Vocalist Marge Dodson recorded just three albums. Her first two for Columbia were straightforward songbook efforts: In the Still of the Night (1959) and New Voice in Town (1960). But the third, for Decca, was way more interesting and so 1960s!
A Lovely Way to Live (February 1968) was swinging, brash and groovy, from the psychedelic cover art to the arrangements by Dave Blume, who also conducted and composed a few of the songs. The album was produced by Dick Jacobs. [Photo above of Marge Dodson]
Dodson was born in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. Early on, she wanted to become a concert singer or a musical comedy star, and with those goals in mind studied music. Soon she was singing pop, encouraged by pianist Coleridge Perkinson, who would accompany her on her first album.
Dodson took first prize in a string of talent contests contests, won over musicians such as pianist Teddy Wilson and flutist Sam Most, and landed a two-album Columbia contract. After her second LP failed to chart, her contract wasn't renewed and she toured the Eastern half of the country throughout the 1960s and early '70s. She was a huge attraction in Boston, according to local papers, performing with the Dave Blume Trio. That's where my research trail went cold given the time had to research her background. More to come as readers check in.
Here's Marge Dodson's A Lovely Way to Live, without ad interruptions...
A Lovely Way to Live (February 1968) was swinging, brash and groovy, from the psychedelic cover art to the arrangements by Dave Blume, who also conducted and composed a few of the songs. The album was produced by Dick Jacobs. [Photo above of Marge Dodson]
Dodson was born in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y. Early on, she wanted to become a concert singer or a musical comedy star, and with those goals in mind studied music. Soon she was singing pop, encouraged by pianist Coleridge Perkinson, who would accompany her on her first album.
Dodson took first prize in a string of talent contests contests, won over musicians such as pianist Teddy Wilson and flutist Sam Most, and landed a two-album Columbia contract. After her second LP failed to chart, her contract wasn't renewed and she toured the Eastern half of the country throughout the 1960s and early '70s. She was a huge attraction in Boston, according to local papers, performing with the Dave Blume Trio. That's where my research trail went cold given the time had to research her background. More to come as readers check in.
Here's Marge Dodson's A Lovely Way to Live, without ad interruptions...
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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