Introduction
Madeline Green, also spelled Madeline Greene, (May 30, 1921—May 30, 1976) was an American jazz singer.
Active from the early 1940s to the early 1950s, she worked with Earl Hines, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, and Erskine Hawkins.
Life and career
Madeline Green was born Madeline Samantha Green in Saint Matthews, South Carolina, on May 30, 1921. Three of her siblings were also musicians, though not famous.
Green grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, where she sang in local clubs, such as Caravan Club, Dunbar Club, and Cedar Gardens where she began her professional music career in 1937. In August of that year, she won an Elks beauty contest and performed at Cotton Club in downtown Cincinnati.
In the late 1930s, Green performed with James Jeter/Hayes Pillars Orchestra and Earl Hines's band. In 1939, she signed a two-year contract with Benny Goodman. Unfortunately, the audience of the 1930s was not ready to accept a Black singer, and coming under pressure, Goodman ended up terminating her contract. She did travel with Goodman's band but never got to perform. Before departing, Goodman helped her rejoin Hines' band.
Because of her association with Goodman, Green was booked into the Apollo Theater in New York, in September 1939. The show was headlined by Duke Ellington, with vocalist Ivie Anderson. The other acts were the Edwards Sisters, Bill Bailey, Jackie Mabley, Johnny Vigal, and Buster Cromwell.
Around that time, Green sang "Little Old Lady From Baltimore" (music and lyrics by Gene de Paul and Roy Jacobs) and "A Lover In Blue" for Jimmy Mundy and His Orchestra, backed by Ted Barnett (alto saxophone), Alfred Gibson (baritone saxophone), Jack Jarvis (bass), Jimmy Hamilton (clarinet), Rossiere "Shadow" Wilson (drums), Connie Wainwright (guitar), Bill Doggett (piano), Elmer "Skippy" Williams (tenor saxophone), Eddie "Jack Raggs" Johnson (trombone), and Bobby Moore (trumpet).
Back with Hines' Orchestra, Green recorded "Everything Depends on You" on Bluebird Records in December 1940 with Alvin Burroughs (drums); Charles "Truck" Parham (string bass); Hurley Ramey (guitar); George "Scoops" Carry, Leroy Harris, Franz Jackson, Budd Johnson, and Willie Randall (saxophone); Pee Wee Jackson, Rostelle Reese, and Leroy White (trumpet); and John Ewing and Edward Fant (trombone).
In 1941/42, she made a few more recordings with Hines—"Sally, Won't You Come Back", "The Boy With The Wistful Eyes", "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good", "I Never Dreamt (You'd Fall In Love With Me)", "She'll Always Remember", and "It Had To Be You" (composed by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn).
Green left Hines' band in 1943 and was replaced by Sarah Vaughan.
In November and December 1945, Green made three Armed Forces Radio Service Jubilee recordings with the Lionel Hampton orchestra—"I'm Gonna Love That Guy", "No Can Do", and "You Was Right, Baby".
In 1946, Green was in Hampton's vocal group, the Hamp-Tones along with fellow singers Wini Brown and Sammy Jennings.
Green left Hampton's group in 1947 and went solo. During this time, she performed at venues in New York, such as Jock's Place and boxer Henry Armstrong's nightclub Melody Room in Harlem. In March 1948, she performed at "Louis Jordan Night" at Memo Club in Los Angeles. Other musicians to honor Louis Jordan were Lena Horne, the Nicholas Brothers (Fayard Nicholas and Harold Nicholas), Billy Eckstine, Pearl Bailey, and Ella Fitzgerald. Later that year, she performed in Oakland, California.
In 1949, Green was one of the performers pictured in ads for Perma-Strate, a hair straightening product, alongside Nellie Lutcher, Louis Jordan, Hadda Brooks, Dizzy Gillespie, and Illinois Jacquet.
In mid-1949, Green became the vocalist with the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra and played the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C., and also went on a southern tour.
In 1950, Green recorded "Be Sure" (written by Wilhelmina Gray) and "I've Got A Right To Be Blue" (written by James Moody, Robert Range, and Sammy Lowe) with Rene Hall's band and The Magichords (Domino Records).
Video: Little Old Lady From Baltimore (1940)
Personal life
Green married saxophonist William "Willie" Randall, Jr. on October 1, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois. Randall and Green were in Hines' band in the early 1940s. They had a son, William "Randy" Randall.
Death
Green died in Cleveland, Ohio, on May 30, 1976, her 55th birthday.