Teddi King

Back to a great forgotten singer singing some great classic standards....

Teddi King (September 18, 1929 – November 18, 1977) was an American jazz and pop vocalist. Born Theodora King in Boston, Massachusetts on September 18, 1929, she won a singing competition hosted by Dinah Shore at Boston's Tributary Theatre, later beginning work in a touring revue involved with "cheering up the military in the lull between the Second World War and the Korean conflict." Improving her vocal and piano technique during this time, she first recorded with Nat Pierce in 1949, later recording with the Beryl Booker trio and with several other small groups from 1954–1955 (recordings which were available on three albums for Storyville). She then toured with George Shearing for two years beginning in the summer of 1952, and for a time was managed by the famed George Wein. King later began performing for a time in Las Vegas.

Ultimately signing with RCA, she recorded three albums for the label, beginning with 1956's Bidin' My Time. She also had some minor chart success with the singles "Mr. Wonderful" (which made the Top 20 in 1956), "Married I Can Always Get" and "Say It Isn't So" (both of which made the Hot 100 from 1957–1958). Her critically praised 1959 album All the Kings' Songs found her interpreting the signature songs of contemporary male singers like Frank Sinatra and Nat King Cole (the "kings" of the title). In the 1960s, she opened the Playboy Club, where she often performed.

AllMusic Review by Jason Ankeny

The basic concept behind All the King's Songs is simple -- recast signature hits by male vocalists including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Billy Eckstine as torch songs for Teddi King, ably supported here by arrangers Lew Douglas and Johnny Richards. To her immense credit, King makes the music here her own -- her rich contralto and serene phrasing reveal rich new meanings in familiar material like "Unforgettable" and "This Love of Mine," quickly evolving the project past novelty status to explore with sincerity and depth the transformation of the popular song as it passes from one gender to the other.

1. April Showers

2. A Cottage For Sale

3. That's For Me

4. Temptation

5. Unforgettable

6. Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now

1. Flamingo

2. June In January

3. You Brought a New Kind Of Love To Me

4. This Love Of Mine

5. When its Sleepy Time Down South

6. Let's face The Music And Dance

        4. Temptation