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Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Tormé won two Grammy Awards and was nominated a total of 14 times.
Melvin Howard Tormé was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Jewish family. His father, William David Tormé, (born Wowe Torma, also spelled as Tarme or Tarmo), was an immigrant from Brest (now Belarus), and Sarah "Betty" Tormé (née Sopkin), was a New York City native. Named after the actor Melvyn Douglas, Tormé grew up in a home filled with music and entertainment. His father, whom he recalled as having the pure voice of a cantor, had been an amateur dancer in his youth. His aunt Faye Tormé had risen to local fame in Chicago, where, dubbed the "Wonder Frisco Dancer," she raised money by dancing at war bond rallies in 1917–8. Mel's only formal musical education came from his Uncle Al Tormé, who played the ukulele and the Albert system clarinet. His only sibling, Myrna, was born a few weeks before his fourth birthday.
Tormé grew up in a largely Black neighborhood and was heavily influenced by jazz. A child prodigy, he first performed professionally at age four with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy," a song he had learned on the radio, at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant. He was invited back and sang every Monday night for six months; he was paid $15 a night with a free dinner for his family.
By 1931, during the Great Depression, his father had lost his store and began work as a salesman, while his mother worked as a seamstress. The family moved to the South Side to live with his grandparents. His grandmother hired a black woman named Alberta to look after Mel and his sister during the day. On Friday and Saturday nights, Alberta played piano in a five-piece jazz band at the famed Savoy Ballroom. Tormé later recalled of Alberta, "She had it all, the syncopation, the jazz conception, the deep feeling in her singing, the deliciously dissonant chords she played. She exposed me to all of it, and I ingested her musicality by some process of osmosis."
To contribute to the family, he played drums in the drum-and-bugle corps at Shakespeare Elementary School. From 1933 to 1941, he acted in the radio programs The Romance of Helen Trent and Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. He wrote his first song at 13. Three years later his first published song, "Lament to Love", became a hit for bandleader Harry James.
He graduated from Hyde Park High School.
From 1942 to 1943, he was a member of a band led by Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers. He was the singer and drummer and also created some arrangements. In 1943, Tormé made his movie debut in Frank Sinatra's first film, the musical Higher and Higher. His appearance in the 1947 film musical Good News made him a teen idol.
In 1944, he formed the vocal quintet Mel Tormé and His Mel-Tones, modeled on Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers. The Mel-Tones, which included Les Baxter and Ginny O'Connor, had several hits fronting Artie Shaw's band and on their own, including Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?" The Mel-Tones were among the first jazz-influenced vocal groups, blazing a path later followed by The Hi-Lo's, The Four Freshmen, The Singers Unlimited, and The Manhattan Transfer.
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Mel Tormé
Melvin Howard Tormé (September 13, 1925 – June 5, 1999), nicknamed "The Velvet Fog", was an American musician, singer, composer, arranger, drummer, actor, and author. He composed the music for "The Christmas Song" ("Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire") and co-wrote the lyrics with Bob Wells. Tormé won two Grammy Awards and was nominated a total of 14 times.
Melvin Howard Tormé was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a Jewish family. His father, William David Tormé, (born Wowe Torma, also spelled as Tarme or Tarmo), was an immigrant from Brest (now Belarus), and Sarah "Betty" Tormé (née Sopkin), was a New York City native. Named after the actor Melvyn Douglas, Tormé grew up in a home filled with music and entertainment. His father, whom he recalled as having the pure voice of a cantor, had been an amateur dancer in his youth. His aunt Faye Tormé had risen to local fame in Chicago, where, dubbed the "Wonder Frisco Dancer," she raised money by dancing at war bond rallies in 1917–8. Mel's only formal musical education came from his Uncle Al Tormé, who played the ukulele and the Albert system clarinet. His only sibling, Myrna, was born a few weeks before his fourth birthday.
Tormé grew up in a largely Black neighborhood and was heavily influenced by jazz. A child prodigy, he first performed professionally at age four with the Coon-Sanders Orchestra, singing "You're Driving Me Crazy," a song he had learned on the radio, at Chicago's Blackhawk restaurant. He was invited back and sang every Monday night for six months; he was paid $15 a night with a free dinner for his family.
By 1931, during the Great Depression, his father had lost his store and began work as a salesman, while his mother worked as a seamstress. The family moved to the South Side to live with his grandparents. His grandmother hired a black woman named Alberta to look after Mel and his sister during the day. On Friday and Saturday nights, Alberta played piano in a five-piece jazz band at the famed Savoy Ballroom. Tormé later recalled of Alberta, "She had it all, the syncopation, the jazz conception, the deep feeling in her singing, the deliciously dissonant chords she played. She exposed me to all of it, and I ingested her musicality by some process of osmosis."
To contribute to the family, he played drums in the drum-and-bugle corps at Shakespeare Elementary School. From 1933 to 1941, he acted in the radio programs The Romance of Helen Trent and Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. He wrote his first song at 13. Three years later his first published song, "Lament to Love", became a hit for bandleader Harry James.
He graduated from Hyde Park High School.
From 1942 to 1943, he was a member of a band led by Chico Marx of the Marx Brothers. He was the singer and drummer and also created some arrangements. In 1943, Tormé made his movie debut in Frank Sinatra's first film, the musical Higher and Higher. His appearance in the 1947 film musical Good News made him a teen idol.
In 1944, he formed the vocal quintet Mel Tormé and His Mel-Tones, modeled on Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers. The Mel-Tones, which included Les Baxter and Ginny O'Connor, had several hits fronting Artie Shaw's band and on their own, including Cole Porter's "What Is This Thing Called Love?" The Mel-Tones were among the first jazz-influenced vocal groups, blazing a path later followed by The Hi-Lo's, The Four Freshmen, The Singers Unlimited, and The Manhattan Transfer.