Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Harry Babbitt was born November 2, 1913 in St. Louis, Missouri. He organized his own band after high school, directing the group in addition to singing and playing saxophone and drums.

With his baritone voice Babbitt joined the Kay Kyser band in 1936 and recorded several hits, his biggest was the cover of Vera Lynn’s The White Cliffs of Dover. He appeared as a regular on Kyser’s radio program, Kay Kyser’s Kollege of Musical Knowledge and in seven movies with Kyser between 1939 to 1944.

Serving in the U.S. Navy from 1944 to 1946, he returned to Kyser’s band, but eventually left for good in 1949. Harry hosted an early morning radio show, The Second Cup of Coffee Club on CBS, which ran 10 years in the 1940s and 1950s. He also co-starred with Mary Small on By Popular Demand in the mid-Forties.

He retired from show business in 1964 and made money in real estate, managed the Newport Tennis Club and headed public relations for a retirement community in Orange County, California.

After Kyser died he went on tour with a new band, using Kyser’s name and music. He retired from that in the mid-1990s. Vocalist Harry Babbitt, who found fame during the big band era, died at the age of 90 in Aliso Viejo, California on April 9, 2004.

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