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Marlene VerPlanck

Marlene Paula VerPlanck was an American jazz and pop vocalist whose body of work centered on big band jazz, the American songbook, and cabaret.

VerPlanck was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey Her father, Anthony J. Pampinella (1908–1993), operated a gasoline station there, and her mother, Pauline A. Biase (1913–2008), whose family ran an Italian restaurant. She married trombonist, composer, and arranger J. William "Billy" VerPlanck (1930–2009) in 1955, and he became her musical collaborator and champion. They were married for 52 years, until his death in 2009.

VerPlank graduated from Bloomfield High School, and considered a career in journalism. She began performing as a teenager at the age of 19, at a nightclub in Newark, the Well. Her debut album, I Think of You with Every Breath I Take, was released in 1955 when she was 21, and featured Hank Jones, Joe Wilder, Wendell Marshall, Kenny Clarke, and Herbie Mann (uncredited). VerPlanck then went to work as a vocalist for Charlie Spivak's band, and later sang with the Tommy Dorsey band and with Tex Beneke′s band.

VerPlanck was a prolific studio vocalist for commercial jingles during the 1960s and 1970s, and by the 1960s became known as the "New York jingle queen." She recorded thousands of jingles, often for low pay, although her fortunes changed when she sang an arrangement of the 1930s Campbell's Soup "M'm M'm Good" song, which became widely known. Other notable jingles she recorded included "Nationwide is on your side" for the Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and "Weekends were made for Michelob" for Anheuser-Busch′s Michelob beer. She later told the press that the latter was highly lucrative for her, because she put a "Yeah!" at the end of the jingle that was used over and over again in versions of the jingle recorded by Billy Eckstine, Vic Damone, and Brook Benton, earning her continued royalties. Her jingle work allowed her to hone the clarity of her diction when singing, and she became known for her ability to enunciate the lyrics of songs clearly even while investing them with emotion. Although she toiled largely in obscurity, her voice became widely known to millions of people during the 1960s and 1970s through the familiarity and popularity of her jingles.

VerPlanck also sang backup for Tony Bennett, Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, and Mel Torme, and she performed around the United States and internationally as a cabaret singer. Despite her long and successful career in jingles and as a studio backing vocalist, her second solo album, Marlene VerPlanck Loves Johnny Mercer, was not recorded until 1979, 24 years after her first album. Her solo career then began in earnest, and she released more than 20 albums, mostly on the Audiophile label, and toured extensively as a soloist. She specialized in the Great American Songbook, especially the works of Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, Cole Porter, and Richard Rodgers, and gained a reputation as one of the most accomplished interpreters of the genre.

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Getting Into Jazz

Marlene VerPlanck Loves Johnny Mercer

Read "Marlene VerPlanck Loves Johnny Mercer" reviewed by Mark Barnett


Getting Started If you're new to jazz, go to our Getting Into Jazz primer for some hints on how to listen. Capsule An outstanding sampler of Mercer's lyrics, served up by a first-class singer who deserved to be better known. Background How many song lyrics did this man write? Are you ready? 1,200, according to the Johnny Mercer Foundation. They weren't all hits, of course, but each of the 54 Mercer songs listed in Wikipedia is ...

Album Review

Marlene VerPlanck: The Mood I'm In

Read "The Mood I'm In" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Chi si ricorda di Marlene VerPlanck? La storia del jazz è una miniera di artisti dimenticati o sottovalutati che hanno brillato una sola, breve, stagione o sono rimasti a lungo in ombra. Marlene è una di questi e l'ascolto di The Mood I'm In (inciso a 82 anni, ultimo di una serie d'incisioni pubblicate in tarda età) rinnova il rimpianto per una carriera che non s'è sviluppata come poteva e non ha avuto i riconoscimenti che meritava. A dispetto ...

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Album Review

Marlene VerPlanck: The Mood I’m In

Read "The Mood I’m In" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Marlene VerPlanck has been recording since 1955. In round numbers, that is 60 years. She is a natural singer in the same way that Frank Sinatra, Roseanna Vitro, and Lyn Stanley are natural singers... they open their respective mouths and music just comes out. And, at the far end of this career, VerPlanck sounds very good. Age has not diminished her singing as it has in many of her peers singing at the bright age of 82. So, immediately, hats ...

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Album Review

Marlene VerPlanck: Once There Was A Moon

Read "Once There Was A Moon" reviewed by Andrew Velez


Marlene VerPlanck is a singing canary of the old- fashioned sort--one who consistently picks great songs and then sings them in a brightly chirping soprano so that every single lyric is quite intelligible. The songs come out radiating an aura of a singer in love with what she's doing. Maybe that all ought to be commonplace in music, but it isn't. On Once There Was A Moon she continues to demonstrate what a reliable custodian she is of the American ...

135
Album Review

Marlene VerPlanck: "NOW!"

Read ""NOW!"" reviewed by Jim Santella


With a stellar piano trio and special guests on hand, vocalist Marlene VerPlanck shapes her 19th solo album around classic romance songs and pleasant pieces that remain somewhat underused.

“Pretty Blue," by Norman Simmons and Joe Williams, paints a lovely picture of the happy feeling that we get when music fills the room and folks nestle in for an evening of comforting thoughts. “NOW!," by J. Billy VerPlanck and Leon Nock, sizzles slowly with heartfelt passion, creating an ...

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Album Review

Marlene VerPlanck: My Impetuous Heart

Read "My Impetuous Heart" reviewed by Jim Santella


A heralded interpreter of the classic American Popular Songbook, Marlene VerPlanck makes each story come alive right before your ears. Arranger Billy VerPlanck, the singer’s husband and musical partner for over forty years, creates scenarios for each song that makes them unique. Changes in tempo and mood that correspond with changes in the lyrics make each arrangement quite apart from ordinary presentations. VerPlanck began her singing career with the big bands of Charlie Spivak, Tex Beneke, and the Dorsey Brothers. ...

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Obituary

Marlene VerPlanck Is Gone

Marlene VerPlanck Is Gone

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

From New York comes news that the singer Marlene VerPlanck died today at 84. She reportedly had pancreatic cancer but managed to keep the illness a secret from nearly everyone. Beginning in the 1960s Ms. VerPlanck worked closely with her husband Billy as a studio musician, singing in commercial jingles. In the 1970s she began singing in jazz clubs and at festivals and appeared at Carnegie Hall. Billy VerPlanck died in 2009. By then his wife’s career as a jazz ...

Obituary

Marlene VerPlanck (1933-2018)

Marlene VerPlanck (1933-2018)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Marlene VerPlanck, a polished jazz vocalist who began her recording career in 1955, had a strong second career in the 1960s and '70s as a prolific jingle singer, sang backup on Frank Sinatra's Trilogy album and had a third career recently as she toured and performed to critical praise, died January 14. She was 84. Despite being diagnosed in November with pancreatic cancer, Marlene continued to sing in New York and New Jersey and planned to perform in February, according ...

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Recording

Marlene VerPlanck: 'I'm in Love'

Marlene VerPlanck: 'I'm in Love'

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Vocalist Marlene VerPlanck came up in the business in the late '50s when pop and jazz lived together. She began singing in 1952 and recorded her first album for Savoy in '55 with pianist Hank Jones, bassist Eddie Jones and drummer Kenny Clarke. A year later came a tour with Charlie Spivak's Orchestra, where she met her future husband, arranger Billy VerPlanck. By the early '60s, as Teen Pan Alley and pop-rock pulled the rug out from under traditional pop ...

Interview

Interview: Marlene VerPlanck

Interview: Marlene VerPlanck

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Singer Marelen VerPlanck has a new album—Ballads, Mostly. It's a delicious collection of moody songs with an upbeat feel. Seven of the 15 track were arranged by Marlene's late husband, Billy VerPlanck, who died in 2009. Though Marlene spent three decades starting in the '60s recording demos and jingles, she began her professional career in the bands of Charlie Spivak and Tommy Dorsey, and recorded many terrific jazz albums over the years. Marlene also continues to perfom. On Saturday at ...

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Performance / Tour

Marlene Verplanck Celebrates Her 20th CD at a Free Concert at Manhasset Public Library

Marlene Verplanck Celebrates Her 20th CD at a Free Concert at Manhasset Public Library

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations

Vocalist Marlene VerPlanck celebrates her 20th CD, Once There Was a Moon, at a free concert at Manhasset Public Library, 30 Onderdonk Road, on Sunday, February 22, from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. and at The Baha'i Center, The John Birks Gillespie Auditorium, 53 West 11th Street, on Tuesday, February 24, at 8:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Joining Ms. VerPlanck at The Baha'i Center will be Tedd Firth, piano; Steve LaSpina, bass; and Ron Vincent, drums.

Throughout her career, Marlene VerPlanck ...

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Performance / Tour

Vocalist Marlene VerPlanck Celebrates 20th CD with U.S. & European Tours

Vocalist Marlene VerPlanck Celebrates 20th CD with U.S. & European Tours

Source: Carolyn McClair Public Relations

Vocalist Marlene VerPlanck Celebrates Her 20th CD, “Once There Was A Moon," In New York And Florida “Something old, something new, everything fantastic..." --Paul Coladarci, KUNV Jazz Radio, Las Vegas, NV NEW YORK - Vocalist Marlene VerPlanck celebrates her 20th CD, Once There Was a Moon, at concerts in New York and Florida throughout February. A master of the Great American Songbook, she will present music from her new CD as well as some of her favorite standards. Tour dates ...

"She may be the most accomplished interpreter of popular material performing today..." —The New York Times

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

The Mood I’m In

Audiophile Records
2016

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Once There Was A Moon

Audiophile Records
2009

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"NOW!"

Audiophile Records
2005

buy

My Impetuous Heart

DRG Records
2000

buy

Marlene VerPlanck...

Audiophile Records
1988

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