Bob Eberly
Bob Eberly was a superior, if somewhat inflexible ballad singer during the swing era, best known for his association with Jimmy Dorsey. He started his career by winning an amateur hour contest on the Fred Allen radio show and singing locally. When Bob Crosby left the Dorsey Brothers Band in 1935, Eberly (who had changed his name from Eberle) was hired. After Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey soon split up, Eberly went with Jimmy and became a fixture with his orchestra for the next eight years through rough times and prosperity.
His deep voice and very straight delivery were an inspiration for Dick Haymes and indirectly for Frank Sinatra. Starting in December 1940, Eberly and Helen O'Connell (who had joined the band nearly two years earlier) teamed up regularly on records; Eberly would have a ballad chorus (he much preferred slow tempos) and then, after an instrumental interlude, O'Connell would take a hotter chorus. Engineered originally by arranger Tutti Camarata so both singers could be featured on Dorsey's radio show, the combination clicked from the start, resulting in hit versions of "Amapola," "Tangerine," "Green Eyes" and "Maria Elena." Eberle was with Dorsey until December 1943, when he was drafted into the military. He was able to sing during the next two years with Wayne King's military group, but after his discharge, Eberly was never really able to get a very successful solo career going. He did continue working into the 1970s, and co-hosted a summer replacement television show with Helen O'Connell one year, but was largely forgotten. Ironically, Bob's younger brother Ray Eberle, who had much less of a voice, is today better remembered for his many ballad vocals with Glenn Miller.
© Scott Yanow /TiVo
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Discography
12 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Vintage Vocal Jazz / Swing Nº21 - EPs Collectors "Vintage Radio Hits"
Jazz - Released by Vintage Music on 4 sep. 1957
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kitty Kallen "Little Things Mean a Lot"
Jazz - Released by Retrospective on 10 jun. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
If I Had My Life to Live Over
Blues - Released by Redwood Records on 10 apr. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Green Eyes
Jazz - Released by Black & Partner Licenses LLC on 8 mrt. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Bob Eberly
Jazz - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 13 apr. 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Eberly Brothers: Smooth Singers of the Swing Era
Jazz - Released by Retrospective on 9 sep. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bob Eberly - Gold Collection
Pop - Released by Retro Music Box on 21 jan. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Tender Love Songs
Vocale muziek (wereldlijk en religieus) - Released by Flare Records on 28 jul. 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Greatest Hits
Jazz - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 16 aug. 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo