Beryl Davis (16 March 1924 – 28 October 2011) was a vocalist who sang with British and American

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

s, as well as being an occasional featured vocalist at a very young age with the

Quintette du Hot Club de France The Quintette du Hot Club de France ("The Quintet of the Hot Club of France"), often abbreviated "QdHCdF" or "QHCF", was a jazz group founded in France in 1934 by guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli and active in one form ...

between 1936 and 1939. She was still performing (in her 80s) into the 2000s, possibly the last surviving and performing singer of the generation of popular entertainers from the 1930s and wartime years. Her younger sister is Lisa Davis Waltz, a teen actress in the 1950s and 1960s and later, the voice of Anita in Disney's ''101 Dalmatians''.

Music career

Born in Plymouth, England, to Harry Lomax Davis and Queenie Davis, she began to sing for the

Oscar Rabin Band The Oscar Rabin Band was a popular British dance band in the first half of the twentieth century. Formation Oscar Rabin formed his first band with Harry Davis, the Romany Five at the Palace Hotel in Southend in 1924 in which Rabin played violi ...

, co-led by her father and saxophonist Oscar Rabin, at the age of eight, eventually turning professional and singing with, among others, Oscar Rabin, Geraldo, and the Sky Rockets Dance Orchestra. From the age of just 12, accompanied by a chaperone, she also performed and recorded with

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Romani-French jazz guitarist and composer. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe and has been hailed as one of its most ...

in Paris and on several European tours, and was the featured singer with the

during their tour of the U.K. in July-August 1939, including a performance with the Quintette for BBC Television (broadcast in August 1939), of which, unfortunately, no copy appears to survive. She became popular singing for British and Allied troops during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, during which time Glenn Miller discovered her in London, and she sang for the Army Air Force Orchestra. After the second world war, she moved to Los Angeles with her father's big band, and with Frank Sinatra for one year on ''

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year ru ...

''. She was part of the Four Girls singing group with

Jane Russell Ernestine Jane Geraldine Russell (June 21, 1921 – February 28, 2011) was an American actress, singer, and model. She was one of Hollywood's leading sex symbols in the 1940s and 1950s. She starred in more than 20 films. Russell moved from th ...

Rhonda Fleming Rhonda Fleming (born Marilyn Louis; August 10, 1923 – October 14, 2020) was an American film and television actress and singer. She acted in more than 40 films, mostly in the 1940s and 1950s, and became renowned as one of the most glamoro ...

Della Russell Della may refer to: * Della (name), including a list of people with the name * ''Della'' (film), a 1964 television pilot film starring Joan Crawford * ''Della'' (TV series), starring Della Reese * ''Della'' (album) * Della, Ethiopia, a town in ...

, and

Connie Haines Connie Haines (born Yvonne Marie Antoinette Jasme; January 20, 1921 – September 22, 2008) was an American singer and actress. Her 200 recordings were frequently up-tempo big band songs with the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey orchestras, and Fra ...

. They recorded sixteen singles, and albums which became best sellers. She appeared both in variety shows and films. She was married to William Mann Moore (aka Peter Potter), disc jockey and host of the 1950s Emmy Winning television show, '' Jukebox Jury''. They had three children, William Bell, Merry Bell, and Melinda Beryl. The marriage ended in divorce. In 1996, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California,

Palm Springs Walk of Stars The Palm Springs Walk of Stars is a walk of fame in downtown Palm Springs, California, where "Golden Palm Stars", honoring various people who have lived in the greater Palm Springs area, are embedded in the sidewalk pavement. The walk includes po ...

was dedicated to her. Still performing into her 80s, she was featured at several concerts/festivals in the mid 2000s with the backing of the guitarist

John Jorgenson John Richard Jorgenson (born July 6, 1956) is an American musician. Although best known for his guitar work with bands such as the Desert Rose Band and The Hellecasters, he is also proficient on the mandolin, mandocello, Dobro, pedal steel gu ...

and his band, who featured her vocals on one track, "Don't Worry 'Bout Me", on his 2007 CD "Ultraspontane", reprising her original recording with Django almost 70 years earlier. On 28 October 2011, Davis died in Los Angeles from complications of Alzheimer's disease, at age 87. She was buried at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles.

Discography

* ''Beryl By Candle-Light'', ( RCA Victor, 1948) * ''Beryl Davis'', (Zodiac Records, 1976) * ''I'll Be Seeing You'', (

Hindsight Hindsight bias, also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they actually were. People often believe that after an event ha ...

, 1999) * ''Alone Together'', (2000) * ''I Hear a Dream'', (2001) * ''Feel the Spirit'', (Jasmine, 2008) - compilation of tracks released for Coral and Capitol in the 1950s

References

External links

Beryl Davis
- Biographical page on Big Band Buddies

- brief biography o
Pointing North †

Beryl Davis, Discogs
- discography on www.discogs.com
Jane Russell;Peter Potter;Connie Haines;Beryl Davis
Jane Russell, Beryl Davis and Connie Haines with Peter Potter (radio show host): Photo by Allan Grant//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Beryl Davis performs "Don't Worry About Me" in London, August 1939
(audio) accompanied by

on guitar and

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the fi ...

on piano
78 RPM - Beryl Davis - Oscar Rabin Band - This Is No Laughing Matter
(audio) - 1942
Beryl Davis - The Touch Of Your Lips
- (audio) with Russ Case and His Orchestra, 1947
Beryl Davis I Hear A Dream GMB
- (audio) - 75 mins compilation of classic tracks recorded in England from 1939 to January 1947
Connie Haines - Beryl Davis - Rhonda Fleming - Jane Russell
- film clip, 1954, singing gospel music
Beryl Davis sings with the Bill Baker Big Band at Twinwoods 2003
(video)
Beryl Davis: "Don't Worry About Me" Djangofest NW 2005
- video, with

band in 2005
John Jorgenson feat. Beryl Davis - Don't Worry 'Bout Me
- video, Culver City Music Festival in 2007
Beryl Davis--Rare TV Interview
with cable TV host Skip E. Lowe (28 mins). {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Beryl 1924 births 2011 deaths Big band singers British expatriates in the United States English women singers English jazz singers Musicians from Plymouth, Devon Traditional pop music singers Deaths from dementia in California Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) British women jazz singers