Betty Jane Bonney on Victor

Reader Max recently asked me if I had a copy of Betty Jane Bonney's "How Little We Know" (the Hoagy Carmichael-Johnny Mercer tune, not the later Carolyn Leigh-Phil Springer effort). I did not, but after Max located a raw transfer on Internet Archive, I became interested in the singer, and decided to present all six of her 1945 Victor recordings.

These sides were made when Bonney was about 20 years old, but by then she had already cycled through the bands of Les Brown, Jan Savitt, Jerry Wald, Frankie Carle and Charlie Spivak.

Victor was pleased with their new signer, giving her a hefty promotional push with ads in and a cover of Billboard and cooperative ads with local record shops. She received so much attention that Victor's biggest female star, Dinah Shore, reputedly became annoyed. That could be why Bonney's Victor career was notably short lived - at most two sessions.

After her Victor contract expired, Bonney made an elusive record for the Gem label and later, Rainbow Records. She also appeared in the stage musical High Button Shoes.

Then in 1950, she made a new start by changing her professional name to Judy Johnson. She joined Sammy Kaye's band, and made a few Columbia records with the swinging-and-swaying one. M-G-M brought her in for several numbers, mostly duets with Bill Hayes, and she even may have made a brief return to RCA Victor, although it's not clear to me that is the same singer. She was often seen on American television in years to come.

While Bonney didn't fulfill her early promise, these records are very well done. The backings, mostly by the young Russ Case, are smooth. While these are not my transfers, I did remaster all of them, and the sound is good. I may present some of her Les Brown, Sammy Kaye and Judy Johnson-Bill Hayes material at a later date.

June 23, 1945 Billboard ad