Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers

Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers were an American smooth harmony[1] popular music singing group of the mid-20th century consisting of Carroll (a female singer) and the Satisfiers (three male singers, Bob Lange, Ted Hansen and Art Lambert[2])[3]

The group in 1948

Helen Carroll was the stage name of Helen Kress (né Fulk) (May 23, 1914, Bloomington, Indiana – February 21, 2011, Rye, New Hampshire)[4] She began her singing career as a teenager on radio in Memphis, Tennessee. Carroll returned to Indiana and enrolled at the Indiana University for college, but left school in her senior year to pursue a career in broadcasting. She settled in New York with hopes of working on Broadway, but found little work[5] until she auditioned for a group called the Merry Macs.[6] With the Merry Macs, she appeared on Fred Allen's show and in the movie Love Thy Neighbor.[4][7] Carroll left the group when it relocated to California; she signed on with the Satisfiers only after the group promised to remain in New York. Carroll was married to guitarist Carl Kress; the couple had a son, Rick, who became a drummer, and went on to become a professor of harmony at Berklee College of Music.[6]

Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers were regulars on Perry Como's Chesterfield Supper Club[8] which ran from 1944 to 1949.[9] (One of Chesterfield's long-term advertising taglines was "They Satisfy",[10][11] and the Satisfiers were named on this basis.)[9] With or without Carroll, the Satisfiers also backed Como on some recordings.[12] Most of the group's recording on their own were made with trumpeter Russ Case's orchestra for instrumental accompaniment.

Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers' recording of "Old Buttermilk Sky" reached #7 on the Billboard top-selling retail records chart for November 23, 1946[13] (there was no unified Billboard Hot 100 chart yet, but the retail sales chart is sometimes (although not always) considered the nearest approximation). Billboard described the record as exhibiting "easy flowing melodies and rhythms" which "fall easy on the ears" making for a "bright and breezy" performance.[14] This recording also appeared on Billboard's chart of songs most played on jukeboxes.[15]

Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers performed the theme song for the Little Lulu theatrical animated short subjects. The song was written by Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise, and Sidney Lippman for the series, of which 26 episodes were produced by Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures between 1943 and 1948.

Helen Carroll with an ad-hoc group called the Swantones backed Frank Sinatra on one 1950 single, "Life is So Peculiar".[16][17]

Discography
Singles
  • "Connee Boswell" with the Satisfiers ("Who'll Lend Me A Rainbow" Decca 18689 and "When I Come Back Crying/You Can't Say I Didn't Try" Coral 60040) -1945
  • "Perry Como with the Satisfiers & Russ Case Orchestra ("Dig You Later" also titled "A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba") Victor 20-1750, October 1945
  • "(L'il Abner) Don't Marry That Girl!" / "The Boogie Woogie Barnyard" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor 20-1928, 1946)[18]
  • "Let's Sail to Dreamland" / "Ole Buttermilk Sky"[note 1] (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor 20-1952, 1946)[19]
  • "Who'd A Thunk It" / "(Why, Oh Why, Did I Ever Leave) Wyoming?" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor 20-2191, 1947)[20]
  • "Smoke Dreams"[note 2] / "Do You Love Me Just As Much As Ever?" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (RCA Victor 20-2300, 1947)[21][22]
  • "Love Is So Terrific (Ouch! Terrific Thing)" / "A Little Consideration" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (RCA Victor 20-2672, 1948)[23]
  • "Shauny O'Shea" / "Little Lulu" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor 20-2673, 1948)[24]
  • "Big Brass Band from Brazil" / "The Secretary Song (Bidibi Bot Bot)" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor, 1948)[25]
  • "Takin' Miss Mary to the Ball"[note 3] / "Walk A Little, Talk A Little" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (RCA Victor 20-2868, 1948)[26]
  • "Raggedy Ann"[note 4] / "Highway to Love" (Victor 20-2915, 1948)[27]
Compilations
Compilations (Helen Carroll with the Swantones)
  • "Life is So Peculiar"[note 5] (featuring Frank Sinatra) on Frank Sinatra Sings Songs From the Movies (2003, Sony Music Distribution #70081)[31]

References
  1. "Record Reviews". Billboard. 59 (23): 119. June 14, 1947. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  2. The Radio Annual. Radio Daily. 1948. p. 845. Retrieved January 9, 2017.
  3. Macfarlane, Malcolm; Crossland, Ken (2012). Perry Como: A Biography and Complete Career Record (Reprint ed.). McFarland. p. 46. ISBN 978-0786471669.
  4. "Helen Kress". Remick & Gendron Funeral Home-Crematory. 2011. Archived from the original on April 7, 2011. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  5. Helen Carroll at the Internet Broadway Database
  6. "Helen Carroll Quits Indiana University For Career In Radio". The Lincoln Star. April 19, 1948. p. 40. Retrieved December 31, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Helen Carroll at IMDb
  8. "Perry Como and Jo Stafford Invite You To America's Biggest Weekly Radio Audience". Life. 22 (2): 78. January 13, 1947. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  9. Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. p. 152. ISBN 978-0195076783. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  10. "Chesterfield Ads". Vintage Ads and Stuff. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  11. Jim Shaw. "A source of Satisfaction". Jim's Burnt Offerings. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  12. Macfarlane & Crossland 2012, Appendix A:Perry Como On Record.
  13. "Retail Record Sales". Billboard. 58 (47): 26. November 23, 1946. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  14. "Record Reviews and Possibilities". Billboard. 28 (41): 29. October 12, 1946. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  15. "Juke Box Record Plays". Billboard. 58 (50): 30. December 14, 1946. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  16. Hombach, Jean-Pierre (2012). Frank Sinatra. Hombach. p. 478. ISBN 978-1471631269. Retrieved January 2, 2015.
  17. Life is So Peculiar at AllMusic. Retrieved January 2014.
  18. "Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers (advertisement)". Billboard. 58 (29): 28. July 20, 1946. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  19. "Advance Information". Billboard. 58 (40): 30. October 5, 1946. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  20. "Advance Information". Billboard. 59 (10): 29. March 8, 1947. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  21. "Setting New Records (advertisement)". Billboard. 59 (21): 1. May 31, 1947. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  22. "Advance Information". Billboard. 59 (21): 34. May 31, 1947. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  23. "This Week's RCA Victor Release (advertisement)". Billboard. 60 (2): 19. January 10, 1948. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  24. "This Week's RCA Victor Release (advertisement)". Billboard: 49. January 24, 1948. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  25. "Record Reviews". Billboard. 60 (9): 34. February 28, 1948. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  26. "This Week's RCA Victor Release (advertisement)". Billboard. 60 (23): 21. June 5, 1948. Retrieved December 28, 2014.
  27. "Musical Events". The New Yorker. XXIV (29): 80. September 11, 1948.
  28. "The Very Best Of Beryl Davis (product description)". Amazon.com. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
  29. American record guide. 14–15. Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation. 1947. p. 358. Retrieved January 1, 2015.
  30. Adapting the Classics at AllMusic. Retrieved January 2015.
  31. Frank Sinatra Sings Songs From the Movies at AllMusic. Retrieved January 2015.

Notes
  1. From the film Canyon Passage
  2. Adapted from the Chesterfield Supper Club theme.
  3. From the film On an Island with You
  4. From the 1923 musical Stepping Stones
  5. From the movie Mr. Music
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