Jazz vocalist Maxine Sullivan was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania on May 13, 1911, and died on April 7, 1987. She started singing with her uncle’s band The Red Hot Peppers, and moved to New York City in 1937, at the age of 26, where she recorded with pianist Claude Thornhill. Their recording of “Loch Lomond” brought her worldwide fame. She married bandleader John Kirby and starred with him on CBS Radio’s Flow Gently Sweet Rhythm, making them the first Black jazz musicians to star in their own radio series. Maxine appeared in the 1938 films Going Places and St. Louis Blues, and starred on broadway with Louis Armstrong and Benny Goodman in the musical Swingin The Dream. After World War II, Sullivan continued performing club dates in the US, touring internationally, and recording.
This Tono Records 1984 album Maxine Sullivan 1944-1948 compiles rare 78s that represent her entire recorded output during this late war and post-war period. There are songs written by Maxine’s favorite lyricist, Johnny Mercer, some mark her first recordings with strings, and some have arrangements by Sylvan Shulman. The final two songs were never previously released commercially. The tracklisting is, side one, Skylark, Come Rain Or Come Shine, Taking My Time, Summertime, Legalize My Name, Miss Otis Regrets, I Carry The Torch For You, and Behavin’ Myself For You. Side Two continues with If I Had A Ribbon Bow, Mad About The Boy, Jackie Boy, I Must Have That Man, Loch Lomond, I Can’t Get Started With You, Restless, and Cry Buttercup Cry.
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