 She had a short run with the Glenn Miller Orchestra and by the end of the year had made her first recording.\u00a0 \"Linda<\/a>She may have left Miller in September but by the end of October she had hooked up with Bobby Hackett and was appearing with him at Nick’s in New York.\u00a0 The article to the right was a wire service article that ran in several papers on October 30th, 1938.\u00a0 On November 4th, 1938 Linda Keene entered the studio for the first time with Bobby Hackett for her recording “Blue and Disillusioned”, first issued on the Vocalion label:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"Blue<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 Then issued on the cheaper OKEH label:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Blue<\/a><\/p>\r\n\nhttp:\/\/www.falseducks.com\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/Blue%20and%20Disillusioned%20-%201938-11-04%20with%20Bobby%20Hacket%20Band.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

I have not been able to find any information about how Linda ended up performing with and recording with Bobby Hackett and his Orchestra.\u00a0 It is possible her reputation had grown through her appearances with Nye Mayhew and then with Glenn Miller.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The song, “Blue and Disillusioned” is a solid blues effort from Linda.\u00a0 Back when she was appearing under her married name, Florence Suttle, the Clarion-Ledger ran ads on July 2nd and July 3, 1933 for her appearance in the Midnite Frolic at the Majestic Theatre in Jackson, Mississippi and dubbed her “Blues Singer.”\u00a0 Five years later, with Bobby Hackett, she made it official.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>The label categorizes the song as a Fox Trot and Linda’s first attempt is soulful and full of her southern intonations.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>\"review<\/a>\u00a0 I could find only three reviews of “Blue and Disillusioned.”\u00a0 The first one appeared in the New York Columbia Spectator, New York, New York from December 15, 1938.\u00a0 “Hampered by a long vocal by Linda Keene” was all it said about Linda but that had to be damaging to read that. \"Second<\/a><\/span><\/strong>The second was from the Barnard Bulletin (New York, New York) on January 10, 1939 where the vocal is reviewed as “competently done by Linda Keene.\u00a0 The third was from the \"Review<\/a>Virginia-Pilot from Norfolk, Virginia where the article from January 29, 1939 failed to mention Linda’s vocal at all.
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Linda must have taken the poor review in stride or maybe there were better reviews by the end of 1938 because she was still working by the end of 1938.\u00a0 Jumping ahead a bit, a very strange little picture and article ran in many newspapers in January of 1939.\u00a0 \u00a0The one below, exactly like all the others, ran in the The Cushing Daily Citizen (Cushing, Oklahoma) on January 25th, 1939:<\/span><\/strong>
\"Linda<\/a>The notoriety of this picture and caption was really more for Lefty Gomez, the star pitcher with the New York Yankees.\u00a0 It mentions that Linda Keene is a soloist with an orchestra at a Hamilton hotel.\u00a0 I was able to access the archives for The Royal Gazette and Colonist Daily, Hamilton, Bermuda and found this article from the December 20th, 1938 issue:
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

Linda was now appearing with Scott Fisher and his Orchestra starting on December 19, 1938.\u00a0 Fisher and his Orchestra had also recorded for Vocalion in the 1930s.\u00a0 I wonder if there was any connection?\u00a0 The following favorable article about Linda’s appearance appeared in The Royal Gazette and Colonist Daily on Christmas Eve, 1938:\u00a0 <\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Article<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

This review was a better way to finish out 1938 than the poor review of her first recording.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

1939<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

\u00a0What a great way to start off 1939, working in Bermuda.\u00a0 Ads such as the two below began appearing in The Royal Gazette and Colonist Daily as early as January 3, 1939 and continued until nearly the end April:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

\"Ad<\/a><\/p>\r\n

The last advertisement mentioning “Songs by Linda Keene”, exactly like the one above appeared Wednesday, April 26, 1939.\u00a0 On April 27th, Linda’s name was noticeably absent:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

Even the Arthur Murray Dancers seemed to be gone.\u00a0 Scott Fisher would close out\u00a0 the season at The Bermudian on May 10th as noted in the final advertisement from The Royal Gazette and Colonist Daily on May 8th, 1939:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Scott<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 We next pick up Linda Keene’s trail on May 5, 1939 when she’s in New York and records the “B” side of a 78 with Jack Teagarden’s “Octoroon” on the “A” side.\u00a0 This time it’s Linda’s second recording and she’s the “girl” with Jack Teagarden and his Orchestra “Featuring 16 men and a girl” and her vocal on “White Sails”<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"White<\/a><\/p>\r\n

WHITE SAILS –LINDA KEENE with JACK TEAGARDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA<\/strong><\/p>\r\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/White%20Sails%20-%201939-05-05%20with%20Jack%20Teagarden%20Orchestra.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

Just a week prior to this recording, on April 28th, 1939 Teagarden had been in the studio recording with Jean Arnold.\u00a0 We know that Linda Keene last performed in Bermuda on April 26th.\u00a0 Was she called up by Teagarden?\u00a0 By 1939, both Brunswick and Vocalion were owned by Columbia Records.\u00a0 Again, was this the connection?\u00a0 Reviews were favorable but of the handful of reviews that I found, none mention Linda Keene’s vocals:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Teagarden was fronting a new band and he had a new girl singer.\u00a0 Linda’s vocal on “White Sails”\u00a0 is a wispy perfect song for dancing.\u00a0 It’s not the blues like her first recording and it doesn’t hamper the band’s music.\u00a0 It’s a nice compliment and she seems confident.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 On June 4, 1939, there was a small notice that ran in newspapers announcing that Jackson Teagarden’s band would be the guests on the “Fitch Summer Bandwagon” that day.\u00a0 \"Fitch<\/a>There’s no mention of Linda Keene in the notice but the program survives as a radio transcription and from it, three vocals by Linda Keene who was now well established with the band.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

FITCH SUMMER BANDWAGON JUNE 4, 1939 WITH JACK TEAGARDEN AND LINDA KEEN
<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/1939-06-04%20Fitch%20Summer%20Bandwagon.MP3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

The significant track here is of course “Tears From My Inkwell,” as the other two only have brief lines sung by Linda.\u00a0 I want to give a shout out to Greg Poppleton out in Australia, which is as far away from Canada as you can get unless you loop over the top.\u00a0 Greg, among other things, hosts a podcast called “Phantom Dancer”\u00a0https:\/\/2ser.com\/phantom-dancer\/<\/a>.\u00a0 \"Jack<\/a>Back on June 23, 2015 Greg’s podcast included the live track of “Tears From My Inkwell” from the Fitch Bandwagon program.\u00a0 Unfortunately I could not find an archive of Greg’s 2015 podcast so I could hear the song but when I reached out to him through Facebook he got my request.\u00a0 Exactly five years later, on his recent June 23, 2020 podcast, Greg included the track again and I was able to hear it for the first time.\u00a0 The entire June 4, 1939 Fitch Summer Bandwagon program was issued on the LP “Birth Of A Band” in 1985 on the Giants of Jazz Records label.\u00a0 If you want to find out more about Greg Poppleton you can also check out his website:\u00a0 https:\/\/gregpoppleton.wordpress.com\/<\/a>.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The other takeaway from the the Fitch Summer Bandwagon program was hearing that Teagarden and band including Linda Keene were appearing at the Blackhawk Restaurant in Chicago. At some point, prior to entering the Blackhawk, Teagarden’s Orchestra with Linda Keene were appearing at the Roseland Ballroom in New York.\u00a0 In George T Simon\u2019s 1971 book, \u201cSimon Says : The Sights and Sounds of the Swing Era, 1935-1955\u201d he republishes a June 1939 review of Teagarden and Keene at the Roseland:
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>\"1939-06<\/a>\"Simon<\/a>\"1939-06<\/a>\"Jack<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 There is no telling when Linda Keene joined up with Teagarden but in Simon’s article he states that Teagarden was at the Roseland for almost two months before appearing at the Blackhawk.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Teagarden with his “16 Men and A Girl” started at the Blackhawk on May 18th, 1939 as can be noted from the ad from the Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois) on May 14, 1939.\u00a0 \"1939-06-02<\/a>Linda Keene left Bermuda in late April while Teagarden was still at the Roseland so it is likely she got her start there and then moved into the studio for the May 5th session.\u00a0 Appearing at the Blackhawk, however, Linda Keene is officially recognized as the girl in in the “16 Men and a Girl” in the June 2nd advertisement.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 It wasn’t difficult to track Jack Teagarden and his orchestra in the week leading up to his premiere at the Blackhawk.\u00a0 The band played several one-nighters throughout Pennsylvania, probably after leaving the Roseland in New York, but none of the advertisements that I came across mentioned Linda Keene or the tag line of “16 Men and a Girl.”\u00a0 Linda was probably travelling with the band as they made their way from New York to Chicago.\u00a0 Linda is only mentioned with Teagarden during their run at the Blackhawk with some very good notices especially this one from the Chicago Tribune on June 25, 1939:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a> \u00a0 <\/span><\/strong>Build up for Teagarden started on May 14th, 1939<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Build<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

There was some other good press throughout their run at the Blackhawk:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

Chicago Daily Times, May 21, 1939
<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/strong>Chicago Daily Times, June 4, 1939<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Illinois, May 28, 1939<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 The most significant thing to happen to Jack Teagarden and his “16 Men and a Girl” was that they went into the Brunswick recording studio in Chicago and recorded four songs on June 23, 1939. Two of the recordings,\u00a0 contained vocals by Linda Keene, “Especially For You” and “You’re The Moment In My Life”:
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Especially<\/h3>\r\n

ESPECIALLY FOR YOU –LINDA KEENE with JACK TEAGARDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/Especially%20For%20You%20-%201939-06-23%20with%20Jack%20Teagarden%20Orchestra.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

———————————-<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

\"You're<\/a><\/p>\r\n

YOU’RE THE MOMENT IN MY LIFE –LINDA KEENE with JACK TEAGARDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA<\/strong><\/p>\r\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/Moment-1939-06-23.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

A couple of articles suggest that both tunes were popular:\"Review<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Review<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

Both of these reviews ran in mid-August of 1939 but by then Linda Keene was no longer the girl singer with Jack Teagarden’s Orchestra. The last article that would appear for Linda Keene with Teagarden ran in the Chicago Daily Times on July 1st, 1939:
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 It is difficult to speculate why Linda Keene parted ways with Jack Teagarden.\u00a0 She had recorded three songs with Teagarden, totaling four when including “Blue and Disillusioned” with Bobby Hackett back in November of 1938.\u00a0 Maybe Linda was ready to move on to other prospects.\u00a0 Some research suggests that Teagarden’s band was having some financial difficulties in 1939 and Teagarden’s problems with alcohol were also an issue.\u00a0 Did these contribute to Linda leaving the band?\u00a0 The day after the July 1st, 1939 Chicago Daily Times\u00a0 post with Linda and Teagarden’s pictures, a small notice ran in the Chicago Tribune on July 2nd:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

I can find nothing that proves the date that Linda Keene left Teagarden.\u00a0 Obviously it was near the end of June or the beginning of July 1939.\u00a0 One anomaly is that the following article appeared in the Green Bay Press-Gazette (Green Bay, Wisconsin) on August 8th:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

I have checked ads for the engagement at the Bay Beach but none of them mention Linda Keene.\u00a0 \"Linda<\/a>A review of the appearance ran in the August 7th, Green Bay Press-Gazette but there is no mention of Linda but rather Avis Kent who sang. More than likely, some advance notice included Linda while she was still with the Teagarden’s Orchestra and was not corrected in time.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 So where was Linda?\u00a0 As I said, I cannot pinpoint an exact date or reason why she left Teagarden but by the time of his Bay Beach performance in Wisconsin, Linda Keene was already back in New York.\u00a0 \"Linda<\/a>An article from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) on August 11, 1939 reports that Linda Keene is appearing with Willie Farmer and his Orchestra at the Park Central Cocoanut Grove.\u00a0 I could not determine a start date for Linda with Willie Farmer but a <\/span><\/strong> search of New York newspapers revealed in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Friday July 28th, 1939 that Willie Farmer started at the Park Central on Wednesday, July 26, 1939.\u00a0 \"Farmer<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

The same edition of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Friday July 28th, 1939 also carried the following photo of Linda Keene:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

This clearly establishes Linda Keene with Willie Farmer’s orchestra; suggesting she opened with Farmer on July 26th.\u00a0 Linda’s name would begin appearing in the August 26th and September 2, 1939 issues of Billboard for Route information for singers and acts:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a>It is possible that information was not submitted for Linda Keene when she started with Farmer when they opened together on July 26th.\u00a0 Down Beat would acknowledge Linda’s move to Willie Farmer’s outfit in their October 15th, 1939 issue.\u00a0 They noted she had been with Teagarden for six weeks.\u00a0 There was also a Billboard review of Willie Farmer and his orchestra in the September 9th, 1939 issue.\u00a0 The review was not kind to Farmer but Linda received a good notice:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Review<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

Another oddity is that the Billboard route information for Linda Keene on August 26th had her at the Park Central in New York but the next night, August 27th,\u00a0 she was advertised as being at the Roton Point Park in Stamford, Connecticut with Willie Farmer<\/span><\/strong>. The Daily Advocate out of Stamford, Connecticut ran a good sized advertisement on August 25th announcing the Sunday, August 27th appearance of Linda and Willie Farmer:
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

Willie Farmer and his Orchestra had been around for a few years and had released a number of sides on the Bluebird Label in 1937 and 1938.\u00a0 Linda Keene would not record with Farmer.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Willie Farmer and his Orchestra were not listed in the Billboard route information for Orchestras in the September 16, 1939 issue.\u00a0 It is possible that after their bad review in Billboard on September 9th that their run at the Park Central came to a quick end.\u00a0 I found no trace of Willie Farmer and his Orchestra with Linda Keene until I stumbled upon an old advertisement posted by the Albany Group Archive on Flickr:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"1939<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

There was no indication when this advertisement appeared or in what newspaper.\u00a0 I only assumed it would be Albany, New York because Farmer and his Orchestra were in New York City in September when they finished at the Park Central.\u00a0\"Willie<\/a> I was\u00a0eventually able to access the Times Union newspaper from Albany and the October 12th, 1939 edition confirmed the opening night at the Goblet was October 12th.\u00a0 \"Review<\/a>The Albany Times Union on October 14th also reviewed Farmer’s opening at the Goblet on October 12th but only mentioned Linda Keene’s name briefly.\u00a0 The Times Union on October 21st, 1939 \"Farmer<\/a>wrote again about Farmer and his Orchestra at the Goblet and this time noted “Linda Keene, charming song stylist.”\u00a0 The article also detailed Farmer’s previous engagements at the Coconut Grove and prior to that having been at the Promenade Cafe.\u00a0 I have found no evidence if Linda Keene joined Farmer at the Promenade Cafe or if she was still with Jack Teagarden.\u00a0 The last advertisement for the Goblet that I have found having any further mention of Farmer and Linda Keene also appeared in the October 21st, 1939 edition of the Albany Times Union:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Farmer<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0The Billboard Route information for Orchestras had listings for Willie Farmer and his Orchestra at the Goblet in Albany in all of the Billboard issues from November 4th, 1939 up to and including December 30th, 1939.\u00a0 None of those issues mentioned Linda Keene in the Route information for singers.\u00a0 It is not clear if Linda Keene was in Albany or perhaps started out in Albany but did not finish the run with Willie Farmer and his Orchestra.\u00a0 One thing is clear, by the end of 1939, Linda Keene was not appearing with Willie Farmer.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0As with her appearances with Jack Teagarden, there is another anomaly for Linda Keene in the fall of 1939. Apparently, according to The Herald-News (Passaic, New Jersey), Linda Keene appeared as part of the “Vaudeville Night of Stars” at the New Deal Long Bar in Passaic on November 7, 1939:
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Notice that the advertisement calls attention to the fact that Linda was “formerly with Jack Teagarden Orchestra” and does not mention any connection to Willie Farmer and his Orchestra.\u00a0 I scrolled through other editions from The Herald-News but Linda Keene’s name does not appear in any subsequent ads for the New Deal Long Bar after November 7th.\u00a0 This mystery doesn’t help in proving how long Linda Keene stayed with Willie Farmer and his Orchestra at The Goblet in Albany.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

LENNIE HAYTON<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 We do know for sure that Linda Keene was not with Farmer and his Orchestra by late November 1939.\u00a0\"Loew's<\/a> At some point, Linda took up with Lennie Hayton and his Orchestra and was appearing with him at Loew’s State theatre in New York starting November 24th.\u00a0 Linda Keene is not listed in the advertisements that ran in New York papers but according to Billboard magazine she was with Hayton during his engagement at Loew’s State.\u00a0 Billboard reviewed Hayton on November 24th and ran their review in the December 2, 1939 issue.\u00a0 \"Billboard<\/a>This time, unlike with Billboard’s review of Willie Farmer, the band is good but “Linda Keene is just fair.”\u00a0 Hayton and his Orchestra would finish at Loew’s State on November 29th.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 On November 30th, according to Billboard,\u00a0 Hayton and his Orchestra were booked into Leon and Eddie’s for 4 weeks.\u00a0 \"Hayton<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

Even the Evening Sun (Hanover, Pennsylvania) made note of it in their December 2, 1939 issue.\u00a0\"\"<\/a> Billboard also made mention of Hayton and his Orchestra at Leon and Eddie’s in their Route information for Orchestras in their December 2, 9, 16, and 23rd issues.\u00a0 Again, Linda Keene is not mentioned.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Linda Keene must have been with Hayton while he was at Leon and Eddie’s because a week after they started there the Orchestra was in the Varsity Records studio on December 7, 1939 with Linda Keene.\u00a0 Varsity was one of two labels that comprised the United States Record Company; Royale Records was the other. Eli Oberstein created the USRC in the summer of 1939, shortly after he left an executive position at RCA Victor. Varsity was considered a “budget” label, specializing in popular music and selling records for 35 cents each.\u00a0 Lennie Hayton and his Orchestra would record four songs on December 7, 1939, “Peg O’ My Heart” backed with “As Long As I Live”, both instrumentals, and two sides with Linda Keene doing vocals on “At The Balalaika” and “The Starlit Hour”.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Lennie<\/a>AT THE BALALAIKA –LINDA KEENE with LENNIE HAYTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/05%20-%20At%20The%20Balalaika%20-%201939-12-07%20with%20Lennie%20Hayton%20Orchestra.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

———————————-<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Linda<\/a>THE STARLIT HOUR –LINDA KEENE with LENNIE HAYTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA<\/strong><\/p>\r\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/06%20-%20The%20Starlit%20Hour%20-%201939-12-07%20with%20Lennie%20Hayton%20Orchestra.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 There wasn’t much in the way of reviews for these two Linda Keene tracks with Hayton.\u00a0 The only one I came across was this one from The Akron Beacon Journal (Akron, Ohio) January 13, 1940:\"Balalaika<\/a>
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

The Lennie Hayton recordings are considered rare.\u00a0 Varsity Records was a small label and did limited runs of their 78 records.\u00a0 According to Professor Raja’s article, ‘Linda Keene – Her Elusive Fame’<\/em>, “All shoe-string recording companies had to wait their turn regarding record manufacture and had a limited number of pressings. On Linda’s two records, apparently, there was very little shellac left over from a Glenn Miller hit. As a result, very few copies of these two records are known to exist.”\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em>Many of Linda Keene’s other recordings with large Orchestras like Bobby Hackett’s and Jack Teagarden’s have been included on CD compilations of the early years of those orchestras but her recordings with Lennie Hayton remain limited to the obscure 78 records and of course Prof Raja’s CD “Linda Keene – Recordings and Soundies.”
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Hayton in his history as a band leader recorded two numbers as a leader in 1928 and then led a big band that recorded from 1937-40. When the band broke up in 1940, Hayton settled in Hollywood, where he worked for MGM as an arranger, conductor and musical director. He married the singer, Lena Horne in 1947 and thereafter served as her pianist, arranger and musical director.\u00a0 Between 1937 and 1940, the Hayton band, booked by Mills Artists Incorporated, toured coast-to-coast, playing one-nighters and extended stay locations with a lineup that ranged from 12 to as many as 20 musicians.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0 One of Hayton’s extended stay locations was of course Leon & Eddie’s in December of 1939.\u00a0 Perhaps Linda was singing the two songs during the engagement at Leon & Eddie’s.\u00a0 After that engagement ended during the last week of December, Lennie Hayton hit the road for the rest of December and into 1940.\u00a0 We catch up to Lennie Hayton and Linda Keene from an article in the Irvington Gazette, Irvington, New York on December 21st, 1939.\u00a0 Hayton is booked for New Year’s Eve at the County Center in White Plains, New York:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Lennie<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Apparently Hayton and his Orchestra were part of a tour that headlined Gene Krupa and his Orchestra.\u00a0 Another article announcing the appearance of the two Orchestras in White Plains ran in the\u00a0 Brewster Standard, Brewster, New York on December 28, 1939:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Another<\/a><\/p>\r\n

Linda Keene’s name does not appear in the advertisement below but the review of the New Year’s Eve concert is very favorable to Linda.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"White<\/a>\"Linda<\/a>
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In all aspects, it appeared Linda Keene had a great year with 1939.\u00a0 She had started 1939 during her engagement with Scott Fisher’s Orchestra in Bermuda and then was picked up by Jack Teagarden.\u00a0 Three\u00a0 recordings resulted with Teagarden and an appearance with his Orchestra on the national Fitch Summer Bandwagon program as well as appearances with Teagarden at the Roseland in New York and a five week run with Teagarden at the Blackhawk in Chicago.\u00a0 She never stopped working and moved on to a hitch with Willie Farmer’s Orchestra for August through November before starting with Lennie Hayton and eventually recording two more songs with his Orchestra and then ending the year on tour with Lennie Hayton and Gene Krupa.\u00a0 What would 1940 bring? \"Linda<\/a> A hint came in small article in the December 27th, 1940 issue of Variety stating that Linda Keene had left Lennie Hayton’s Orchestra for Tony Pastor’s band.\u00a0 Obviously incorrect as she was still with Hayton as of New Year’s Eve 1939 but a prediction of things to come?
<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

1940<\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

LENNIE HAYTON contd…<\/u><\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Lennie Hayton and Linda Keene continued to tour in 1940.\u00a0 Sometimes it was difficult to locate a listing for Lennie Hayton.\u00a0 Sometimes his touring information was included in Billboard’s Orchestra Route information or other times it required scanning pages of Billboard or other periodicals that were not searchable.\u00a0 Piecing together bit and pieces I was able to find some tour information for Lennie Hayton and his Orchestra in January of 1940.\u00a0 On January 5, 1940 it is noted that Hayton will follow Krupa into the Roseland the following day.\u00a0 This was the same Roseland where George Simon saw Linda Keene perform with Jack Teagarden in the spring of 1939\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Lennie<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\"Variety<\/a>Variety from January 3, 1940 also makes mention of Hayton moving into the Roseland after Georgie Auld.\u00a0 The engagement at the Roseland may have lasted from two to three weeks.\u00a0\"1940-01-20<\/a> Billboard, from January 20, 1940 mentions that “Mal Hallett is the follow-upper to Lennie Hayton at Roseland Ballroom in another couple of weeks.”\u00a0 This suggest a possible end date of the last week of January.\u00a0 The January 20, 1940 Billboard article also puts down speculation that Linda Keene has moved over to the Tony Pastor orchestra.\u00a0 Again the rumors were flying that Linda was considering a move to the Tony Pastor Orchestra.\u00a0 \"Down<\/a>\"New<\/a>Down Beat would post in the January 1st, 1940 issue that Linda Keene had been auditioning for Pastor.\u00a0 Another article about Linda Keene joining up with Pastor would appear in in a New Orleans newspaper on January 21st, 1940.\u00a0 Pastor would factor into Linda Keene’s future but in January 1940 her commitment was still with Hayton.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 A small Billboard article from the February 3, 1940 issue noted \"Lennie<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

that Lennie Hayton was due at the Raymor Ballroom in Boston on January 27th through February 10th.\u00a0 This must have been immediately following the stay at the Roseland in New York.\u00a0 I could not find any advertisements in Boston papers for this engagement.\u00a0 Directly after ending at the Raymor in Boston on February 10, Hayton and his Orchestra were booked into the New Yorker Hotel in New York<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Hayton<\/a> <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

for a week starting February 11th.\u00a0 Although Hayton’s tour was being well documented, Linda Keene’s information seemed to be lagging behind.\u00a0 \"Linda<\/a>Her route information in Billboard for February 17th, February 24th, and March 2nd had her listed as still at the Raymor Ballroom; albeit with the listing misspelling her last name as “Keane”.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 It was while Hayton was at the New Yorker Hotel that Billboard ran an interesting article in their February 17th issue on the success of “At the Balalaika” and “Starlit Hour”: <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

It is interesting that both songs were recorded by Hayton with Linda Keene doing vocals but neither artist is mentioned in the article.\u00a0 There are other recordings of “At The Balalaika” from 1939 as well as a few for “The Starlit Hour” so the article might have been referring to the popularity of the songs and not specifically Hayton and Keene’s recordings.\u00a0 Still, the fact that their record was out there in late 1939 and early 1940 might have bolstered sales by riding the wave of popularity of the two songs.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 There is a slight gap in the route information for Lennie Hayton and his Orchestra after the engagement at the New Yorker Hotel ended on February 17th.\u00a0 Linda’s own route information, as noted above, still had her at the Raymor in Boston but that must have been incorrect.\u00a0 Billboard next notes that Lennie Hayton and his Orchestra were booked into the Flatbush in Brooklyn for February 22nd through the 28th.\u00a0 The article below from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) February 21, 1940 notes the appearance and Linda Keene is also mentioned:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Lennie<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

The gap between the end of their appearance at the New Yorker Hotel on the 17th and the beginning of their two day showing at the Flatbush on February 22nd might have been due to Hayton and Keene preparing to return to the recording studio.\u00a0 On February 20, 1940, Hayton and his Orchestra laid down four tracks at the Vocalion recording studio in New York:\u00a0 “AC-DC Current”, “Times Square Scuttle”, “I Love You Too Much”, and “One Cigarette For Two”.\u00a0 The last two songs contained vocals by Linda Keene.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"I<\/a>I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH –LINDA KEENE with LENNIE HAYTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/07%20-%20I%20Love%20You%20Too%20Much%20-%201940-02-20%20with%20Lennie%20Hayton%20Orchestra.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

———————————-\"One<\/a><\/strong>ONE CIGARETTE FOR TWO –LINDA KEENE with LENNIE HAYTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA<\/strong><\/h4>\r\nhttp:\/\/falseducks.com\/theblahg\/audiofiles\/08%20-%20One%20Cigarette%20For%20Two%20-%201940-02-20%20with%20Lennie%20Hayton%20Orchestra.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\r\n

Reviews for the two tracks with Linda Keene were generally good:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

The Times (Munster, Indiana) April 14, 1940<\/h3>\r\n

\"\"<\/a>Madison Capital Times, Madison, Wisconsin, April 21, 1940<\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/strong>Billboard Review June 20, 1940<\/h3>\r\n

The Lennie Hayton and Linda Keene pairings on Vocalion and earlier on Varsity are, as one review puts it “not good, not bad.”\u00a0 Certainly Linda’s voice is excellent but the songs are not memorable and certainly don’t seem to fit with Linda Keene with the exception of “I Love You Much Too Much”.\u00a0 That song is haunting and the music and vocals are a perfect blend.\u00a0 The recordings the previous year with Jack Teagarden were, as I’ve said, a compliment of the band and the vocalist.\u00a0 There is a lushness in the Hayton recordings, perhaps better suited for dancing, but Linda had made and would make better recordings.\u00a0 These were the last recordings by Lennie Hayton and his Orchestra.\u00a0 Hayton and his Orchestra recorded 25 songs between April 1937 and February 1940.\u00a0 A complete list can be found at<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

http:\/\/www.angelfire.com\/music5\/tony2003\/html\/lennie_hayton.htm<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 Appearing at the Flatbush following the recording session, the advertisement for Lennie Hayton’s appearance from The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), February 22, 1940 does not mention Linda Keene but the review from the same newspaper on February 23rd mentions her in passing:\u00a0 \"Lennie<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0<\/h3>\r\n

\"Review<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

A scan of the movie listings in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle revealed a small ad each day ending with one from February 28th:\u00a0 Flatbush, Church and Flatbush Aves…ON STAGE: Lenny Hayton & Orch.: Cass Daley, The Debonaires. Extra! Henry Armett.\u00a0 <\/em>Again, Linda Keene’s name is not mentioned.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 March of 1940 presented a problem when tracking Linda Keene.\u00a0 \"Down<\/a>Down Beat published a photo of Linda in the March 15th issue and stated she and and Hayton were “playing theaters in the east.”\u00a0 However, on the same day that the notice appeared in Down Beat, March 15th, Hayton is at the Fiesta Danceteria in New York.\u00a0 On Wednesday, March 13th, the Daily News (New York, New York) announced “Lenny Hayton” starting on the Friday, March 15th.\u00a0 Of course Hayton’s first name is misspelled.<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Hayton<\/a>The engagement must have been for a week because an advertisement for the Fiesta ran on March 22nd without Hayton’s name.\u00a0 The last advertisement with Hayton’s name, still misspelled, appeared in the Daily News on March 21st:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Lenny<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

Again, Hayton is mentioned and Linda Keene is not.\u00a0 After the Fiesta I could find nothing for the rest of March for Hayton and certainly nothing for Linda Keene at all.\u00a0 The next mention of Lennie Hayton in the media was not favorable.\u00a0 From the general news feed on April 9th, 1940, \"Hayton<\/a>we find that Hayton is in a Morristown, New Jersey hospital. Apparently Hayton recovered because the next article has Hayton and his Orchestra appearing on a national program on April 21st:
<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Hayton<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0\u00a0 There was no mention of Linda Keene in this small notice that appeared in most papers on April 20th.\u00a0 Linda’s name appeared in none of the national magazines like Billboard nor in any of the newspapers in the New York area, assuming that Hayton and Keene were still performing in the area.\u00a0 Billboard had no route information for both Lennie Hayton’s Orchestra and Linda Keene after the notice for the Fiesta in mid-March.\u00a0 Linda Keene’s name last appeared in the review for the Flatbush in February.\u00a0 Her route information in Billboard last had her listed at the Raymor in Boston in the March 2nd issue when we know in fact she was still with Hayton in February.\u00a0 I have scanned through numerous periodicals, carefully line by line, and ad by ad, but Linda Keene’s name does not appear again until the summer of 1940.\u00a0 As for Lennie Hayton, his prospects were brighter.\u00a0 By mid-June wire services ran the following one line around June 26, 1940:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Lennie<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

In fact, Hayton was arranging for Jimmy Dorsey and then was in Hollywood in the summer of 1940 arranging for Artie Shaw.\u00a0 He moved on from that in 1940 and became a musical director for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer until his retirement from the post in 1953.\u00a0 As, I could find nothing more linking Linda Keene with Hayton I will drop that line and move on to the next phase of Linda’s career in 1940.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

RED NORVO<\/u>
<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0From Prof. Raja’s article we learned that in the summer of 1940 Linda Keene “teamed up with Red Norvo’s band just as they were about to depart on a grueling six-month Mid-West and Southern States tour.”\u00a0 This is in keeping with my research because Linda Keene’s trail was not documented, or not well documented, in the media for the spring of 1940 and nothing definitive suggests when she left Hayton or was still with Hayton when his orchestra disbanded in June of that year.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I want to provide some context regarding Red Norvo’s band in 1940.\u00a0 There is probably a great deal of information to be found online regarding Norvo and his history but as it relates to Linda Keene, I want to back up to March of 1940.\u00a0 A small notice was making the wire service news in most papers on March 23rd. \"Red<\/a>
The one on the right is a sample from the\u00a0Mason City Globe Gazette, Mason, Iowa.\u00a0 Note, that the Red Norvo band is one of five swing bands that had folded around that time.\u00a0 The truth, however, was something different.\u00a0 The article below from Billboard a week later explains what Norvo was really doing:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Billboard<\/a><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0 I chose not to include the second half of the article because it does not include information about Norvo.\u00a0 More details on the restructuring of Norvo’s band appeared in the May 1940 issue of Metronome:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\"Norvo's<\/a><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0 My apologies for the image being cut off as that occurred at the source.\u00a0 This is what I believe is the full text:\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

-Norvo Brings Back<\/strong><\/em>
Soft Subtle Swing<\/strong><\/em>
Group for Hotels<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Young Outfit Makes<\/strong><\/em>
Yelling and Snoring<\/strong><\/em>
Quite Unnecessary<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\r\n

Red Norvo has returned to his best bet: a small, soft, subtle swing<\/em>
outfit. It consists of only nine men and musically and commercially it<\/em>
is a potent piece of merchandise.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

The band is ideally suited for hotel work, especially for rooms that cater<\/em>
to the younger trade. Both the size and the style of the group result in<\/em>
its playing soft music, and yet it maintains a moving swing that the<\/em>
kids call for.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

The instrumentation is a slight augmentation of the famous Norvo<\/em>
septet of several years ago. It consists of a full, three-way sax section<\/em>
one trumpet, one trombone, the usual four rhythm of piano, guitar,<\/em>
bass, and drums, and, of course Norvo. He has switched from Xylophone<\/em>
to marimba, the latter instrument being similar to the former<\/em>
except that it has greater range. The change will give Norvo more<\/em>
opportunities on the ballads especially.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

The style of the band is definitely swing, but it is the classic proof of<\/em>
the theory that swing can be solid and can be good that way, too<\/em>
There is no blaring; instead the swing is achieved via the arrangements,<\/em>
by the delicate rhythm figures, and of course by Norvo\u2019s exciting<\/em>
hammerings. There\u2019s little danger of this group causing any<\/em>
yelling or snoring on the part of patrons at dinner sessions.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

Future plans of the organization are indefinite. It is being booked<\/em>
by MCA, and will shortly wax disks for one of the major recording companies.<\/em><\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

So the stage was set for Norvo’s next band and a tour that MCA would arrange; a tour that would include Linda Keene as vocalist with the band.\u00a0 <\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n

\u00a0 \u00a0I began to search through posts for Red Norvo in 1940, going back to April and May to see if I could locate any reference to Linda Keene becoming Norvo’s new singer.\u00a0 \"Linda<\/a>Back on May 22, 1940 the Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York) ran a small article about Red Norvo’s Orchestra appearing at the Luna Park Ballroom but it was clear that Judy Abbott was the vocalist at that time.\u00a0 I eventually found what I believe was the first concert where Linda Keene began with Norvo.\u00a0 The list below is what I have been able to cobble together as the itinerary during Norvo’s six month tour.\u00a0 It is probably by no means complete but all of these are documented.\u00a0 There may have been other smaller towns or College or University campus appearances that are missing from this list:<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\r\n