She had rhythm, she had style and she was the leader of the first all-female swing band to be recorded and filmed during the 1930’s. World meet Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears!

1930s Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton

1930s Vintage PHoto of Ina ray hutton and her melodears -first all-female swing band to be recorded and filmed during the 1930's.

For further reading please check out all the posts I have done on the subject, “Women of the Big Band Era Everyone Should Know“. (Jan 2024 update)

The Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm-Ina Ray Hutton

First up a little bit of information on Ina’s early years:

* Hutton was actually born Odessa Cowan in 1916.

*She grew up with her half-sister June (also a successful singer) in a black neighbourhood on Chicago’s south side.

*Historians have theorized that she and her family were of mixed white and African-American ancestry. When Hutton was a child, United States Census records called her and her family “negro,” and “mulatto,” when the Bureau used that term.

*Her mother, Marvel Ray was a local pianist and entertainer in Chicago.

*Iva would go on to study dance with Hazel Thompson-Davis and received a rave revue in the Chicago Defender when she was only 7.

*In 1930, at age 14, she made her Broadway debut with Gus Edwards at the Palace Theater in New York. As Ina Ray, at age 16, she was a featured singer and dancer in George White’s “Melody;” at 17, she joined the Ziegfeld Follies (Source).

1930s vintage photo of female singer Ina Ray Hutton in a showgirl outfit. — Source: Alchetron

The Melodears…

In 1934 at the age of 18 she was approached by Irving Mills to lead an all-girl orchestra called the Melodears. At the same time she was also encouraged to change her last name to Hutton, to take advantage of the notorious reputation of the Woolworths heiress Barbara Hutton (Source).

1930s Vintage Photo of Orchestra Leader and creater Ina Ray Hutton in a 1930s evening gown.

THE BAND IS A HIT! and would go on to tour solidly for five years and became one of the first all-girl bands to be filmed for Paramount shorts. Those shorts were:

Feminine Rhythm (1935)
Accent on Girls (1936)
Swing, Hutton, Swing (1937)

The Glamorous Style of Ina Ray

The band and Ina’s style never made them wallflowers. The Melodears’ outfits ranged from boyish trousers to long, ultra-feminine, sequined outfits. Downbeat magazine reported that Hutton’s stage wardrobe included 400 gowns (Impressive!).

1930s Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton in a 1930s sequined evening gown.

Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton in a sequined evening gown.

The end of the Melodears but not the end of Hutton’s career….

1939 saw Ina disband the Melodears, due to being tired of being seen as a ‘Novelty Act’ and also being tired of “all the glamour”. She formed an all-male band in 1940 and dyed her hair brunette to really emphasis the “done with glamour” part (that will do it! Ha Ha). This new band would perform together till 1949 and would even appear in the 1944 movie ‘Ever Since Venus‘.

1940s Vintage Photo of All feamle swing band leader Ina Ray Hutton as a brunette.

The ‘Ina Ray Hutton TV Show’

From 1951 to 1956, Ina had her own TV show that saw the return of her All-Girl Orchestra (yay!) and the return to being blonde as well.

Here is Ina on her show with her singer sister (who had a good career herself), June Hutton (Link to video).

The Music of Ina Ray Hutton

Hutton’s last recorded performance came in the 1975 film ‘Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?’.

Throughout her career Ina did not cut very many records, but she did have a lot of radio play, which has allowed future generations to be able to enjoy her talent. Below is a sampling of her songs and a link to where you can buy her collection of music.

Ina Ray Hutton collection of music 1930s to 1940s

What’s the Good of Moonlight
Truckin’
Georgia’s Gorgeous Gal
Witch Doctor
How’s About Tomorrow Night
Tess’ Torch Song
PLUS MANY MANY MORE! Buy/listen to her collection HERE

Her Personal Life

She married and divorced Lou Parisotto, Randy Brooks and Michael Anter (seen below in their 1958 wedding photo).

Ina Ray Hutton marriage photo 1950s — Source: eBay

Her fourth husband, Jack Curtis, preceded her in death. Ina died in 1984 at the age of 67 from complications from diabetes.

Ina’s Legacy

While Ina’s story may not be as well-known to the world (I’m helping to fix that!), you cannot deny that she paved the way for a wave of female bands who took off in the 40s, as well as being a pioneer in fashion and television. She was a true talent and an amazing light in the world of music and was truly “The Blonde Bombshell of Rhythm”.

What did you think of Ina friends? Wasn’t she just remarkable? I will be adding her to my collection of swing music greats, that is for sure.

FURTHER READING:

Liz

Disclosure: Some of the links on my blog from eBay are Affiliate Links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

A few months ago, my mother sent an article over to me via email and said “I think you might like this for you blog”. I opened it up and it was a small article on a Canadian woman named Ruth Lowe (who I had never heard of). It was a very interesting read about her life, her famous song “I’ll Never Smile Again”. and how she played a BIG part in Frank Sinatra’s success. Indeed a perfect post to share with my readers and today friends…..is that day.

Meet the beautiful & talented Ruth Lowe.

Vintage 1940s Photo of singer Ruth Lowe-I will never smile again.

Vintage Image of Singer Ruth Lowe - I will never smile again.

And now please take a moment to acquaint yourself with her song “I’ll never smile again” (Link to video).

For further reading please check out all the posts I have done on the subject, “Women of the Big Band Era Everyone Should Know“. (Jan 2024 update)

Ruth Lowe-The Canadian Woman Behind “I’ll Never Smile Again”

Ruth’s Earlier Years:

Born in Toronto, August 12th, 1914 to US-Canadian parents.
They moved to California when she was very young and she lived there during her early teens.
The family returned to Toronto with only the piano after her fathers grocery business went sour during the depression. The same piano that Ruth and her sister Mickey had learned to play on.
After her father died, Ruth quit school at 16 and found a job in the ‘Song Shop’ where she demonstrated sheet music on the piano. This trade was called “Song Plugging” and if customers liked what Ruth played (plugged) they would take it home to learn.
During her evenings, Ruth played in a very intricate two piano act with her friend Sair Lee at various nightclubs.
One day while at the store, Lowe heard that the famous all-female Ina Ray Hutton Orchestra (The Melodears) needed a piano replacement for their 1935 appearance in Toronto. She got the job and so impressed Hutton that she ended up touring the United States with the orchestra for a few years after (Source).

Here is a clip from 1936 “Doin’ the Suzie Q”, that I believe should feature Ruth on the piano. Can we also take a moment to be in awe of Ina’s outfit…wow! (Video Link)

How the song “I’ll Never Smile Again” came to be:

While traveling with the Melodears in 1938 in Chicago, Ruth met Harold Cohen a music publicist and fell madly in love. They were married and lived happily until a year later Harold died tragically during surgery*. Ruth returned home to Toronto devastated and during this grief she penned “I’ll Never Smile Again”.

Lowe told the Toronto Daily Star in 1940 that the ballad “seemed to fill my head and guide my fingers as I picked it out on the piano (Source)”.

Here are the sad words Ruth Lowe wrote:

I’ll never smile again until I smile at you
I’ll never laugh again what good would it do
For tears would fill my eyes
My heart would realize that our romance is through
I’ll never love again I’m so in love with you
I’ll never thrill again
To somebody new within my heart
I know I will never start to smile again
Until I smile at you
Within my heart I know
I will never start to smile again
Until I smile at you.

Song Success and Frank Sinatra:

Life went on and Ruth found herself working as an accompanist at the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation), where she passed on the sheet music to the song to Toronto composer-conductor Percy Faith. Percy would later record the song for his CBC radio program ‘Music By Faith’. The Song made it’s official Debut!

It was not till a few months later though when the famous Big Band leader Tommy Dorsey was performing at the 1939 Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) that Lowe (who wanted to take her song to the next level) took matters into her own hands. Lowe waited — acetate recording in hand — by the musicians’ tent for her friend, a guitarist with the band, who arranged a meeting with the New York bandleader at the Royal York Hotel (Source).

One year later Dorsey who liked the song and thought it had some merit, decided to test out on a ‘Coming-Out’ number for Frank Sinatra, who had joined the orchestra as their new vocalist.

Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey 1940s vintage image

The recording, of “I’ll Never Smile Again,” was released on May 23rd, 1940 (as heard in the version I posted above).

Frank Sinatra Ruth Lowe and Tommy Dorsey - 1940s vintage photo — Frank Sinatra, Ruth Lowe and Tommy Dorsey. Source: National Post (& Tom Lowe Sandler)

The Song was a SUCCESS! It was No. 1 track on the very first Billboard sales chart in 1940 (seen below) and it propelled Sinatra into Super Stardom that would carry on for decades.

Lowe told her son (Tom Sandler) that the timing — it was the beginning of the Second World War — was key to her success. “It was a song that spoke to everyone in the country,” he says. “Their loves were going to war and most of them weren’t coming back” (Source).

First billboard Chart 1940 — Source: Billboard

After this success, Ruth was approached by Sinatra in 1942 to write a closing song for his radio program. The song she wrote was “Put Your Dreams Away”, which would go on to become Frank’s Signature Song (Video Link).

Life after Frank…

Ruth married Nat Sandler and happily settled into married life and kids in Toronto. She continued to write songs and play the piano, but her day’s of traveling with orchestras and pushing for her music to be produced were behind her.

In 1955 one of the most popular television shows at the time, “This is Your Life,” devoted a full segment to Ruth Lowe. She was loved that much by the public.

Ruth passed away on January 4th, 1981 at the age of 66. In 1982 her 1940’s “I’ll Never Smile Again” received an honorary Grammy and in 2003 she was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame

In the end Ruth’s greatest tragedy ended up bringing her career success and a place in history. The only thing left is for Ruth to have greater distinction in the Canadian music world. Her son Tom is pushing for her to receive a star on the Canadian Walk of Fame and to also be acknowledged by the Junos (The Canadian Grammy’s). I could not agree more and I do hope it happens sooner then later.

Thank you for the music Ruth.

UPDATE: NEW BOOK TO READ! Until I Smile At You by Peter Jennings. Peter was chosen by the family of Ruth to write this book, so this is going to be the best insight to Ruth out there. CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE.