Gloria Wood: Hey! Bellboy!

Here is a funny song by the excentric singer Gloria Wood.
The 26th of May, 1958, Time Magazine wrote:
«The most pervasive voice in radio or television belongs neither to Bing Crosby nor Perry Como, but to a pretty, twinkly, auburn-haired girl named Gloria Wood. Blessed with a four-octave range and a gift for mimicry, Gloria can sing high or low, squeaky or sweet, on demand and to order. And the demand for such special talents is tremendous. In just the past three years, Gloria has recorded for more than 2000 singing commercials. (...) She is the voice of the impish Tinker Bell orbiting around a jar of Peter Pan peanut butter, of Walt Disney's Minnie Mouse, and (on records) of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. One firm planned a commercial featuring an eight-year-old boy, a nine-year-old girl, their mother and grandmother. Gloria did all four characters. (...) With her four-octave range, which she claims matches the eerie range of Peruvian Vocal Acrobat Yma Sumac, she can take off from low C below middle C and soar to C above high C. But this endowment also drives Gloria to despair: nobody wants to hear her sing straight. Her mother, a pop singer on Boston radio back in the mid-'20s thrust Gloria into big-band singing straight out of high school in 1941. Gloria did solid hitches with Horace Heidt and Kay Kyser, in 1953 made a Capitol record called "Hey Bellboy" (its only words), which sold nearly 1000000 copies. The movies have called on her to provide the voice of many a nonsinging star. She sang for Marilyn Monroe in "River of No Return", for Vera-Ellen in "White Christmas". (...) "I like making money", she admits. "But I'd like to be known for all the things I've done. Nobody knows Gloria Wood."»

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Gloria
• Wood

[bbcisrubbish]

I love the BEBOP phrasing in this, super.

[ari1234a]

The women in the 30s,40s and 50s were real women not thsi sticks you see nowadays.

They had curves in those times.

Nice singing btw.

[triptych3z]

Woody-wood pecker...

[normknott]

Dig!

[portobob]

Great '50's Bebop....Gloria Wood what a swinging kitty, her vocal and Pete Candoli's work are nothing but GREAT MUSIC !!!

[NickRatnieks]

Gloria Wood did the vocal on the very early Rick Nelson recording "You're My One And Only". This was one of the cuts produced by Barney Kessel who also played guitar.

[redshark618]

damn, its too bad they didnt appreciate her singing, they just wanted her high voice.

the pandering bastards!

[MrTexsax]

I dunno about that. Maybe I live in the land of proud, chubby chicks (cluck, cluck)? Long Island, where the chicks know Stormy Monday and the band do not have a clue.

[MrTexsax]

I dunno about that. Maybe I live in the land of proud, chubby chicks? Long Island, where the chicks know Stormy Monday and the band do not have a clue..

[MrTexsax]

I dunno about that. Maybe I live in the land of proud, chubby chicks?

[scuddster]

I assumed this was Jane Russell How wrong was I?

[local802blues]

I owned this record in the 1950s along with 1000000 other people All my friends loved this record.I finally took this & Woody Hermans "Lemon Drop" to a Fairground(carnival) and they were played into grey mush on the waltzer ride,the music soon attracted the local boppers and a jiving contest developed.I have been aware of Pete & Conte Candoli`s contributions to big bands & jazz since my teenage ,the brothers Candoli brought lots of people lots of pleasure