Bettie bradley biography definition

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.

Bettie bradley biography definition

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