It's a shame that her incredible talent as a singer is almost overlooked today. Many great jazz musicians of her day were huge fans of her jazz-tinged vocals. Thanks for sharing this aspect of her career!
Martha Raye was one of the prodigiously talented entertainers who, because of the diversity of her talents, never quite found her place. The other that comes to mind is Kaye Ballard-- a terrific singer who ended up as a comedienne and variety show act. Either of them could knock any of today's "entertainers" straight through the clouds.
The power of Martha’s voice was famous from the very start of career in the 1930s. She usually played it up for comic effect, including the size of her mouth - but she could belt out a straight number like this one too.
Martha Raye was a great entertainer - movies and stage. But her contribution to humanity went far beyond any other entertainer. Read the partial press release (Oct. 22, 1994) for her memorial service. Martha Raye's exemplary service to the Army - including trips to Vietnam to entertain the Green Berets - earned her a funeral herewith full military honors. The Special Forces soldiers called her ``Col. Maggie.'' She said the Green Berets were like her sons, and some even called her ``Mom.'' Today, she is expected to get her wish to be buried alongside them. Raye, who died Wednesday [Oct. 19, 1994] in Los Angeles at age 78, requested several years ago to be buried at Fort Bragg, the home of the Green Berets. The Special Forces Association asked military brass to grant her wish, and they did. ``How many entertainers in this world would go to a country called Vietnam, where a war was going on, for nine straight years, four months a year, and spend three of those months out with isolated Special Forces detachments in camps all over the country?'' said Jimmy Dean, executive secretary of the Special Forces Association in Fayetteville... "Normally, only active duty and retired Army personnel are buried on post. But the Department of Defense granted an exception for Raye, said Gene Sexton, a Fort Bragg spokesman... Raye...was a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve Nurse Corps. Raye had entertained troops during World War II and the Korean War as well, but she developed her close relationship with the Special Forces during the Vietnam War. Tom Squire, a retired Green Beret from Fayetteville, remembers seeing Raye perform in Vietnam just after she was wounded while visiting troops. ``She had a flesh wound and it was bandaged, but she stayed there with the Special Forces soldiers to entertain them,'' Squire said. ``Other entertainers went to the big air bases and Navy bases, but they wouldn't go up the rivers and out into the jungle, where she went...'' ``She would put on a camouflage uniform and get muddy and drink out of the bottle just like everybody else,'' said Squire, who became friends with Raye after meeting her in Vietnam. Raye's career suffered because of her support for the Special Forces and their efforts in Vietnam. She said in 1988 that she couldn't find a job for three years after she returned. ``But I'd do it again,'' she said. ``Being with the Green Berets was the best part of my life.''
It's a shame that her incredible talent as a singer is almost overlooked today. Many great jazz musicians of her day were huge fans of her jazz-tinged vocals. Thanks for sharing this aspect of her career!
Martha Raye was one of the prodigiously talented entertainers who, because of the diversity of her talents, never quite found her place. The other that comes to mind is Kaye Ballard-- a terrific singer who ended up as a comedienne and variety show act. Either of them could knock any of today's "entertainers" straight through the clouds.
She had a great singing voice.
Martha was a perfect gem!!!
The power of Martha’s voice was famous from the very start of career in the 1930s. She usually played it up for comic effect, including the size of her mouth - but she could belt out a straight number like this one too.
Wow!!! what a good voice! and what a nice surprise
Martha Raye was a great entertainer - movies and stage. But her contribution to humanity went far beyond any other entertainer. Read the partial press release (Oct. 22, 1994) for her memorial service.
Martha Raye's exemplary service to the Army - including trips to Vietnam to entertain the Green Berets - earned her a funeral herewith full military honors.
The Special Forces soldiers called her ``Col. Maggie.'' She said the Green Berets were like her sons, and some even called her ``Mom.'' Today, she is expected to get her wish to be buried alongside them.
Raye, who died Wednesday [Oct. 19, 1994] in Los Angeles at age 78, requested several years ago to be buried at Fort Bragg, the home of the Green Berets. The Special Forces Association asked military brass to grant her wish, and they did.
``How many entertainers in this world would go to a country called Vietnam, where a war was going on, for nine straight years, four months a year, and spend three of those months out with isolated Special Forces detachments in camps all over the country?'' said Jimmy Dean, executive secretary of the Special Forces Association in Fayetteville...
"Normally, only active duty and retired Army personnel are buried on post. But the Department of Defense granted an exception for Raye, said Gene Sexton, a Fort Bragg spokesman...
Raye...was a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve Nurse Corps.
Raye had entertained troops during World War II and the Korean War as well, but she developed her close relationship with the Special Forces during the Vietnam War.
Tom Squire, a retired Green Beret from Fayetteville, remembers seeing Raye perform in Vietnam just after she was wounded while visiting troops.
``She had a flesh wound and it was bandaged, but she stayed there with the Special Forces soldiers to entertain them,'' Squire said. ``Other entertainers went to the big air bases and Navy bases, but they wouldn't go up the rivers and out into the jungle, where she went...''
``She would put on a camouflage uniform and get muddy and drink out of the bottle just like everybody else,'' said Squire, who became friends with Raye after meeting her in Vietnam. Raye's career suffered because of her support for the Special Forces and their efforts in Vietnam. She said in 1988 that she couldn't find a job for three years after she returned.
``But I'd do it again,'' she said. ``Being with the Green Berets was the best part of my life.''
She's a hero in my book.
GREAT!!!
She's an amazing talent, but the song doesn't fit the intro.