Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs.

Early life

Brewer was born in

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnat ...

, the eldest of five siblings. Her father was a glass inspector for the Libbey Owens Company (now part of Pilkington Glass), and her mother was a housewife. Her father was from Germany. Her mother's family had a background in Hungary and Belarus.

Career

An agent, Richie Lisella, heard her sing and took her career in hand, and soon she was signed to a contract with

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. In 1949 she recorded the song

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

(a jazz perennial) with the Dixieland All-Stars. For the B side she recorded the song "

Music! Music! Music! "Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel In)" is a popular song written by Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum and published in 1950. Background The first recording of the song was by Etienne Paree with Eddie "Piano" Miller, released by Rainbow ...

". Unexpectedly, it was not the A side but the B side which took off, selling over a million copies and becoming Teresa's signature song. Another novelty song, "Choo'n Gum", hit the top 20 in 1950, followed by "Molasses, Molasses". Although she preferred to sing ballads, her only recorded ballad to make the charts was "

Longing for You Longing may refer to: Music * ''Longing'' (Bell Witch album) (2012) * ''Longing'' (Dusty Springfield album), an unreleased 1974 album * "Longing" (song), a 1994 song by X Japan * "Longing", a song by Gackt from '' Dirge of Cerberus: Final Fantas ...

" in 1951. In 1951 Brewer switched labels, going to Coral Records. Since she never learned to read music, she had demos sent to her to learn the melodies of the songs she would record. She had a number of hits for Coral. In 1952, she recorded "You'll Never Get Away" in a duet with Don Cornell, followed in 1953 by her best selling hit, "

Till I Waltz Again with You "Till I Waltz Again with You" is a popular song written by Sid Prosen. Teresa Brewer rendition American singer Teresa Brewer recorded "Till I Waltz Again with You" on August 19, 1952. Rather than a waltz as the title suggests, it is a slow AABA s ...

". In the mid-1950s she did a number of covers of

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

songs like " Pledging My Love" and " Tweedle Dee". She covered some

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whi ...

songs including " Jilted", "I Gotta Go Get My Baby", and " Let Me Go, Lover!". In 1956 she co-wrote "I Love Mickey", about

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

center fielder

Mickey Mantle Mickey Charles Mantle (October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995), nicknamed "the Commerce Comet" and "the Mick", was an American professional baseball player. Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball (MLB) career (1951–1968) with the New York ...

, who appeared on the record with Brewer. It was also reported that the two had developed a mutual attraction. Another 1956 hit was Brewer's syncopated rendition of " Mutual Admiration Society". In the same year her hit " A Sweet Old Fashioned Girl" demonstrated in one song her ballad and rock talents. In 1957 she recorded more covers: of country song "Teardrops in My Heart" and R&B songs " You Send Me" and " Empty Arms". She appeared as a special guest star on

The Muppet Show ''The Muppet Show'' is a sketch comedy television series created by Jim Henson and featuring the Muppets. The series originated as two pilot episodes produced by Henson for ABC in 1974 and 1975. While neither episode was moved forward as ...

in 1977. She appeared as Pat Edmonds in the 1953 film musical '' Those Redheads from Seattle'' – she was a natural redhead herself. Her song from the film, "Baby Baby Baby", was successful as a single. She appeared on television as a guest star on such television shows as ''

'' and ''

Sha Na Na Sha Na Na was an American rock and roll doo-wop group. Formed in 1969, but performing a song-and-dance repertoire based on 1950s hit songs, it simultaneously revived and parodied the music and the New York street culture of the 1950s. After ga ...

''. In 1968, Brewer sang "

The Star-Spangled Banner "The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States. The lyrics come from the "Defence of Fort M'Henry", a poem written on September 14, 1814, by 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet Francis Scott Key after witnessing the ...

" at the 1968 MLB All Star Game. She released "Danny's Song" (written by

Kenny Loggins Kenneth Clark Loggins (born January 7, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. His early songs were recorded with the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1970, which led to seven albums recorded as Loggins and Messina from 1972 to 1977. His ...

) in 1972 (album, ''Singin' a Doo Dah Song''), in 1975 (album, ''Teresa Brewer – Her Greatest Hits''), in 1986 (album, ''Portrait'') and, again in 1991 (album, ''Sixteen Most Requested Songs'')

Later career

Brewer re-emerged as a jazz vocalist on

Bob Thiele Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals * Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname ...

's Amsterdam label in the 1980s and 1990s, recording a number of albums including tribute albums to

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock an ...

Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and Singing, vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and se ...

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

and

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russ ...

. She also recorded with such jazz greats as

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous jazz orchestra from 1923 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Ellington was bas ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but a ...

Earl Hines Earl Kenneth Hines, also known as Earl "Fatha" Hines (December 28, 1903 – April 22, 1983), was an American jazz pianist and bandleader. He was one of the most influential figures in the development of jazz piano and, according to one source, " ...

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and Bobby Hackett. A landmark recording in her career was ''Softly I Swing'' (

Red Baron Records Red Baron Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Bob Thiele around 1991. The Bob Thiele Collective, an all-star group, recorded three albums for the label which Thiele produced. Other new recordings included music by John Hicks, St ...

, 1992) which was produced by Thiele and featured David Murray,

Ron Carter Ronald Levin Carter (born May 4, 1937) is an American jazz double bassist. His appearances on 2,221 recording sessions make him the most-recorded jazz bassist in history. He has won three Grammy awards, and is also a cellist who has recorded nu ...

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and Grady Tate. ''Memories of Louis'', also recorded for Thiele's Red Baron Records, paired her with a different well-known trumpeter on each track, including

Clark Terry Clark Virgil Terry Jr. (December 14, 1920 – February 21, 2015) was an American swing and bebop trumpeter, a pioneer of the flugelhorn in jazz, and a composer and educator. He played with Charlie Barnet (1947), Count Basie (1948–51), Duk ...

, Nicholas Payton,

Ruby Braff Reuben "Ruby" Braff (March 16, 1927 – February 9, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter and cornetist. Jack Teagarden was once asked about him on the Garry Moore television show and described Ruby as "the Ivy League Louis Armstrong". Braff ...

Freddie Hubbard Frederick Dewayne Hubbard (April 7, 1938 – December 29, 2008) was an American jazz trumpeter. He played bebop, hard bop, and post-bop styles from the early 1960s onwards. His unmistakable and influential tone contributed to new perspectives ...

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, teacher, and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has promoted classical and jazz music, often to young audiences. Marsalis has won nine Grammy Award ...

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, Sweets Edison, Lew Soloff, Terence Blanchard, Yank Lawson, Red Rodney and

. Thiele died in 1996, and Brewer never recorded after that. All together, she had recorded nearly 600 song titles.

Personal life

Teresa married William "Bill" Monahan in 1949; the couple had four daughters, Kathleen, Susan, Megan and Michelle. They eventually separated, and the marriage was dissolved in 1972 shortly before she married

Honors

For her contribution to the recording industry, Teresa Brewer has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

at 1708 Vine Street. In 2007, she was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Death

Brewer died of a

neuromuscular disease A neuromuscular disease is any disease affecting the peripheral nervous system (PNS), the neuromuscular junction, or skeletal muscle, all of which are components of the motor unit. Damage to any of these structures can cause muscle atrophy and wea ...

progressive supranuclear palsy Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset degenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty ...

(PSP), at her home on Pinebrook Boulevard in

New Rochelle, New York New Rochelle (; older french: La Nouvelle-Rochelle) is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the southeastern portion of the state. In 2020, the city had a population of 79,726, making it the seventh-largest in the state o ...

, aged 76. Her funeral was held at Holy Name of Jesus Church in New Rochelle, New York, where she was a member. Her remains were given to her daughter.

Influences

One of Elvis Presley's first public singing experiences in 12th grade was performing a song of Brewer's: "Till I Waltz Again with You".

Discography

Singles

References

External links

Teresa Brewer Center
*Teresa Brewer page o

Olde Time Cooking & Nostalgia site *

Teresa Brewer recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brewer, Teresa 1931 births 2007 deaths American women pop singers Coral Records artists London Records artists Philips Records artists RCA Records artists Singers from Ohio Musicians from Toledo, Ohio Musicians from New Rochelle, New York Traditional pop music singers Red Baron Records artists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Catholics from New York (state) Catholics from Ohio Neurological disease deaths in New York (state) Deaths from progressive supranuclear palsy