Yes, considering that there is not a mention of another singer’s name and as you pointed out the “shortness of her contribution” it must be one of the Ken Darby Singers. Unfortunately, I do not know (and I wasn’t able to find with a simple internet search) who was the female vocalist of the group at the recording in question. And because is a favorite of mine I am eager to find out and I hope that the expertise of some of our members will be able to illuminate me. I checked our monumental songography (Frans van der Kolff) but I didn’t find something.

I am glad you liked it, it is a very nice record.
 

This the sort of specialist question which fascinates me. I would imagine that due to the passage of time that all of Mr Darby's singers from this period will have since been gathered. I mention this only to emphasise how such information becomes generally harder to come by as all this moves away from living memory and passes into history. I'm wondering if anyone on here could think of any past editions of "Bing" magazine, which may have featured any articles on the group? 

Who was Ken Darby?
Lorne Harasen gives more background on the man who played a vital part in the recording of “White Christmas”.
It took Bing Crosby’s singing with the support of the Ken Darby Singers and orchestra of John Scott Trotter just 18 minutes to record “White Christmas” in May of 1942 with none of them realizing that it would become the best-selling record of all time. In fact, it would change Christmas music for all time. In the past, religious Christmas music and the occasional secular yuletide song would be heard but “White Christmas” with its emphasis on nostalgia and home opened the floodgate of secular composition. In one rating of songs of the century Bing’s “White Christmas” is number two. Judy Garland’s “Somewhere over the Rainbow” is number one.
What did Bing do after that 18 minutes of recording? He went to play golf. Ken Darby put to music in 1942 Clement C. Moore’s poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” and titled it “Twas the Night before Christmas”. Fred Waring’s Pennsylvanians recorded it first.
Darby, who provided choral support for Bing’s singing, was a man of formidable capability as a composer, author, vocal arranger, lyricist, singer and conductor. Born Kenneth Lorin Darby in Hebron Nebraska in 1909, he was educated at Christian College. His first involvement in entertainment was playing piano and organ for silent movies. He married Vera Matson in 1932 and they remained married to each other until Ken’s death in 1992.
In 1929, Ken Darby formed a vocal quartet known as the King’s Men that included Darby himself, Jon Dobson, Rad Robinson and Bud Linn. They made uncredited appearances in Bing’s films “Going Hollywood” and “We’re Not Dressing” in addition to a number of other films including a Hopalong Cassidy Paramount movie in 1939, “Renegade Trail”, starring William Boyd as “Hoppy” as well as Russell Hayden and George “Gabby” Hayes. In the movie, The King’s Men sang two songs with singing cowboy Eddie Dean. They were “Lazy Rolls the Rio Grande” and “Hi Thar Stranger!” The King’s Men were regulars on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio show from 1940 to 1953 and they made some appearances on the Fred Allen radio program. On December 9, 1940, they worked with Bing on four sides including “Did Your Mother Come from Ireland” and “De Camptown Races”.
Ken Darby began work at MGM in 1937. During his time in Hollywood, he was nominated for six Academy Awards for movie scores and won three, two of which he shared with Alfred Newman. He also won a Grammy for the soundtrack of “Porgy and Bess” which he shared with Andre Previn. His work in movies included some distinguished titles including “The King and I”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Camelot”, “Song of the South”, “South Pacific”, “Carousel”, “The Greatest Story Ever Told”, “Flower Drum Song” to name a few.
Apart from the recording of “White Christmas”, the Ken Darby Singers recorded more than thirty songs with Bing, including “The Ballad for Americans” and the groaner’s “Beloved Hymns” album.
Mr. Darby held some very strong opinions about music and he didn’t mind expressing them. He once observed, “Damn the singer who chews, swallows, garbles, howls or otherwise destroys words where words are written and needed. You can hum to a baby or a lover but the essential quality of the song whether by one voice or two thousand is to bring to the ears of the listener the composer/lyricist’s message. The human voice can be a powerful means of transferring the composer’s intent. Chorus and orchestra can be so wedded in film that the listener receives a new, often thrilling, emotional stimulus.”
On another occasion, Ken Darby noted that “Creative expression and visual comprehension are really the handmaidens of art. One cannot thrive without the other.”                                                                                                                                   
He did some work for the Walt Disney Studios and once when Disney criticized the score for the production of “The Legend of Johnny Appleseed” Darby reacted rather pointedly by saying, “That is just a cross section of one man’s opinion!”
Ken Darby went on to do many musical things including taking the melody of an American Civil War song “Aura Lee” and replacing the lyrics with his own which became the song “Love Me Tender” which was recorded by Elvis Presley who also starred in the movie of the same name. The song was published under the name of Vera Matson, Ken’s wife. Darby offered this assessment of Presley’s talent: “He adjusted the music and the lyrics to his own particular presentation. Elvis has the most terrific ear of anyone I have ever met. He does not read music but he does not need to.”
Darby did some recording with singers Burl Ives and Rudy Vallee and he did lots of television work during the 1950s and 60s
Darby was the vocal coach for Marilyn Monroe when she appeared in the movies “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” and “There’s No Business Like Show Business”. Ken wrote the words to “The River of No Return” a song in the movie of the same name starring Monroe and Robert Mitchum. He also wrote the book “The Brownstone House of Nero Wolfe”.  This was about Rex Stout’s fictional detective. Darby was in the final stages of writing “Hollywood Holyland: The filming and scoring of The Greatest Story Ever Told” at the time of his death in Sherman Oaks, California in 1992.
 
Lorne Harasen 

Very fascinating article, Lorne Harasen made a wonderful research there. Thanks Malcolm for uploading it!
Ken Darby was indeed a very important man and his high-quality team accompanied Bing in some of his finest recordings. He participated in the best-selling single of all times that’s a huge achievement on its own.

It seems that the information I seek is very rare indeed. it’s amazing how many things in his tremendous (and extremely well-documented) life and career they remain mysteries and as Ian pointed out the more year passes the fewest people remain with first-hand knowledge of the events. But luckily the professional devotion of some fellow-admirers of Crosbyana had made tones of information available to everybody. Unfortunately, at least until know it seems that the vocalist name in If You Please is not among them.
Perhaps someday someone will come up with something.

Last edited by Pantelis Kavouras (23/10/2024 4:54 pm)