America's
most popular entertainers long after her mid-'40s commercial
peak, Dinah Shore was the first major vocalist to break
away from the big-band format and begin a solo-billed
career. During the '40s, she recorded several of the decade's
biggest singles — "Buttons and Bows," "The
Gypsy," and "I'll Walk Alone" — all
of which spent more than a month at number one on the
Hit Parade. After launching a television variety series
in 1951, Shore appeared on one program or another, with
few gaps, into the 1980s.
Born
in rural Tennessee, Dinah Shore was performing on Nashville
radio while still a teenager. Her professional career
later took her to New York, where she sang with Xavier
Cugat. After failing auditions with Benny Goodman and
Tommy Dorsey however, she decided to simply become a solo
singer. Shore signed to Bluebird, and recorded several
hits during 1940-41, including "Yes, My Darling Daughter,"
"I Hear a Rhapsody" and "Jim." Her
first million-seller came in 1942 with the prototypical
blues crossover nugget, "Blues in the Night."
Later that year, she moved to Victor and hit big with
"You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" and her first
number one hit, 1944's "I'll Walk Alone." Shore
also began appearing in films, including 1944's Up in
Arms and 1946's Till the Clouds Roll By.
The
late '40s proved to be her most popular era for recording.
Between 1946 and 1949, she hit big with several songs,
including "The Gypsy," "I Love You for
Sentimental Reasons," "Anniversary Song,"
"I Wish I Didn't Love You So," "Buttons
and Bows" and "Dear Hearts and Gentle People."
Though her records didn't chart as high during the '50s,
Dinah Shore enjoyed even more exposure with her top-rated
variety show, The Dinah Shore Chevy Show. For many, Shore's
opening and closing every show with "See the USA
in your Chevrolet, America's the greatest land of all"
practically defined the '50s. Her Chevrolet sponsorship
lasted until 1963, but she returned in the '70s with a
new format, the daytime talk-show. During the 1980s, she
began performing once again, but returned to television
once more with a series that ran for two years. She died
of cancer in 1994.
