Kitty Kallen (born Katherine Kalinsky; May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was … Read Full Bio ↴Kitty Kallen (born Katherine Kalinsky; May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American popular singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s—to include the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-WWII pop scene and the early years of rock 'n roll.
She is best known for her 1954 solo recording '"Little Things Mean a Lot" — a song that stayed at the U.S. number one spot for nine consecutive weeks, charted in the U.S. for almost seven months, hit #1 on the UK singles chart, and sold more than two million copies. AllMusic called the recording a "monster hit", music historian Jonny Whiteside said the song "ably characterizes Kallen’s impressive, and graceful, transition from classic big band swing to modern post-war pop".
Voted "most popular female singer" in 1954 in both Billboard and Variety polls, Kallen lost her voice at the Palladium in 1955 at the top of her career and left singing for four years, suffering paralyzed vocal cords. After testing her voice under a pseudonym in small town venues, she ultimately returned and went on to achieve 13 top-ten career hits.
Kallen performed at numerous prominent live venues including Manhattan's Copacabana, Morris Levy's Versailles, the Capitol Theater, the Maisonette Room at the St. Regis, the Cafe Rouge at the Hotel Pennsylvania and the Plaza Hotel's Persian Room. As well, she starred on Broadway in Finian's Rainbow; in the 1955 film The Second Greatest Sex and on numerous television shows including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Big Beat with singer-host Richard Hayes, American Bandstand, and Fred Allen's Judge for Yourself. In 1951, Kallen appeared with Buster Crabbe as the Queen and King of Winter at the Lake Placid resort.
During the height of her popularity, three imposters billed themselves as "Kitty Kallen". When one of them — Genevieve Agostinello — died in 1978, it was incorrectly reported that Kallen herself had died. On February 8, 1960, Kallen received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (located on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard at #7021), and in 2009 she was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
Some sources give Kallen's birth name as Katherine Kalinsky, but according to records cited by her son, the name was Katie Kallen. She was born May 25, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of seven children, to Russian Jewish immigrants Samuel and Rose Kalinsky (later Kallen). As a child, she won an amateur contest by imitating popular singers. When she returned home with her prize, a camera, her father did not believe her, and punished her for stealing the camera. Only when neighbors subsequently visited to congratulate her, did Kallen's father realize she had actually won it.
While performing with Jack Teagarden's band, she married Clint Garvin, the band's clarinet player. When Teagarden fired Garvin, Kallen left as well, later annulling the marriage. In 1948, Kallen married Bernard "Budd" Granoff, a publicist, agent, and television producer. He later became a pioneering television syndicator. The couple, married for over forty-five years until Granoff's death in 1996, had a son, Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute and Adjunct Professor of International Law at Widener University School of Law.
In 1977, Kallen sued her dermatologist, Norman Orentreich, after he prescribed an estrogen drug, Premarin, for her small facial wrinkles. She subsequently suffered blood clots in her lungs, caused directly by the drug, and won $300,000 by the court's decision.
In 2008, Kallen joined artists Patti Page, Tony Martin, Dick Hyman, Richard Hayman and the estates of Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, Woody Herman, Les Brown, the Mills Brothers, Jerry Murad, Frankie Laine, and the gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in a suit against the world's then largest music label, Universal Music Group, alleging the company had cheated them on royalties.
Kallen died on January 7, 2016 at her home in Cuernavaca, Mexico at the age of 94.
As a young girl Kallen sang on The Children's Hour, a radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart, an automat chain. As a pre-teen, Kallen had a radio program on Philadelphia's WCAU, and sang with the big bands of Jan Savitt in 1936, Artie Shaw in 1938, and Jack Teagarden in 1940.
Shortly before her 21st birthday, on May 5, 1942, she sang the vocals for "Moonlight Becomes You" with Bobby Sherwood and His Orchestra at the second every session for what was then still called Liberty Records but would soon be renamed Capitol Records. It was her only session for the label.
Just 21, she joined the Jimmy Dorsey band, replacing Helen O'Connell. In every theater of World War II, a favorite of American servicemen, "They're Either Too Young or Too Old". In 1944, Kallen performed the vocals for Dorsey's number-one hit "Besame Mucho". Most of her singing assignments were in duets with Bob Eberly, and when Eberly left to go into the service toward the end of 1943, she joined Harry James' band.
Between January and November 1945, Kitty Kallen had two songs recorded with the Harry James Orchestra in the top twenty, six in the top ten, and two at the #1 spot—"I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "It's Been a Long, Long Time", which remains deeply associated with the end of World War II and the returning troops.
With the 1954 hit "Little Things Mean a Lot", Kallen was voted most popular female singer in Billboard and Variety polls. She followed up this song with "Chapel in the Moonlight", another million selling record, and a version of "True Love" for Decca. In 1959, she recorded "If I Give My Heart to You" for Columbia Records, and in 1963, she recorded a top-selling version of "My Coloring Book" for RCA. Her final album was Quiet Nights, a bossa nova–flavored release for 20th Century Fox Records. Subsequently, Kallen retired due to a lung ailment.
A compilation of her hits on various labels remains available on the Sony CD set The Kitty Kallen Story.
She is best known for her 1954 solo recording '"Little Things Mean a Lot" — a song that stayed at the U.S. number one spot for nine consecutive weeks, charted in the U.S. for almost seven months, hit #1 on the UK singles chart, and sold more than two million copies. AllMusic called the recording a "monster hit", music historian Jonny Whiteside said the song "ably characterizes Kallen’s impressive, and graceful, transition from classic big band swing to modern post-war pop".
Voted "most popular female singer" in 1954 in both Billboard and Variety polls, Kallen lost her voice at the Palladium in 1955 at the top of her career and left singing for four years, suffering paralyzed vocal cords. After testing her voice under a pseudonym in small town venues, she ultimately returned and went on to achieve 13 top-ten career hits.
Kallen performed at numerous prominent live venues including Manhattan's Copacabana, Morris Levy's Versailles, the Capitol Theater, the Maisonette Room at the St. Regis, the Cafe Rouge at the Hotel Pennsylvania and the Plaza Hotel's Persian Room. As well, she starred on Broadway in Finian's Rainbow; in the 1955 film The Second Greatest Sex and on numerous television shows including The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, The Big Beat with singer-host Richard Hayes, American Bandstand, and Fred Allen's Judge for Yourself. In 1951, Kallen appeared with Buster Crabbe as the Queen and King of Winter at the Lake Placid resort.
During the height of her popularity, three imposters billed themselves as "Kitty Kallen". When one of them — Genevieve Agostinello — died in 1978, it was incorrectly reported that Kallen herself had died. On February 8, 1960, Kallen received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (located on the north side of Hollywood Boulevard at #7021), and in 2009 she was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.
Some sources give Kallen's birth name as Katherine Kalinsky, but according to records cited by her son, the name was Katie Kallen. She was born May 25, 1921, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, one of seven children, to Russian Jewish immigrants Samuel and Rose Kalinsky (later Kallen). As a child, she won an amateur contest by imitating popular singers. When she returned home with her prize, a camera, her father did not believe her, and punished her for stealing the camera. Only when neighbors subsequently visited to congratulate her, did Kallen's father realize she had actually won it.
While performing with Jack Teagarden's band, she married Clint Garvin, the band's clarinet player. When Teagarden fired Garvin, Kallen left as well, later annulling the marriage. In 1948, Kallen married Bernard "Budd" Granoff, a publicist, agent, and television producer. He later became a pioneering television syndicator. The couple, married for over forty-five years until Granoff's death in 1996, had a son, Jonathan Granoff, President of the Global Security Institute and Adjunct Professor of International Law at Widener University School of Law.
In 1977, Kallen sued her dermatologist, Norman Orentreich, after he prescribed an estrogen drug, Premarin, for her small facial wrinkles. She subsequently suffered blood clots in her lungs, caused directly by the drug, and won $300,000 by the court's decision.
In 2008, Kallen joined artists Patti Page, Tony Martin, Dick Hyman, Richard Hayman and the estates of Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Sarah Vaughan, Woody Herman, Les Brown, the Mills Brothers, Jerry Murad, Frankie Laine, and the gospel singer Sister Rosetta Tharpe in a suit against the world's then largest music label, Universal Music Group, alleging the company had cheated them on royalties.
Kallen died on January 7, 2016 at her home in Cuernavaca, Mexico at the age of 94.
As a young girl Kallen sang on The Children's Hour, a radio program sponsored by Horn & Hardart, an automat chain. As a pre-teen, Kallen had a radio program on Philadelphia's WCAU, and sang with the big bands of Jan Savitt in 1936, Artie Shaw in 1938, and Jack Teagarden in 1940.
Shortly before her 21st birthday, on May 5, 1942, she sang the vocals for "Moonlight Becomes You" with Bobby Sherwood and His Orchestra at the second every session for what was then still called Liberty Records but would soon be renamed Capitol Records. It was her only session for the label.
Just 21, she joined the Jimmy Dorsey band, replacing Helen O'Connell. In every theater of World War II, a favorite of American servicemen, "They're Either Too Young or Too Old". In 1944, Kallen performed the vocals for Dorsey's number-one hit "Besame Mucho". Most of her singing assignments were in duets with Bob Eberly, and when Eberly left to go into the service toward the end of 1943, she joined Harry James' band.
Between January and November 1945, Kitty Kallen had two songs recorded with the Harry James Orchestra in the top twenty, six in the top ten, and two at the #1 spot—"I'm Beginning to See the Light" and "It's Been a Long, Long Time", which remains deeply associated with the end of World War II and the returning troops.
With the 1954 hit "Little Things Mean a Lot", Kallen was voted most popular female singer in Billboard and Variety polls. She followed up this song with "Chapel in the Moonlight", another million selling record, and a version of "True Love" for Decca. In 1959, she recorded "If I Give My Heart to You" for Columbia Records, and in 1963, she recorded a top-selling version of "My Coloring Book" for RCA. Her final album was Quiet Nights, a bossa nova–flavored release for 20th Century Fox Records. Subsequently, Kallen retired due to a lung ailment.
A compilation of her hits on various labels remains available on the Sony CD set The Kitty Kallen Story.
It Could Happen to You
Kitty Kallen Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'It Could Happen to You' by these artists:
Andy Williams Hide your heart from sight Lock your dreams at night It coul…
Anita O Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Anna-Lotta Larsson I hear what you saying Your lips move like they're praying I…
Art Garfunkel Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Artie Shaw and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
B Real & Dr. Dre Finally figured it out, traced the source of my pain You're…
B. P. Convention Coulda be you in the back of the law, coulda…
Baker Chet-v Yeah Shawty lookin good you could see it And she eat it…
BARNEY KESSEL/SHELLY MANNE/RAY BROWN Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
BENNY BENACK III Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Bill Evans Trio & Monica Zetterlund Hide your heart from sight Lock your dreams at night It coul…
Bing Crosby Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Bing Crosby feat. John Scott Trotter Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Bing Crosby feat. o/John Scott Trotter Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Blue Rodeo They broke off the locks and they opened the doors Fixed…
Boyd Raeburn & His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Chet Baker Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Christy June Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
clayton hamilton jazz orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra; Diana Krall Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Clifford Brown Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
CORNER STORE KINGDOM Shake off my skin and bones Stretch out the silhouette Flash…
Dakota Staton Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Diana Krall Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Diana Krall (w Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra) Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Diana Krall feat. The Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Diana Krall The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Diana Krall/Diana Krall/The Clayton Hamilton Jazz Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Dick Haymes Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Dinah Washington Hide your heart from sight Lock your dreams at night It coul…
DJ Muggs Intro/chorus: 4 pound, hit you up with rounds Leave a man d…
DJ Muggs feat. Mobb Deep [Intro/Chorus:] 4 pound, hit you up with rounds Leave a ma…
Doris Day Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Doris Day / Les Brown Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Dr. Dre & B Real Finally figured it out, traced the source of my pain Your…
Eddie Money On an afternoon near the end of June. We first met…
Egilsson-Brown-Jolly-Smith I am the wheel With an ease of turning I continue…
Eric Winstone & His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Eydie Gormé Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Frank Comstock and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Frank Sinatra Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Frank Sinatra Nelson Riddle and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Gleason Jackie Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Gloria Lynne Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Helen Forrest & Dick Haymes Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
J. J. Johnson Sextet Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
J. Van Heusen Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
J.D. Walter Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
j.j. johnson & kai winding Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
J.J.ジョンソン Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Jackie Gleason Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Jackie Gleason and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Jackie Gleason Bobby Hackett Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Jimmie Grier And His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Jimmy Van Heusen Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Jimmy Van Heusen & Johnny Burke Hide your heart from sight Lock your dreams at night It coul…
Jo Stafford Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Jo Stafford & Paul Weston and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Jo Stafford / Paul Weston & His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Jo Stafford with Paul Weston and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Joe Coughlin Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Joe Nester I used to be the guy everybody passed by Laughin' to…
Joe Reichman & His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Johnny Mathis Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Johnson J. J Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Jordan Randall I ran the race and I fell behind and I'm chasing my…
Julie London Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Laufey Hide your heart from sight Lock your dreams at night It coul…
Lawrence Welk and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Les Brown and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Lorez Alexandria Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Mafalda Minnozzi Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Mel Lewis&The Jazz Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Mobb Deep [Intro/Chorus:] 4 pound, hit you up with rounds Leave a man …
Monica Zetterlund Hide your heart from sight Lock your dreams at night It coul…
Nat King Cole Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
O'Day Anita Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Oscar Peterson and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Peggy Lee Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Percy Faith & His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Perry Como Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night,…
Peter Martin Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Ramsey Lewis I let a song go out of my heart It was…
Rat Pack Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Raymond Scott And His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Rick Grimes and The Walkers I can see you standing there outside Where you going girl?…
Robert Palmer Guard your dreams at night Lock your heart up tight It could…
Rosemary Clooney Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Ruth Brown Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Sarah Vaughan Do you believe in enchants and spells? In mystic words,…
Scott Hamilton Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Scott Hamilton and Danny Moss Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Shirley Horn Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Sinatra Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Stan Kenton & His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Susie Arioli ""Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
Telex Walking in the streets I see these new things all around Fal…
The "J.F.K" Quintet Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
The Andrews Sisters With Vic Schoen and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
The J.J. Johnson Quintet Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
The J.J. Johnson Sextet Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
The Nat King Cole Trio Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It …
The Platters Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
The Rat Pack Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night It…
Tony Bennett It only happens when I dance with you That trip to…
Tony Bennett with Frank DeVol and His Orchestra Hide your heart from sight, Lock your dreams at night, It co…
Zetterlund Monica Hide your heart from sight Lock your dreams at night It coul…
We have lyrics for these tracks by Kitty Kallen:
Aba Daba Honeymoon "Aba, daba, daba, daba, daba, daba, dab" Said the Chimpie to…
Are You Looking for a Sweetheart Are you looking for a sweetheart For the chance to Give…
Because You re Mine Because you're mine the brightest star I see looks down My…
Bésame Mucho Bésame, bésame mucho Each time I cling to your kiss, I…
But Beautiful Love is funny or it's sad, Or it's quiet or…
East Of The Sun East of the sun and west of the moon We'll build…
Go On With The Wedding With Georgie Shaw [Chorus:] Go on with the wedding Don't bo…
Honestly I Love You Darling I adore you! Honestly I love you, I love you with…
How Are Things in Glocca Mora I hear a bird, Londonderry bird, It well may be he's…
I Don't Care Who Knows It I don′t care who knows it, I'm in love with you! I…
I Ll Buy That Dream Imagine me with my head on your shoulder And you with…
I m Beginning To See The Light I never cared much for moonlit skies I never wink back…
I Wish I Knew I wish I knew someone like you could love me I…
I''ll Buy That Dream Imagine me with my head on your shoulder And you with…
I'm Beginning To See The Light I never cared much for moonlit skies I never wink back…
If I Give My Heart To You If I give my heart to you, will you handle…
In the Chapel In the Moonlight How I'd love to hear the organ In the chapel in…
It s Been A Long Long Time Kiss me once, then kiss me twice Then kiss me once…
It's Been a Long Long Time Never thought that you would be Standing here so close…
It's Been a Long, Long Time Kiss me once, then kiss me twice Then kiss me once…
It's Been So Long 'Cause it's been so long Since I held you tight When we…
it’s been a long long time Kiss me once, then kiss me twice Then kiss me once…
It’s Been A Long Long Time Never thought that you would be standing here so close…
Little Thigns Mean A Lot Blow me a kiss from across the room Say I look…
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Monday, Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunda…
Moonlight Becomes You Moonlight becomes you, it goes with your hair You certainly …
My Coloring Book For those who fancy coloring book As certain people do He's …
Never in a Million Years This is the only life for me - yeah Surround myself…
Raining In My Heart You are always in my heart Even though you′re far away I…
Star Eyes Star Eyes, That to me is what your eyes are, Soft…
Sweet Kentucky Rose Sweet Kentucky Rose You're always in his heart He dreams abo…
That Old Feeling [Verse]: Last night I started out happy, Last night my heart…
The Aba Daba Honeymoon "Aba, daba, daba, daba, daba, daba, dab" Said the Chimpie to…
They're Either Too Young Or To Old You marched away and left this town As empty as can…
They're Either Too Young or Too Old You marched away and left this town As empty as can…
They're Either Too Young Or Too Old {with Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra} You marched away and left this town As empty as can…
When Did You Leave Heaven I used to dream about angels But then I never…
When They Ask About You When I go for a walk And meet old friends…
When They Ask About You When I go for a walk And meet old friends…
Where or When It seems we stood and talked like this before We looked…
Wishing Wishing will make it so Just keep on wishing and care…
You Are My Sunshine You are my sunshine, my only sunshine You make me happy…
You You Darlin' Because you're mine the brightest star I see looks down My…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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Trombonology Erstwhile
Beautiful vocal and arrangement. It's always great to hear the band doing a number they didn't record commercially. I think the James orch. was at its peak during Kitty's stay.
ETPS
Kitty was so pretty. :D