Martha Raye Performs Live in 1982

Martha Raye performs E.Y. Harburg & Burton Lane's "There's a Great Day Coming Manana" live at Melody Fair, North Tonawanda NY during the Summer of 1982. Martha was touring with an act billed as The New Four Girls which also included Rosemary Clooney, Kaye Starr and Helen O'Connell. Unfortunately, her idiot manager severly limited the crew to recording no more than a minute of any single song. In fact, a portion of this performance was actually erased in order to comply with this demand. What a shame. The clip ends just as Martha really starts to cook! Da Dooba Dooba Day....!!!

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• Martha
• Ray
• Live
• Melody
• Fair
• North
• Tonawanda
• New
• Four
• Girls
• Rosemary
• Clooney

[Shangobunni]

I think it was actually called Four Girls Four

[QuickieNirvana]

When this was recorded in 1982, Martha and her co-stars were definately touring as The New Four Girls. Four Gilrls Four was a few years before.

[britcomic]

Too short! She was sensational - one of the most under-rated singers of her era

[QuickieNirvana]

Too short indeed! I figured it was better to post what I had rather than have it rot in the vault. When I found the tape I had forgotten, after 25 years, that The New Four Girl's manager had demanded that we not record more than a minute. He even threatened to pull the show! The video it was shot for was never made and this clip nearly met the fate of the dumpster.

[onlyhuman41]

Great clip! Mel Torme called Martha Raye the most underrated singer in show business.  She was such a great comic actress that her vocal talents were ignored!

[sauroid1]

I read somewhere that she actually assisted a surgeon during an operation, in Vietnam, not too far away from the fighting. What a gutsy lady, and what a voice.

[grenadian11]

I heard in her prime she was a great, great singer!

[ocnoreen]

Such a great singer.

[tallpaul521]

God Bless Miss Raye -- the inspiration for Bette Midler's "For The Boys".

[snailysaurus]

@britcomic

I agree - many people today only remember Martha for her comedic talent, but boy did she have a set of pipes! One of my favorite singers of all time. We miss you, Martha.

[100Meadows]

I loved Martha Raye. I agree, she was grossly underrated in all areas of talent.

[downey5558]

I have an LP she recorded with Carol Burnett - if I ever become able to figure out how to tranfer it, I'll post it. Both she and Carol were/are great singers.

[defundthewar]

Mel was right! And Martha could handle ballads beautifully also. And I think she was gorgeous, big mouth and all. Didn't all the girl stars starting in the 40s start to paint their mouths to look bigger? Now, of course, they've reached epic proportions.

[4262009AP]

Even in her old age, Martha still felt young inside. God bless her! And she never lost that sense of humor. RIP Martha Raye.

[NewzGuy]

I got to tour with Maggie when she did Everybody Loves Opel. She was the best. Someone asked her why she hired a 35 year old to play an old doctor in the play. She replied: "RJ can do a triple take... and he drinks Jack Daniels." Thanks Maggie, it was quite a ride!