It's not Kate and Allie

Richard Dyer invited us to listen to an amazing evening of rare recordings of the songs of two of the great singers of the 20th century: Kate Smith and Helen Traubel. I know this seems like an odd match; but Richard and I are both great fans of these two singers. I have written several times about the magic of Helen's singing, but this time I want also to write about the amazing voice of Kate Smith.

Kate Smith- now how can you be more American than that? I remember coming home from school for lunch in Battle Creek, Michigan, and hearing her fifteen minute radio broadcast from Lake Placid, NY, every day at noon. She and Ted Collins, her manager, would chat about whatever and she always signed off with 'Thanks for listening, folks'. I don't remember her singing on the noon program, but that was a while ago! She also had an evening radio show where she sang wonderfully and later had a similar television program. She was a good sized woman. In my book, Sing On!, Sing On!, I have said that I do not believe that fat resonates. Kate- and Helen, and more recently, Barbara Cook and Tyne Daly, may make me change my mind on that subject! Whether it resonates or not, they certainly know how to use their avoir du pois  to great advantage.  Someday I may write another book on this caloric subject: The Fat Voice?

Whatever it was- Kate could sing. We heard popular songs from the 30's and 40's that were recorded from various broadcasts she had made. Her sizable voice could have led her to an operatic career, but she chose to stay with 'pop' music. She could carry what I call a 'belt' up to D an octave above middle C without a hint of strain. She could also do the same thing in a sweet, mellow head voice. Her breath was simply amazing. Any number that ended on a high note, you knew she could sing the note as long as she wanted. I doubt that she ever had a voice lesson. She was what Olga Averino would have called 'a natural singer'. I wonder if Olga ever heard her?

In the CD we listened to, she sang many songs from that era of the thirties and forties: what I call my growing-up days; some of which I knew- like 'Deep Purple' and 'God Bless America', and many I had never heard. I think it was the Philadelphia Phillies that used her recording of 'God Bless America' to open their games just a few years ago. She became a sort of mascot for them. She was certainly an American legend!

She lived in Lake Placid, New York, and I think that those noonday broadcasts may have originated from there.

She was an American phenomenon. I was surprised, having just heard Tyne Daly a few nights ago, how much her singing reminded me of Kate's. Not the sound, but the ability to belt, sing sweetly, loud and soft with ease. This is a trait not often heard in today's pop singers. Today's group of pop singers needs a microphone tucked between their vocal cords even to be heard. They either mumble or scream. What ever happened to pop singing? Thank you Tyne Daly and Barbara Cook for holding up a great tradition!

The Helen Traubel recording was of her performance of "Frauenliebe und -Leben", the wonderful Schumann song cycle that encompasses a woman's emotional life from first sighting her beloved until his death in twenty glorious minutes. I have a fond memory of my dear Lorraine singing this work in Alice Tully Hall some years ago.

Helen, Kate, Barbara, Tyne, and Lorraine all have that incredible emotional energy that surpasses anything else. As my dear Olga would say, 'They became the song.' Would that all singers could do that!