Kitty Kallen
Kitty Kallen was a band singer, and later a soloist, who lit up bandstands with a handful of top leaders during the '40s. She's remembered for three reasons: big-band fans know that she was the one who replaced Helen O'Connell in the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra in 1943, also that she sang the vocal chorus on a pair of Harry James hits, "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "It's Been a Long, Long Time," and virtually everyone with a radio in 1954 knew that she recorded the year's most popular song, "Little Things Mean a Lot." Her career lasted more than 20 years, but it was sporadic at best, with the major successes listed above virtually the only popularity she achieved.
Born in Philadelphia in 1922, she was a gifted mimic who won talent shows and also appeared on children's radio shows by the mid-'30s. Kallen was still a teenager when she began singing with bands (including Jan Savitt and Artie Shaw), and she earned her first full-time role in 1940 with Jack Teagarden's Orchestra. Two years later, she joined Tommy Dorsey, and appeared on several hits, including "Besame Mucho" and "Star Eyes" (plus a 1943 film, I Dood It). One year later, she had jumped ship again, this time to the Harry James band, where she struck gold again with a pair of dreamy Hit Parade toppers, "I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "It's Been a Long, Long Time." Two additional hits followed -- "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" and "I'll Buy That Dream" -- both of which were in the same mold as her previous features.
After the end of World War II, during the late '40s, Kallen sang on several radio programs, appeared as a solo act in clubs nationwide, and recorded for labels including Musicraft and Signature. Nothing clicked in a big way until 1953, when a contract with Decca paid dividends with a pair of million-sellers, "Little Things Mean a Lot" (her signature song) and "In the Chapel in the Moonlight." Kallen proved popular on television, although by the mid-'50s, she began to be swept aside by rock-oriented pop music. She made brief comebacks in 1959 with Columbia and 1962 with RCA, but 1963 was the last year for her on the pop charts, with "My Coloring Book."
© John Bush /TiVo
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Kitty Kallen's Coloring Book
Pop - Released by Universal Digital Enterprises on 26 Nov 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
It's been a long long time
Pop - Released by G Records on 24 Mar 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Kitty Kallen Collection 1939-62
Pop - Released by ACROBAT on 9 Oct 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
If I Give My Heart to You
Pop - Released by Columbia - Legacy on 13 May 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Little Things Mean a Lot
Jazz - Released by Jasmine Records on 4 Sep 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Anthology: The Deluxe Collection (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Master Tape Records on 14 Aug 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Little Things
Vocal Jazz - Released by Vintage Music on 12 Aug 1954
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Very Best Of
Vocal Jazz - Released by Master Classics Records on 1 Jun 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Kitty Kallen Story
Pop - Released by Legacy Recordings on 2 Dec 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
My Coloring Book And Her Other Great Hits
Jazz - Released by RCA - Legacy on 1 Sep 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Honky Tonk Angel
Jazz - Released by Columbia - Legacy on 11 Sep 1961
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Kiss Me Sweet (Billboard Hot 100 - No. 30)
Pop - Released by Music Manager on 19 Dec 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Kitty Kallen
Pop - Released by Vintage Jukebox on 3 Apr 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Magic Of Kitty Kallen (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by RevOla on 13 Aug 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
If I Give My Heart To You (Remastered)
Jazz - Released by RevOla on 17 Jun 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
1130 PM
Jazz - Released by Black & Partner Licenses LLC on 27 Mar 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Ladies in Jazz - Kitty Kallen
Jazz - Released by Ap music on 28 Mar 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
In the Chapel in the Moonlight (Hi-Fi Remastered)
Pop - Released by Era on 29 Jul 2023
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