Marlene VerPlanck

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Marlene Paula VerPlanck (née Pampinella; November 11, 1933 – January 14, 2018)

American songbook, and cabaret.[3]

Life and career

VerPlanck was born and raised in

gasoline station there, and her mother was Pauline A. Biase, whose family ran an Italian restaurant.[3][4] She married trombonist, composer, and arranger J. William "Billy" VerPlanck (1930–2009) in 1955, and he became her musical collaborator and champion.[3] They were married for 52 years, until his death in 2009.[3][1][5]

VerPlank graduated from Bloomfield High School, and considered a career in journalism.[4] She began performing as a teenager at the age of 19, at a nightclub in Newark, the Well.[4] Her debut album, I Think of You with Every Breath I Take, was released in 1955 when she was 21, and featured Hank Jones, Joe Wilder, Wendell Marshall, Kenny Clarke, and Herbie Mann (uncredited).[6][7] VerPlanck then went to work as a vocalist for Charlie Spivak's band, and later sang with the Tommy Dorsey band[8][9] and with Tex Beneke′s band.[3]

A prolific studio vocalist for commercial

Michelob beer. She later told the press that the latter was highly lucrative for her, because she put a "Yeah!" at the end of the jingle that was used over and over again in versions of the jingle recorded by Billy Eckstine, Vic Damone, and Brook Benton, earning her continued royalties. Her jingle work allowed her to hone the clarity of her diction when singing, and she became known for her ability to enunciate the lyrics of songs clearly even while investing them with emotion.[3] Although she toiled largely in obscurity, her voice became widely known to millions of people during the 1960s and 1970s through the familiarity and popularity of her jingles.[3]

VerPlanck also sang backup for

Mel Torme, and she performed around the United States and internationally as a cabaret singer. Despite her long and successful career in jingles and as a studio backing vocalist, her second solo album, This Happy Feeling, was not recorded and released until 1969, 14 years after her first album. Her solo career then began in earnest, and she released more than 20 albums,[3] mostly on the Audiophile label, and toured extensively as a soloist. She specialized in the Great American Songbook, especially the works of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers, and gained a reputation as one of the most accomplished interpreters of the genre.[3]

In January 1983, VerPlanck took part in recording In the Digital Mood, an early all-digital recording of the music of

Julius LaRosa, Mel Torme, Michael Mark, and Marty Nelson for the recording session on January 20, 1983.[12]

VerPlanck last performed in December 2017 at a jazz club in New York City.[3] She died of pancreatic cancer at a hospital in Manhattan, New York City on January 14, 2018, aged 84 and was buried at Mt. Olivet cemetery in Bloomfield.[3][4]

Discography

As leader

  • I Think of You with Every Breath I Take (Savoy, 1956)
  • This Happy Feeling (Mounted, 1969)
  • You'd Better Love Me (Audiophile, 1977)
  • Marlene VerPlanck Loves Johnny Mercer (Audiophile, 1978)
  • A New York Singer (Audiophile, 1980)
  • A Warmer Place (Audiophile, 1982)
  • I Like to Sing! (Audiophile, 1984)
  • All Aglow Again with Steve Clayton (Sovereign, 1986)
  • Marlene VerPlanck Sings Alec Wilder (Audiophile, 1986)
  • Pure & Natural (Audiophile, 1987)
  • A Quiet Storm (Audiophile, 1990)
  • A Breath of Fresh Air (Mounted, 1993)
  • Live! in London (Audiophile, 1993)
  • You Gotta Have Heart: The Songs of Richard Adler (Varese Sarabande, 1997)
  • What Are We Going to Do with All This Moonlight? (Audiophile, 1998)
  • My Impetuous Heart (DRG, 2000)
  • Speaking of Love (Audiophile, 2002)
  • It's How You Play the Game (Audiophile, 2004)
  • Now (Audiophile, 2005)
  • Once There Was a Moon (Audiophile, 2009)
  • One Dream at a Time (Audiophile, 2010)
  • Ballads, Mostly (Audiophile, 2013)
  • I Give Up, I'm in Love (Audiophile, 2014)
  • The Mood I'm In (Audiophile, 2016)

As guest

With J. J. Johnson

With the John LaSalle Quartet

  • Jumpin' at the Left Bank (Capitol, 1959)

With the Glenn Miller Orchestra

  • In the Digital Mood (GRP, 1983)[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Marc Myers (January 10, 2013). "Interview: Marlene VerPlanck". JazzWax. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  2. ^ Myers, Marc (January 16, 2018). "Marlene VerPlanck (1933-2018)". JazzWax. Retrieved 17 January 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Langer, Emily, "Marlene VerPlanck, commercial ‘jingle queen’ and singer of Great American Songbook, dies at 84," washingtonpost.com, January 19, 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d Genzlinger, Neil (26 January 2018). "Marlene VerPlanck, Singer of Jazz and Jingles, Dies at 84". The New York Times.
  5. OCLC 38746731
  6. ^ Gayle (November 29, 2012). "Marlene VerPlanck". WUSF (University of South Florida). Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  7. ^ Scott Yanow. "I Think of You with Every Breath I Take". Allmusic. Retrieved January 25, 2013.
  8. OCLC 39837948
  9. OCLC 38562293
    , LCCN 98193811.
  10. ^ Feather, Leonard (May 7, 1988). "Pop Music Reviews: Loves Ups, Downs With Marlene VerPlanck". Los Angeles Times. pt. VI, pg. 5. Retrieved January 2, 2023.
  11. New York Times
    , May 30, 1918.
  12. ^ a b Anonymous, Liner notes for "The Glenn Miller Orchestra: In the Digital Mood," GFRP Records, 1983.

External links

Archives at
LocationMusic Division, Library of Congress
SourceBilly and Marlene VerPlanck papers, circa 1950s-2000
How to use archival material
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marlene_VerPlanck&oldid=1161298525"