The Moonmaids (sometimes styled as two words: Moon Maids) were an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

female jazz and popular vocal quartet that started out as college student entertainers under the name "North Texas Swingtet." As the Swingtet, they launched and performed with the

Aces of Collegeland One O'Clock Lab Band is an ensemble of the Jazz Studies division at the University of North Texas College of Music in Denton, Texas. Since the 1970s, the band's albums have received seven Grammy Award nominations, including two for ''Lab 2009' ...

at the University of North Texas in 1943 and grew in popularity throughout the region. Vaughn Monroe hired the group, renamed it "The Moonmaids," and debuted them with his orchestra on April 11, 1946, at Loews Theater in

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The Moonmaids rapidly rose to national acclaim performing and recording with the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

. Within four months of joining Monroe, the Moonmaids were on the cover of ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' (August 26, 1946) and featured in ''Radio Mirror'' (January 1947) With personnel changes now and then, the Moonmaids performed with Vaughn Monroe from 1946 to 1952.

Members

Selected discography

Eddie South * The Eddie South Trio with Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra, AB Fable Records (E)ABCD1-009 (CD) (2005) : Trio:

Hank Jones Henry Jones Jr. (July 31, 1918 – May 16, 2010) was an American jazz pianist, bandleader, arranger, and composer. Critics and musicians described Jones as eloquent, lyrical, and impeccable. In 1989, The National Endowment for the Arts honored ...

(piano),

Eddie South Edward Otha South (November 27, 1904 – April 25, 1962) was an American jazz violinist. Biography South studied classical music in Budapest, Paris, and Chicago. He turned to jazz because, as a Black musician, there was no room for him in class ...

(violin),

Leonard Gaskin Leonard Gaskin (August 25, 1920 – January 24, 2009) was an American jazz bassist born in New York City. Gaskin played on the early bebop scene at Minton's and Monroe's in New York in the early 1940s. In 1944 he took over Oscar Pettiford's ...

(bass) : Orchestra:

Frank L. Ryerson Frank Layton Ryerson (3 July 1905 in Paterson, New Jersey – 15 May 1995 in Clearwater, Florida) was an American trumpeter, composer, arranger and educator. ''ASCAP Biographical Dictionary, Third edition,'' compiled for the American Society of Comp ...

(trumpet, arranger-1), James Messina, Richard Lasala, Fred Taylor, Ed Shedowsky (trumpet-1) or Sal Gianetina (trumpet-1), Sam Hyster, Bill Mustard, Joseph Conigliaro, Joseph Bennett (trombone-1), Andy Bagni ''(né'' Andrew Joseph Bagni; 1907–1984), Phil Olivella ''(né'' Philip R. Olivella; 1918–1995) (alto sax-1) or Louis Feldman (alto sax-1), Ziggy Talent, John West (tenor sax-1) or Vito Marasco (tenor sax-1), Michael Shelby (piano-1), Bucky Pizzarelli (guitar-1), Maurice Ancher, Ed Bratone (né Edmund John Braghittoni; 1910–1981), Sam Caplan, Seymour Berman, Irving Raymond (violin-1), John Pastore (cello-1) or Eduardo Sodero (cello-1) Jack Fay (bass-1), Edward Julian (drums-1), Vaughn Monroe (vocal) : Moonmaids: Kathryn Katie Myatt, Hilda Tinker Cunningham, Arlene Truax, Mary Joe Thomas, Mary Lee (vocals) — aka Mahree Ahm : Recorded during ''The Vaughn Monroe Show,'' WCBS CBS, New York, January 11, 1947 # ''Daphne'' # ''

I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" is a 1926 popular song composed by Jimmy McHugh, with lyrics by Clarence Gaskill. More than 20 recordings were made of "I Can't Believe That You're in Love with Me" in the 16 years following its publica ...

'', Vaughn Monroe and His Orchestra, Moonmaids Vaughn Monroe and The Moon Maids * 20-1920-A: "Just The Other Day"
audio clip
, by Austem Croon-Johnson and Redd Evans : 20-1920-B: "When The Angelus Is Ringing"
audio clip
, by Joe Young & Bert Grant,

( 78 rpm) (1946) * 20-1892-A: "Who Told You That Lie?"
audio clip
, by

Jack Segal Jack Segal (October 19, 1918 – February 10, 2005) was a pianist and composer of popular American songs, known for writing the lyrics to '' Scarlet Ribbons''. His composition '' May I Come In?'' was the title track for a Blossom Dearie album. ...

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Familiar to Broadway, radio, movie, and early television audiences, ...

, and

Bee Walker Bertha ("Bee") Walker (1898–1987) was an American composer and pianist. Born as Bertha Wolpa in Indianapolis, Indiana, she became a ragtime pianist, demonstrating tunes in the music section of Woolworths stores, and recorded many piano rolls ...

: 20-1892-B: "It's My Lazy Day," by

Smiley Burnette Lester Alvin Burnett (March 18, 1911 – February 16, 1967), better known as Smiley Burnette, was an American country music performer and a comedic actor in Western films and on radio and TV, playing sidekick to Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, and ...

( 78 rpm) (1946) * 20–2294–A: "I Wish I Didn't Love You So,"

( 78 rpm) : 20–2294–B: "Tallahassee"
20–2361–A: "You Do,"

( 78 rpm)
20–2361–B: "Kokomo, Indiana"
* 20–2523–A: "How Soon (Will I Be Seeing You)?"

( 78 rpm) : 20–2523–B: "True" * 20–2573–A: "Passing Fancy,"

( 78 rpm) * 20–2671–B: "Someone Cares,"

( 78 rpm) (1947) * 20–2712–B: "Completely Yours,"

12S1 ( 78 rpm) (1947) * 20–2748–A: "It's The Sentimental Thing To Do,"

L-1S2-IV ( 78 rpm) : 20–2748–B: "Like We Used To Do,"

L-15S4-IV ( 78 rpm) * 20–2811–A: "What Do I Have To Do (To Make You Love Me)?"

8S ( 78 rpm) : 20–2811–B: "A Little Imagination (It Only Takes)" * 20-3606-A: "So This Is Love" ("The Cinderella Waltz")
audio clip
, lyrics by Mack David,

Al Hoffman Al Hoffman (September 25, 1902 – July 21, 1960) was an American song composer. He was a hit songwriter active in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, usually co-writing with others and responsible for number-one hits through each decade, many of wh ...

, and Jerry Livingston (1949) : 20-3606-B: "There's No One Here But Me,"

, DJ-816 ( 78 rpm) (1949) * 20-3942-A: "

A Marshmallow World "A Marshmallow World" (sometimes called "It's a Marshmallow World") is a popular song that was written in 1949 by Carl Sigman (lyrics) and Peter DeRose (music). It was published the following year by Shapiro, Bernstein & Co. The song is about win ...

"
audio clip
,

( 78 rpm) (1950) : 20-3942-B: "Snowy White Snow And Jingle Bells"

Filmography

* ''

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

'' (1947) : Moonmaids with the Vaughn Monroe Orchestra in the film were Mary Jo Thomas, Tinker Cunningham, Arline Truax, Katie Myatt, and Maree Lee.

External links

Vaughn Monroe Society website

References

{{Reflist, 40em, refs= ''Texas Singers Hit With Band,'' by

Sarah McClendon Sarah Newcomb McClendon (July 8, 1910 – January 8, 2003) was a long-time White House reporter who covered presidential politics for a half century. McClendon founded her own freelance news service as a single mother in the post-World Wa ...

of the ''

Philadelphia Daily News ''Philadelphia Daily News'' is a tabloid newspaper that serves Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper is owned by The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC, which also owns Philadelphia's other major newspaper ''The Philadelphia Inquirer''. The ''Dail ...

,'' Washington staff, ''

Amarillo Daily News The ''Amarillo Globe-News'' is a daily newspaper in Amarillo, Texas, owned by Gannett. The newspaper is based at downtown's FirstBank Southwest Tower, but is printed at a facility in Lubbock. History The current-day ''Globe-News'' is a combinati ...

'', April 12, 1946, pg. 22 Cover, ''

,'' Vol. 13, Issue 18, August 26, 1946 {{ISSN, 0012-5768
Facing the Music
'' by Ken Aldek, ''

Radio Mirror Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

,'' Dunellen, New Jersey: Macfadden Publications, Inc. Vol. 27, Issue 2, January 1947 {{OCLC, 51260473, 504170401
The Moonmaids
'' by Robin Fletcher, ''North Texan,'' Vol. 58, No. 2, Summer 2008
Musicmakers of Network Radio: 24 Entertainers, 1926–1962
'' by Jim Cox,

McFarland & Company McFarland & Company, Inc., is an American independent book publisher based in Jefferson, North Carolina, that specializes in academic and reference works, as well as general-interest adult nonfiction. Its president is Rhonda Herman. Its former ...

(2012), pg. 253; {{OCLC, 802469340, 794664287
Moonmaids: Keeping the Big-Band Sound Alive
'' '' D Magazine,'' July 1984 ''Miss Tinker Cunningham Weds William Rautenberg in Denton,''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

, July 17, 1951 ''Denton Students on Dean's List,'' '' Denton Record-Chronicle,'' July 13, 1944 ''Miss Thomas, H. C. Grogan Are Married,''

, April 8, 1951 ''Lee Sisters,'' by Maree Lee Eger, June 2002, posted on the ''Vaughn Monroe Appreciation Society'' website
maintained by Louis J. Kohnen, Jr. (of East Rochester, New York) and Claire Schwartz (of

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

) (retrieved 30 May 2013) ''June Hiett Marries Edmund J. Bratone'',

, January 7, 1951, Sec. 3, pg. 4 ''NTSC Exes With Band in 'Carnegie Hall' Film,'' ''

,'' September 8, 1947, sec. II, pg. 5 Musical groups established in 1943 Musical groups disestablished in 1952 American vocal groups Vocal quartets