Teresa Brewer has taught me a lesson; to never judge anything by its initial appearance! The first time I heard her sing, I didn’t like what I heard. I thought her voice sounded funny, with all kinds of squeeky yelps, a tinny sound and sobbing histrionics. I don’t remember what song it was, but it kind of turned me off, and I decided that I wasn’t going to be a big fan of hers….. This happened many years ago, and time and musical knowledge has changed my view on Teresa completely – so much so, that I now consider myself a big fan!
What I did discover was that Teresa has a very special kind of voice, and like all other really good singers, even she needs to be put in a musical setting that fits her voice and talent. At the beginning of her career, there was often a shortage of just that, and so she was many times recorded quite unfavourably. And some of the material she was handed, wasn’t really all that much either….
Luckily, Teresa managed to rise above the stuff she was forced to record at the start, and developed into one of the most versatile singers ever! She has recorded more than 600 songs, released albums of a lot of different musical styles and has proven that she indeed is one of the best and most versatile female vocalists in popular music.
Theresa Veronica Breuer was born on May 7, 1931 in Toledo, Ohio and died at the age of 76 in October 2007. As a child, Teresa had sung and danced on various shows and performed on both radio and TV. At the age of 18, in 1949 – she made her first record; backed by The Dixieland All-Stars, she released a single called “Copenhagen”. On the flip side of that record was the tune that forever will be linked to Teresa’s name: the incredibly catchy (and quite silly) “Music, music. music”. That song raced up the charts, and Teresa was immediately on her way to stardom. For the next 45 years, she would go on to have a very varied and extensive recording career, gracing a lot of different styles with her great voice. I will spotlight some of the fabulous albums she made, and hopefully also change the opinion that Teresa Brewer was a 50’s novelty singer who just sang cute and funny songs – she is so much more than just that!
A collection of all her recordings on the London label 1949-50
During 1949 and 1950, Teresa recorded for a label called London. They put her in the novelty bag straight away, and she got to record a lot of those “cute & funny” songs for that label. In addition to “Music, music, music” her hits while on London also included “Choo’n’gum”, “Molasses, molasses”, “I beeped when I shoulda bopped” and “The thing”. Teresa comes off as a young, “not yet fully developed” singer, and some of the backing isn’t right for her voice; at times she appears to be loud rather than powerful. But in 1951, she changed labels and signed with Coral records. From there on, she would start making a long line of really great music that came out on several of her most cherished albums.
Coral records provided a much more sympathetic backing for Teresa, and while she didn’t quite get away from novelty songs, she did get to record a lot of different material – and hits kept coming! During her first 5 years on the label, she notched up no less than 13 Top 20 hit singles, they include: “Longing for you”, “Gonna get along without you now”, “Til’ I waltz again with you”, “Richochet”, “Jilted”, “Let me go, lover”, “A tear fell” and “A sweet, old-fashioned girl”. In 1956 she got the New York Yankees center field player, Mickey Mantle to appear as a guest on her recorded homage to him, “I love Mickey”!
Coral released six great albums during 1956-1961, showing off to great effect the many sides of Teresa: “Teresa” (1957), “Time For Teresa” (1958), “Miss Music” (also 1958), and “Heavenly Lover” (1960). She was at her swingin’ best on 1960’s “Teresa Brewer & The Dixieland Band“, and showed off her tender, sensual side on 1959’s beautiful collection of ballads, called “When Your Lover Has Gone“….
After her two last hits on Coral, “Have you ever been lonely” (1960) and “Milord” (1961), Teresa at first signed with Phillips in 1962 and spent 5 years on that label, later moving on to record for Flying Dutchman Records and Red Baron Records. From the early 60’s and up to the 90’s, Teresa made many truly great albums, and this is the period that I consider the most exciting (and important) of her career. She had earlier been labeled “Miss Versatility”, but from this point on, she would more than prove just how fitting that tag was!
On her 1960 album “Ridin’ High“, Teresa gets to do big band swing – and does she ever swing! This album shows her natural talent for jazz, one which she continued to develop. For about 5 minutes in the early 60s, Hawaii Music was quite popular, and several singers hopped on the wagon to record exotic and tropical stuff that was supposed to be Hawaiian style. Despite all their talent in other fields, you can easily just skip the Hawaiian outings by such terrific singers as Joni James and Connie Francis. Teresa made her album “Aloha From Teresa” in 1961, and it is no worse than any other releases in this awful genre, but we can easily say that songs like “Lovely Hula Hands” and “Princess Poo-Poo Ly” (no, it’s not about what you might think!) certainly are no highlights to be looking back on…
A big band swing album from 1961
1963/64 gave us the albums “Terrific Teresa“, which is basically a pop record with a certain country flavour. She also made a covers album called “Golden Hits Of 1964” – which is just that. The first of these includes great stuff like “Like I Do” and “Am I That Easy To Forget”. The second sees Miss Tess putting her own special stamp on recent hits like “Where Did Our Love Go”, “Suspicion”, “My Boy Lollipop” and “The Girl From Ipanema”. Both albums are highly recommended, as they show off different aspects of Teresa to very good advantage.
Her 1965 album “Don’t Mess With Tess” is another album of swinging standards, like “You Came A Long Way From St. Louis” and “Down With Love”. Another album consisting of covers came out 1966 – called “Gold Country“. Teresa’s voice certainly is very well suited to country, and this album is stuffed with great versions of more or less well-known songs like “Evil On Your Mind”, “Make The World Go Away”, “Once A Day” and “The Tip Of My Fingers”.
Despite the glittering coctail dress and the tiara, this is just 100% pure country!
Another country-flavoured album appeared in 1967, but this time with a Tijuana touch as well…. Called “Texas Leather And Mexican Lace“, it shows Tess sinking her chops into stuff like “Mexican Joe”, “Spanish Flea” and “The Wayward Wind”. This musical hybrid was a late 1960s fad, and as such it is one of the best examples you can find.
Upon entering the 1970s, we get to a really exciting period in Teresa’s career. On single releases, she re-recorded her old 1950 hit “Music, Music Music” twice: First as a rock song, and in 1976 she did it as an extended disco song, and proved that she could easily have been a disco diva as well if she’d chosen to!
The 1971 album “Teresa In London With Oily Rags” is a true highlight! The opening track, “Come Running” is nothing but hard rock, and at the end it turns into an almost gospel feverish ending, with Teresa really wailing in a way you’d not thought possible! Other standouts on this album are “Heading Out East” and a stunning interpretation of Kris Kristofferson´s “The Pilgrim Chapter”. The album closes with the quite long “Tomorrow Is Today”, on which she starts out backed only by a tinkering piano, but during the five minutes the track lasts it turned into a Heavy rock ballad. Truly one of her absolutely best albums, not only for the stunning vocals but also because it truly reveals what a diverse and magnificent artist Teresa is.
London obviously turned Teresa into a rocker of the first rank. A GREAT album!
She followed this masterpiece with another stunning album, 1973’s “Singin’ A Doo-Dah Song“. By this time you wouldn’t know quite what to expect from Teresa, and she certainly gives a few surprises on this one too; “Cotton Fields” is done very fast, and she also yodels a bit. “Guantanamera” is done with mandolins and Spanish guitars, and sung in Spanish. She does a great version of Kenny Loggins’ “Vahevala” and “Danny’s Song” (made famous by Anne Murray). Add to this two tracks mostly connected with Bessie Smith: “Cake Walking Babies From Home” and “You’ve Been A Good Ol’ Wagon” – and you get quite a varied musical package!
This 1973 album is stuffed with musical surprises! Obviously there is no end to what she can do!
Next up was the 1975 album “Unliberated Woman” – which is in the country rock style. Stand out tracks from this one is “Some Songs” – very strange that this great little nugget didn´t get more airplay – and “Hang It Up & Let It Go” plus the slinky, funky “For The Heart”. The final track is the nice rocker “Deep Is My Love”. The whole album once again proves that Tess, musically, by this point in her career could do absolutely everything!
This honky tonkin´1975 collection of country rock is also highly recommended!
1977 saw the release of yet another album, titled “Teresa Brewer´s New Album“. This time around she goes for an adult contemporary approach, and the album is a great collection of MOR songs. The song “Tonight I Sleep Alone” has been much praised, and rightly so. Musically, this was the first instance in popular music where the lyrics deal with the woman turning the guy down, telling him “put your clothes back on and get out of my house“… Teresa shows a flair for acting out the lyrics like a story, and this song is thus one of her true masterpieces, and one of the best recordings she ever did. The opening track “Moonglow/Theme From Picnic” is a song dating back to the 50s, but Teresa does it in a pop-disco mode, and it works very well as such! After Judy Collins turned “Send In The Clowns” into hit of the year in 1975, it has been much recorded. Teresa offers her version here, and it is done in a gentle and intimate way – bringing out a lot of beautiful nuances in the song. There is also a funny, gospel styled song called “Gonna Telephone Jesus”, as well as a disco versions of “Hello Dolly” and “I´ve Got You Under My Skin”.
This 1977 albums contains disco, gospel and an all time adult contemporary ballad masterpiece
Teresa ended the 1970s by releasing an album made with Earl Hines, called “We Love You, Fats” (1979). And this collection is dedicated to the songs of Fats Waller. The two of them conjure up everything that is great about Fats Waller, and they seem to be enjoying each others company in the studio. Teresa jumps head on into classics like “The Joint Is Jumping”, “Keepin´Out Of Mischief Now” and “Honeysuckle Rose” and does marvellous versions of all of them!
You´re gonna love Fats too when you hear what Teresa and Earl do with his songs!
This album also in a way marked the starting point for the rest of Teresa´s career, as she continued releasing excellent jazz records all through the 80s & 90s. As a jazz singer, she is right up there with the best of them – and I bet Anita O´Day must have felt her as a strong competitor for the title of greatest white jazz singer ever!
During the approximately 50 years she made records, Teresa certainly did a little bit of everything – and obviously there was nothing that she couldn´t do vocally or musically.
Truly versatile, truly one of the greatest singers to ever live – truly and totally Teresa Brewer!
Singer & mum: Teresa in 1973 with her four daughters Megan, Susan, Kathleen and Michelle. Obviously, beauty runs in the family…
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