Teresa Brewer

Brewer was born in Toledo, Ohio, the eldest of five siblings.^[1] Her father Ludwig Breuer, a German immigrant, was a glass inspector for the Libbey Owens Company (now part of Pilkington Glass), and her mother Helen (nee Kasap) Breuer, a housewife, was of Polish ancestry. The family were practicing Catholics, and she was a member of the Roman Catholic Church most of her life.

Her singing career began almost as soon as she was able to walk and talk. When Brewer was 2, her mother entered her in The Uncle August Kiddie Show on Toledo's WSPD and she was a hit with audiences. At the age of 7, Brewer entered The Major Bowles Amateur Hour and was soon touring around the country with them. When she was 12, her mother pulled her from the road to finish school.

As she progressed through high school she was able to skip a grade. She would have graduated from grade 12 in 1948 at age 17, a year early. Around January 1948 she won a contest in Toledo that led her to the Stairway To The Stars contest show in New York. There she was a winner and the prize was a week's performance at the Latin Quarter club. It was there that she met her first husband, Bill Monahan. Accompanied by her aunt Mary, she decided to stay in New York and do more performing. Being the legal age of 16 she was able to leave school, which she had disliked, and she did not receive a graduation diploma.

An agent, Richie Lisella, heard her sing and took her career in hand, and soon she was signed to a contract with London Records. In 1949 she recorded the song "Copenhagen" (a jazz perennial) with the Dixieland All-Stars along with a number of other recordings. For the B side she recorded the song "Music! Music! Music!". Unexpectedly, it was not the A side but this B side which took off, selling over a million copies and becoming Teresa's signature song.^[2] Another novelty song, "Choo'n Gum", hit the top 20 in 1950, followed by "Molasses, Molasses". Like many singers, she preferred ballads as they offered more opportunity to show off her vocal abilities, but the only ballad she recorded to make the charts was "Longing for You" in 1951.

In 1951 Brewer switched labels, going to Coral Records. Since she never learned to read music, she had demos sent to her to learn the melodies of the songs she would record. She had a number of hits for Coral and rerecorded "Music! Music! Music!" with the new label (and would record it a third time for a Mercury label greatest hits collection in 1962). In 1952, she recorded "You'll Never Get Away" in a duet with Don Cornell, followed in 1953 by her best selling hit, "Till I Waltz Again with You". In the mid-1950s she did a number of covers of rhythm and blues songs like "Pledging My Love" and "Tweedle Dee". She covered some country songs including "Jilted", "I Gotta Go Get My Baby", and "Let Me Go, Lover!". In 1956 she co-wrote "I Love Mickey", about New York Yankees center fielder Mickey Mantle, who appeared on the record with Brewer. It was also reported that the two had developed a mutual attraction. Another 1956 hit was Brewer's syncopated rendition of "Mutual Admiration Society". In the same year her hit "A Sweet Old Fashioned Girl" demonstrated in one song her ballad and rock talents. In 1957 she recorded more covers: of the country song "Teardrops in My Heart" and the R&B songs "You Send Me"^[3] and "Empty Arms".

"Teresa Brewer Showcase" was the first LP she released; it was a collection of several of her early recordings with London Records but did not include her two hits "Music! Music! Music!" or "Choo 'n Gum." Most of the albums she released with Coral over the 1950s were typical LPs of the era, featuring more collections of songs and cover versions rather than thematic ideas – one exception was the Catholic-flavored Christmas album At Christmas Time (1957). The last charting hit she had was "Milord" in 1961. Brewer continued releasing albums throughout the 1960s, but the British Invasion in the mid-1960s quickly eliminated most interest in older singers and her record sales dwindled.

She appeared as Pat Edmonds in the 1953 film musical Those Redheads from Seattle. Paramount studio had done surveys in movie theaters asking people who their favorite singers were. She and Guy Mitchell won in their categories and were chosen for the film. In fact she won as America's favorite female singer at least three years. Her song from the film, "Baby Baby Baby", was successful as a single.^[4] She had natural brown hair, but had it dyed red for the role. She then kept it red for many years for her performances

Brewer re-emerged as a jazz vocalist on Bob Thiele's Amsterdam label in the 1970s and 1980s, recording a number of albums including tribute albums to Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller and Irving Berlin. She also recorded with such jazz greats as Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Earl Hines, Svend Asmussen, and Bobby Hackett. A landmark recording in her career was Softly I Swing (Red Baron Records, 1992), which was produced by Thiele and featured David Murray, Ron Carter, Kenny Barron, and Grady Tate. Memories of Louis, also recorded for Thiele's Red Baron Records, paired her with a different well-known trumpeter on each track, including Clark Terry, Nicholas Payton, Ruby Braff, Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Sweets Edison, Lew Soloff, Terence Blanchard, Yank Lawson, Red Rodney, and Dizzy Gillespie.^[5]

Her rendition of "Danny's Song" for the 1972 album Singin' a Doo Dah Song would return on subsequent compilations, including Her Greatest Hits (1975), Portrait (1986), and Sixteen Most Requested Songs (1991).^[6] Brewer sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the 1968 MLB All Star Game.

One of her later singles, "Another Useless Day", was written by Chas Hodges (later one half of "rockney" British duo Chas & Dave) with Albert Lee featuring on guitar. Hodges's band Oily Rags (also signed up by Bob Thiele) provided backing for Brewer's album Teresa Brewer in London (1973), as well as many songs for Teresa Brewer's New Album (1977).

She appeared on television as a guest star on such series as Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, Jimmy Dean, The Muppet Show in 1977,^[7] Sha Na Na, and The Statler Brothers Show in 1993.

Thiele, whom she had married, died in 1996, and Brewer never recorded after that.^[1] Altogether, she recorded around 600 song titles.

Brewer married William "Bill" Monahan in 1949; the couple had four daughters, Kathleen, Susan, Megan and Michelle.^[8][9] They eventually separated, and the marriage was dissolved in 1972 shortly before she married Bob Thiele.

For her contribution to the recording industry, Teresa Brewer has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1708 Vine Street. In 2007, she was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame.

Brewer died of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a neuromuscular disease, at her home in New Rochelle, New York, aged 76.^[10] Her funeral was held at New Rochelle's Holy Name of Jesus Roman Catholic Church, where she was a member.^[11] Her ashes were given to her daughter.^[11]

One of Elvis Presley's first public singing experiences in 12th grade was performing a song of Brewer's: "Till I Waltz Again with You".^[12]

• Teresa Brewer Center
• Teresa Brewer page on [1] Olde Time Cooking & Nostalgia site
• Teresa Brewer at AllMusic
• Teresa Brewer Coral singles
• Teresa Brewer in the 1960s
• Teresa Brewer's early recordings
• Teresa Brewer recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.