Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American cabaret singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit “Come On-a My House”, which was followed by other pop numbers such as “Botch-a-Me”, “Mambo Italiano”, “Tenderly”, “Half as Much”, “Hey There”, and “This Ole House”, although she had success as a jazz vocalist. Clooney’s career languished in the 1960s, but revived in 1977, when her White Christmas co-star Bing Crosby asked her to appear with him at a show marking his 50th anniversary in show business. She continued recording until her death in 2002. (More from Wikipedia)
Sister Rosetta Tharpe is the only woman mentioned in the Wikipedia list, but she is not the only one that I have heard talked about. Rosemary Clooney had one of her biggest hits with “Hey There” b/w “This Ole House”; both songs individually reached #1 in 1954 on the Billboard singles charts (in case you think – as I had – that the Beatles were the first to have double-sided #1 hit singles). The latter song is one that I have heard discussed as the first rock and roll record – or at least, one of the first (before doing the research for this post, I had thought that her recording dated from 1953).
As written by Stuart Hamblen – one of the earliest “singing cowboys” – “This Ole House” was originally treated as an epitaph for a dead mountain man who was found in his home. Rosemary Clooney’s rollicking, gospel-tinged version is a rock and roll treatment of the song and features basso profundo vocals by Thurl Ravenscroft. Ravenscroft is best known as the original voice behind Tony the Tiger in TV commercials for Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes cereal and also performed the vocals (uncredited) for the song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” on the classic Christmas television special, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. Shortly after Thurl Ravenscroft’s death in 2005, I heard an interview with him on NPR, and I don’t think I have ever heard a man who had such a deep voice.
Rosemary Clooney had a long singing career in the years leading up to the rock and roll revolution. Though she preferred performing big-band swing numbers, her breakthrough hit, “Come on-a My House” in 1951 was one of several dialect-flavored novelty songs that she recorded at the insistence of Mitch Miller (later famous for his television show in the early 1960’s, Sing Along with Mitch).
“Come on-a My House” was co-written by two Armenian American cousins, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Saroyan and Ross Bagdasarian. Bagdasarian, under his stage name David Seville went on to great fame by experimenting with recordings using speeded-up vocals. The first result was a #1 hit in the summer of 1958 called “Witch Doctor” – remember “Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang, walla walla, bing bang, ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang, walla walla, bing bang”? He is best known of course for creating Alvin and the Chipmunks, whose popularity continues to the present day.
Sadly, Rosemary Clooney is mostly remembered today not so much for her formidable powers as a performer, but rather for the members of her extended family – and also for the long-running PBS series This Old House that was named after her 1954 hit song. The eldest son from her marriage to Puerto-Rico–born movie star José Ferrer – the first Hispanic to win an Academy Award – is another movie and television star, Miguel Ferrer. Her nephew George Clooney is one of the biggest movie stars of our time and has two Oscars of his own.
(June 2013/1)
