Betty Bradley

Vocalist Betty Bradley began her career in hotel and ballroom orchestras, but it was with Bob Chester’s swing band that she made her name. Bradley worked with Chester through most of the early 1940s until he disbanded in late 1944. She kept busy for the rest of the decade doing club and radio work as well as recording solo.

A Brooklyn native of Russian descent, Bradley started singing at age 12 and landed her first major vocal job at age 17 with Gray Gordon’s tic-toc orchestra in early 1939 while it was booked for an indefinite stay at the Edison Hotel in New York. The band appeared four times a week on NBC radio. She remained with Gordon until July, when the orchestra went into the Westchester Country Club in Harrison, New York. The club didn’t allow female vocalists, and Gordon, not able to pay her while she sat out of the band, let her go, but not before finding her work with Sonny James. While with Gordon, Bradley made quite the impression on one journalist, who wrote this gushing review in the Cumberland Evening Times on May 24, 1939:

Once in a great while a singer comes to the front with that “certain something” that sets her apart from her contemporaries. It may be a captivating way of delivery—or a clear ungarbed diction. It may be just an unusual or “freak” voice that stamps her as being a shade better than other singers. There is a catch, a lilt, a sob that comes out true and clear when she sings. This “certain something” is at once noticeable. It creeps into the hearts of her listeners definitely, unquestionably the second you hear it—and it stays, making Betty’s song portrayals something to listen to.

Bradley appeared on radio stations WOR and WMCA and spent time with Eddie Varzos before subbing for Shirley Gaye in Dick Stabile’s orchestra in February 1940. Bradley joined Johnny McGee in mid-1940, with whom she made her first recordings. She remained with McGee until November, when Chester picked her to replace the suddenly departed Dolores O’Neill in his orchestra. While Chester’s band was heavily influenced by Glenn Miller, he had gotten his start in the mid-1930s leading a hotel and ballroom orchestra, making Bradley a perfect choice. O’Neill’s vocal style had been jazzier, but Bradley proved a capable swing singer.

With Chester, Bradley found a long-term home. She remained with the band for four years, becoming an integral part of its sound and operation. Often called “La Bradley,” her voice proved popular with audiences, and during times when Chester was out sick she stepped up to front the band in his absence. Bradley proved so good at leading the orchestra that in mid-1942 she was asked by an unnamed Midwestern bandleader to take over for him when he went into the service. The Standard record label also borrowed Bradley that year as an experiment into the pop music field. She recorded one side for a disc, with fellow Chester vocalist Bill Darnell recording the other.

In August 1944, Bradley married Chester’s road manager, Phil Kahl. When Chester decided to disband in November of that year the couple settled down on the West Coast, where Bradley began a solo career. In mid-1945, former bandleader turned manager Ben Pollack signed Bradley as his client and recorded her on his newly-founded label, Jewel. Bradley soon found herself in the spotlight, with positive reviews of her recordings and her picture on the cover of Down Beat magazine’s December 1, 1945, issue.

After a successful run at the Bandbox club in Hollywood during the summer, where she was held indefinitely, she joined Rudy Vallee’s NBC radio program in the fall and toured with Vallee’s night club show. Bradley also earned her own twice-a-week ABC program. She was scheduled to record further sides for Jewel in 1946.

Bradley traveled to New York in late 1946, where she spent a year before returning to Hollywood. In summer 1948, she joined Milton Berle’s popular two-hour night club show, touring the country with him until the end of the year. She continued performing as a solo artist at least through mid-1949.

Bradley enjoyed painting with watercolors and loved satire.^[1]

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