Jazz Connection Magazine

Songstress Kay Weber Sillaway Who Sang With Dorsey Brothers, Bob Crosby Bands Dies At Age 96

Kay Weber Sillaway, one of the last two serving members of the original Dorsey Brothers orchestra and who also sang with the bands of Jimmy Dorsey and Bob Crosby passed away peacefully surrounded by her family on Friday, September 23, 2005 in Dallas, TX.

Mrs.Sillaway was born on July 2, 1909 in Ellenwood, Kansas to Frank and Magdalen Weber. She graduated with a BA in music and performance from the Lamont School of Music in Denver. In the 1930's she was discovered by Glenn Miller and went on to sing with the Dorsey Brothers, Jimmy Dorsey and Bob Crosby bands.

In 1938, she married Ward Sillaway, trombonist with the Crosby band, and retired to raise her children. She ventured out of retirement to teach school when her children were grown and her husband became ill. She was the kind of teacher who gave her all to her students at St. Peter's Port Washington, NY. When she moved to Dallas, she became the music teacher at St. Patrick's School. She worked there until she was 83 years young. As a music teacher, she infused the lives of countless children with her rich musical heritage and her creativity. While at St. Patrick's she thrilled and surprised audiences with her original productions. She gave her students love and knowledge of music and her unshakable trust in their abilities led them to that place where they could believe in themselves. She was enriched by her many strong friendships and her constant deep faith in the goodness of God. She never lost her youthful enthusiasm or her terrific sense of humor.

Mrs. Sillaway was preceded in death by her husband and companion in life and music, Ward Sillaway, her brother, Art Weber, and her sister Madalene Walsh. She is survived by her three children, son, Dorr Sillaway and daughter-in-law, Saundra; daughter, Madalene Galletta and son-in-law Leo; daughter, Kathy Ulrich and son-in-law Gary. She is also survived by her grandchildren, Leo Ward Galletta and his wife Jessica, Kaylee Johnston and her husband Darren, Mandy Dooley and her husband Kasey, Anastasia Sillaway, Dorr Ward Sillaway, Matt Ulrich, David Ulrich and Jeff Ulrich and 4 great grandchildren, Jackson, Jace, Jamison Belle and Jagger and her many nieces and nephews.

Although I never had the pleasure of meeting Kay Weber Sillaway personally, I did have the honor of speaking to hear over the telephone on a number occasions. The last of which was this past April when she so graciously shared some of her thoughts and feelings with me about the late guitarist Nappy Lamare, a fellow band member from the Bob Crosby days and who was the Best Man at Kay and Ward Sillaway's wedding. The interview was for an article I had written to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary of Lamare's birth (See Nappy Lamare Centennial Article ). Each time we chatted over the phone, she was very gracious, warm and friendly. To some extent, I felt that I made a new friend. In fact, I know I had!

The following feature article on Kay Weber Sillaway was originally published in November 2003 issue of JAZZ CONNECTION. It is reprinted below in honor of a gracious lady of song who helped shape and gave artistic excellence to the Big Band Era.

Songstress Kay Weber Set The Trend As One Of The First Female Vocalists In The Big Band Era

Songstress Kay Weber, pictured here in

1998, is one of two surviving members of the

original Dorsey Brothers Orchestra of 1934.

In addition, she also sang in bands led by

Jimmy Dorsey and Bob Crosby.

Photo courtesy of Alan Glasscock

Kay Weber Sillaway may not be the best remembered of all the singers to sing with the big bands, but she certainly was one of the first. She is one of two surviving members of the original Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey Brothers Orchestra formed in 1934, was Jimmy Dorsey's first female vocalist when he formed his own band in 1935, and was part of the newly-organized hard-blowing Bob Crosby band from 1937 to 1938.

"I wasn't around that long as a band singer because I got tired of being one fairly quickly," said a very chirpy Weber, 94, via telephone from her home in Dallas, TX. "Looking back at it now, it was definitely a unique experience for me with some fond memories."

Both Dorsey's had strong reputations in the jazz arena, and led one the earliest and best white bands to be organized in the early 1930s. Everybody dug the Dorsey Brothers band. It swung, and it had shown, on records and then on grinding night-after-night road tours, that it was possible to make some silly Tin Pan Alley songs swing and give soloists room to blow jazz.

"It was an excellent band," Weber said. "Tommy actually led it. There were very talented musicians in the band."

Katherine "Kay" Weber was born on July 2, 1909, in Ellinwood, KS, a small town with a population of 1,200 that is situated along the Arkansas River about 35 miles northwest from Wichita. She started singing at a young age while also taking an interest in playing the piano.

As a student attending a Roman Catholic parochial school, Weber sang in both the school and parish choirs, she said.

"If you could carry a tune, the nuns put you in the choir," Weber said. "In those days, the liturgy of the Church was all done in Latin. We did the Gregorian Chant. Another girl and I were always chosen to lead the Psalms for Vesper services on Sunday evening."

At age 10, Weber began playing a small reed organ for church and school and continued to play that instrument throughout high school.

After graduating from high school, Weber matriculated to an all-girl junior college in Leavenworth, KS, where she continued to take organ lessons, participated in school musicals, and was on the school yearbook staff.

After her graduation from junior college, Weber return to her parents' home in Ellinwood to rest for year after suffering from the affects of a very serious fever she contracted while as a student.

While recuperating at her parents' home, Weber worked with a voice coach who insisted that her talented student move to Denver to attend the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver. Acting upon her encouragement, Weber made the 400-mile trek to Colorado's capital city in 1929. At the music school she majored in drama and minored in piano and voice.

Within a few weeks after arriving in Denver, Weber was given an audition, through a referral from her voice coach, for a singing spot on an on-going musical radio program sponsored by a chocolate manufacturer on station KOA.

"I was supposed to be the Vassar Chocolate Girl," Weber said. "All the radio announcers at the station wanted me for the show but the station manager's girlfriend ended up getting the job."

The announcers were so upset, they prevailed on the station manager to give Weber a 15-minute radio spot every Thursday at 3 p.m., Weber said.

"The show was Songs At The Piano," Weber recalled. "I wrote my own script and did the sound effects. You name it, I did it! I also did little skits with imitations. I could imitate Greta Garbo and different movie stars. The show worked out well and I had to keep writing. I did parodies on Shakespeare, portraying Macbeth as a gangster. I also wrote lots of birthday songs. I worked very hard for my degree."

Weber's popularity on Denver-area radio grew. She also hosted other shows such as Reminisces Of The Old West, a drama where she supplied the voices to a number of characters; Baby's Birthday Party, a children's program; and Song And Star Hits Of The Day, a 15-minute morning daily program where she sang popular songs of the day while playing the piano. She also sang songs on several other radio programs, she said.

After graduating from the Lamont School of Music in 1933, Weber sang briefly in Victor Schilling's band, her first job as a band vocalist. Schilling led one of the best pop/dance orchestras in Denver at the time. Playing the upright string bass in that band was Roc Hillman, who was a student of the University of Denver. Hillman, who later played guitar in the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, and with Jimmy Dorsey's and Kay Kyser's outfits, would also become a successful composer.

Weber then sang with another Denver-based group, the Donnelly-James Orchestra, before experiencing an event that would forever change her life.

That event occurred in early 1934 when the Smith Ballew Band came through Denver. Playing in the Ballew band was trombonist/arranger Glenn Miller, a University of Colorado alumnus. The Ballew band was in the midst of changing personnel, and Miller was scouting the Denver-area bands for possible replacements.

"The Smith Ballew band was having trouble with its girl singer, so Glenn auditioned me and then brought Smith to audition me," Weber recalled. "I guess they liked what they heard in me and they offered me a job."

Also hired to join Ballew's outfit were Hillman and two of his college buddies, saxophonist Arthur "Skeets" Herfurt and trombonist Don Mattison. This musical triumvirate also sang together as a vocal trio, which was an asset as many bands at the time were always in the market for novelty singing groups among the ranks of its orchestra members.

Originally, the four new additions to Ballew's fold were to play the opening of a resort hotel in Miami, Fl. However, just days prior to leaving snowy, cold Denver, the plans changed and New York City became the new destination point, according to Weber.

"I went home to Ellinwood for a week before I left with the band," Weber said. "The band traveled in cars at that time and Glenn, and his wife, Helen, along with Roc, Skeets and Don, drove to Kansas to pick me up."

The group had to drive through one of the biggest blizzards the country ever experienced. Just days prior to the band's arrival in the Big Apple, the club where the band was scheduled to play folded and the band was out of a job.

While in New York, Ballew made some recordings with studio musicians, a number of whom would later go on to be noted sidemen and bandleaders in their own right: trumpeter Bunny Berigan; trombonists Russ Morgan and Jack Teagarden; saxophonist/clarinetist Jimmy Dorsey, violinist Joe Venuti; and bassist Artie Bernstein. Weber was also featured on three cuts from these sessions: I'm Throwin' My Love Away (recorded March 14, 1934), Foolin' With The Other Woman's Man (May 11, 1934), and When My Prince Charming Comes Along (Jan. 16, 1935).

Ballew retired from the band business in July 1935, moving to California star in "B" Westerns films as a singing cowboy. He died in his home state of Texas on May 2, 1984, at age 82.

"Glenn was very upset that things were not going right," Weber said. "Glenn knew a lot of people in New York. He contacted his friends, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. The Dorsey Brothers were very big in radio and as studio session leaders."

The Dorsey Brothers - Jimmy on clarinet and alto saxophone, and Tommy on trombone - had been leading studio orchestras since 1928.

Miller and his wife took Weber out to Tommy Dorsey's home on Long Island for an audition. Dorsey liked Weber's vocal styling and used her on a few studio recordings.

Weber's first commercial recordings with the Dorsey Brothers' studio orchestra were waxed on March 14, 1934, on the Vocalion label with two novelty ditties, Nasty Man and My Dog Loves Your Dog. Notable musicians in that 15-piece studio band included Manny Klein, trumpet; Joe Venuti, violin; and Artie Bernstein, bass.

"Oh, I want to forget those tunes!" Weber said with a bit of anguish. "I kept asking Tommy why he was giving me all these 'dog' tunes to sing. Of course, those were the days when the vocalist with a band was an accessory. Thank God for Frank Sinatra because he made the vocalist supreme."

Other songs that Weber recorded with this studio group include Dancing In The Moonlight (March 28, 1934 on the Banner label); I'm Getting Sentimental Over You, which would later become Tommy Dorsey's theme song, and Roc Hillman's composition, Long May We Love (both on Aug. 15, 1934, one of the first recordings on the new Decca label); and a vocal duet with Glenn Miller on his composition, Annie's Cousin Fannie Is A Sweetie Of Mine (June 14, 1934 on the Brunswick label). In fact, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra recorded four versions of the latter tune in a three-month period, two of which were rejected and never released.

The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra 1934 - Band vocalist Kay Weber is pictured in the back row standing between Tommy Dorsey,

(on Weber's right), and Jimmy Dorsey (on her left). Other band personnel include (standing, l-r) Bobby Van Epps, piano; Delmar

Kaplan, bass; Glenn Miller, trombone/arranger; and Jack Stacey, alto sax. Kneeling (front row, l-r) are George Thow, trumpet;

Roc Hillman, guitar; Don Mattison, trombone; Skeets Herfurt, tenor sax; and Ray McKinley, drums.

Weber, now at age 94, and Hillman, 93, are the two surviving members of the original Dorsey Bothers Orchestra.

"There was a very popular song at the time called Annie Doesn't Live Here Any More and Glenn wrote a spin-off of this song called Annie's Cousin Fannie Is A Sweetie Of Mine," Weber said. "I don't know why Tommy and Jimmy recorded it so much. I can only guess they were looking for the 'right' combination for the song."

Miller talked the Dorsey Brothers into forming a steady outfit. In addition to the Brothers themselves, Miller, and Weber, remaining band personnel included Roc Hillman, guitar/vocals; Skeets Herfurt, tenor saxophone/vocals; Don Mattison, trombone/vocals; George Thow, trumpet; Jack Stacy, alto saxophone; Bobby Van Epps, piano; Delmar Kaplan, bass; Ray McKinley, drums; and Bob Crosby, vocals.

It is interesting to note that the1934-35 Dorsey Brothers Orchestra had within it's ranks, other than the Dorsey's themselves, four future bandleaders: Bob Crosby, Glenn Miller, Charlie Spivak, and Ray McKinley.

When the Dorsey Brothers did organize their working/touring band in August 1934, they seemed to have found the "right" combination pertaining to the band's sound. It's unusually deep, rich sound made it sound fuller than they really were. The band broke the pattern of most white bands of the period, which performed mostly straight dance arrangements. Borrowing from their experience with small jazz groups and some of the swinging black big bands, they combined elements of small group jazz and big band dance music, doing it with only eleven players, and unusual instrumentation.

On Aug. 23, 1934, the new outfit waxed eight tunes on Decca Records, two of which were instrumentals - Milenberg Joys and St. Louis Blues. Weber was featured on Sandman (also the band's theme song) and Annie's Cousin Fanny Is A Sweetie Of Mine. Joining Weber on the vocal refrain for the fourth and final recording of the latter piece was the band's novelty vocal trio of Hillman, Herfurt and Mattison. The trio was also featured on Honeysuckle Rose (Parts 1 & 2) and Dr. Heckle And Mr. Jibe, while Bob Crosby was showcased in the vocal spotlight on Basin Street Blues.

The balance of recordings that Weber made with the Dorsey Brothers band are (all on Decca): The Breeze (Sept. 24, 1934); The Moon Was Yellow, An Earful Of Music and Your Head On My Shoulder (all three on Sept. 28, 1934); Let's Take A Walk Around The Block (Oct. 24, 1934); What Can You Say In A Love Song? (Oct. 29, 1934); Hands Across The Table (Nov. 7, 1934); Sandman and Apache (both on Nov. 15, 1934); All Through The Night (Nov. 27, 1934); I Get A Kick Out Of You and You Didn't Know Me From Adam (And I Didn't Know You From Eve) (both on Nov. 30, 1934); Dancing With My Shadow and The Church Bells Told (both on Dec. 21, 1934); Rhythm Of The Rain (Dec. 28, 1934); I Thrill When They Mention Your Name and I'm Just A Little Boy Blue (Jan. 4, 1935); Solitude (Jan. 11, 1935); Tiny Little Fingerprints (Jan. 18, 1935); The Words Are In My Heart (Jan. 26, 1935); Tomorrow's Another Day (Feb. 6, 1935); and Every Little Moment and Ev'ry Single Little Tingle Of My Heart (May 27, 1935).

Some of Weber's songs that she recorded with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra can be heard via the Internet by logging on to the Red Hot Jazz website at http://www.redhotjazz.com/

The band's first job was the summer of 1934 at the posh Sands Point Casino on Long Island, NY, where the well-to-do from all around came. That winter, the band played at Palais Royal on Broadway and Seventh in New York City.

In the spring of 1935, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra began what Weber called a "murderous schedule," a tour of one-nighters that began in Toronto April 12. They played in Erie the 13th, and then Cleveland the 14th. From Cleveland, the band went to New York, Pottstown, New London, CT, Waltham, Bristol, Troy, Dearfield, Scranton, PA, Mahanoy City, Schenectady, Hanover, Passaic, NJ, Harrisburg, Pittsfield, Waterbury, Providence, RI, Baltimore, and Allentown - all in less than a month!

Both Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey were known for their frequent, animated temperamental outbursts at each other but managed to hold together a fairly loose band. Most of the Brothers' feuding was based on musical interpretation, according to Weber.

The Dorsey Brother Orchestra in the recording studio in late 1934. Pictured are (Back row, l-r): Don Mattison,

trombone; Ray McKinley, drums; George Thow, trumpet; Glenn Miller, trombone; Bobby Van Epps, piano.

(Middle row, l-r): Skeets Herfurt, tenor sax; Jack Stacy, tenor sax; Jimmy Dorsey, alto sax; Delmar Kaplan, bass;

Roc Hillman, guitar; Tommy Dorsey, trombone. Seated in front are band vocalists Bob Crosby and Kay Weber.

"As a bandleader, Tommy was very demanding," Weber said. "That, I think, is necessary, but he also had a hair-trigger temper. He could get angry for practically no reason. As far as his personality was concerned, Tommy was one of the most charismatic human beings I've ever met. He could come into a room of 200 people and instantly you knew Tommy Dorsey was there. Jimmy, on the other hand, was much softer. I don't mean that in a negative way. He did have that 'take-charge-of-the-whole-crowd' attitude. There was a sweetness about Jimmy that Tommy didn't have. Jimmy, too, was an excellent musician."

And the Brothers' flare ups were disconcerting to the other musicians in the band as well, according to Weber.

"I think Glenn (Miller) got disgusted with Tommy a lot of times," Weber said. "I remember the first real fight Jimmy and Tommy had. I was appalled. I never experienced that kind of quarreling before. Tommy used very 'blue' language. He was very hard on a lot of people."

Weber related a humorous story about Tommy Dorsey's often insensitive behavior toward other musicians and the reaction it generated:

"I was told this by another musician... Tommy called for a 'D.S.' in the music. A young musician in the band didn't hear Tommy give that directive and he continued to play on. Tommy stopped the band and went over to him and started to chew him out profusely. 'Don't you know what D.S. means?' Tommy asked the new kid. 'Yes, I know what it means,' replied the young musician. 'Dorsey Stinks!' He then packed up his instrument and walked away."

Probably the two people in the band Tommy was most hardest on were Skeets Herfurt and Bob Crosby, Weber said.

"Skeets was Tommy's whipping boy for a while," Weber said. "Tommy had at least one person in the band he always picked on, and that person was Skeets. Skeets was a fabulous musician. He was a very funny guy and very cute looking. Paramount Pictures offered him a contract as a staff comedian. His first wife did not want him to stay in Hollywood. She was smarter than any of us. (laughs)"

Herfurt went on to play in both Dorsey's orchestras, and with Alvino Rey in the early 1940s. A much-in-demand studio musician after World War II, Herfurt switched to alto saxophone and played with Lawrence Welk on the "Champagne Music Maker's" television show in the late 1970s through the '80s. He also played in the early 1970s on numerous cuts on The Swing Era, Time/Life Records' recreations of various big band hits as well as appearing in Bob Crosby Orchestra performances throughout the 1980s. Herfurt died in his sleep a few years ago.

All his life, Bob Crosby had fought to stand outside the shadow of his famous older brother, Bing. After singing with Anson Weeks' band for a few years, Crosby got an offer in 1934 to sing with the Dorsey Brothers band. Tommy, reportedly, was less than enthusiastic. The trombonist said, "I got the best band in the land. Why can't I have the best Crosby?" Tommy modulated into a brighter view of his boy singer and in his six months with the Dorsey's Crosby sang often and made more than 30 records with the band before going off to lead a band of his own.

"Bob and I were close friends," Weber said. "I felt sorry for Bob because Tommy was very hard on him. Bob was very talented in a different way. Bob was a great MC. He had that Irish wit and could tell you stories. He was a very charming guy."

When Crosby left the Dorsey's in February 1935, he was replaced by Bob Eberly. Eberly would go to become a star with Jimmy Dorsey's Orchestra and was one of the more popular male vocalists of the Big Band era. The numerous duet pieces he recorded with fellow band vocalist Helen O'Connell have become Big Band classics.

In December 1934, Glenn Miller left the Dorsey Brothers band to join Ray Noble's Orchestra, staying with the British bandleader until he formed his first outfit in 1937. He was replaced in the Dorsey Brothers band by Joe Yukl.

"Glenn was like a big brother to me, " Weber said about the most popular bandleader-to-be of the Swing Era. "His wife, Helen, was one of my best friend."

Continued quarrelling between the Brothers escalated over the ensuing months and reached the flash point on May 30, 1935, bringing an abrupt end to the fraternal musical partnership. The band was playing at the famed Glen Island Casino in New Rochelle, NY. That afternoon, Tommy called for the song, I'll Never Say "Never Again" Again, (which was recorded three days earlier) and counted off the tempo. The novelty vocal trio, Hillman, Herfurt and Mattison, were making their way up to the microphone to sing. Jimmy, who had been drinking the night before and wasn't in the best humor, didn't like the beat and looked up at Tommy and said, "Mac, that's a little fast isn't it?" While the trio was singing, Tommy glared at his older brother, packed up his trombone, walked off the bandstand and never came back.

Leadership of the band fell on Jimmy's lap. He kept the name "Dorsey Brothers" for the rest of the gig at Glen Island and the rest of the Decca recording contract. Tommy went out to form his own outfit, recruiting most of Joe Haymes' band.

The Jimmy-led Dorsey Brothers Orchestra cut 16 tunes between Aug. 1 and Sept. 11, 1935, to fulfill its contractual agreement with Decca. Weber can be heard on five of those tunes - three from Aug. 1: My Very Good Friend The Milkman (with Bob Eberly, Hillman, Herfurt and Mattison also on the vocals), You Saved My Life and I Couldn't Believe My Eyes; and two cuts from Sept. 11: The Gentleman Obviously Doesn't Believe Me and On A Sunday Afternoon. The band cut the remaining six sides with crooner Bing Crosby on Aug. 14.

Taking over Tommy's chair briefly in Jimmy's "new" band was a young, gifted trombonist named Bobby Byrne, who was all of 17 years old at the time. Byrne stayed with Jimmy Dorsey from 1935 to 1939, before forming his own band.

"Bobby didn't join the band right away, it was a few months before he did," Weber recalled. "Other trombonists tried out. Many of them were fine jazz musicians, better than Tommy. But on ballad numbers that Tommy was so great at, these other trombonists couldn't cut the mustard. Of course, that was Tommy's heavy cross that he carried. He could never play jazz like Jack Teagarden. The band was playing the Fox Theatre in Detroit the year before and Tommy heard about this young trombone player from Cass High School named Bobby Byrne. Tommy was impressed when he heard Bobby play and just raved about him. Then we played in Canada just across the river from Detroit and Tommy had Bobby's mother bring him to the show. We were all stunned when we saw this fair-skin kid who looked like he was 12 than 17. But when Bobby picked up his horn, he had his doctorate in music as far as I was concerned."

Weber went with Jimmy Dorsey when he formed his 15-member band under his own name in September 1935. Most of the personnel from the old Dorsey Brothers band tagged along. New additions to the band included Byrne; Toots Camarata, trumpet; Fud Livingston, alto saxophone; and Slim Taft, string bass.

During her six-month stay with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra, Weber cut eight sides: When Love Comes Your Way, Why Shouldn't I?, and a duet with Bob Eberly, A Picture Of Me Without You (all three on September 19, 1935, on the Decca label); Where Am I? and Broadway Cinderella (both on Oct. 10, 1935); Welcome Stranger and Robins And Roses (March 28, 1936); and I'll Stand By (March 29, 1936).

Getting some much-needed national exposure, the band went to Los Angeles in January 1936 to begin a long run on a commercial radio hour with Bing Crosby. The original format for the show was to feature the Dorsey band, but the program instead featured the celebrated crooner with the band as backup.

"They used me a couple of times on the show, basically as a token," Weber said. "I felt like I wasn't getting anywhere."

With little left to do in the band, Weber quit in frustration, joining the new group led by her old singing partner, Bob Crosby.

The Bob Crosby band began a year earlier with eight musicians in search of a leader. They were all refugees from one of the bands of Ben Pollack, the gifted drummer whose various sideman over the years could stock a swinging hall of fame. This particular band broke up in California because the musicians were becoming discourage as bookings were poor. "Pollack's Orphans," as other musicians called them, needed a good front man to lead the group and Crosby was the perfect choice.

The Crosby band delighted multitudes from real Dixieland fans (with the small group, The Bob Cats) who loved the solid music to square types who liked the leader's engaging manner, casual chatter and pleasant singing. As one of the era's happiest bands, it also contained a pantheon of exciting and gifted musicians over the years in Eddie Miller and Gil Rodin, tenor saxophones; Matty Matlock and Irving Fazola, clarinets; Yank Lawson, Billy Butterfield, Charlie Spivak and Zeke Zarchy, trumpets; Warren Smith, trombone; Bob Haggart, bass; Ray Bauduc, drums; Nappy Lamare, guitar; Bob Zurke and Joe Sullivan, pianos; and Dean Kinkaid, arranger.

"It was a totally different band than that of the Dorsey's," Weber said. "It's like comparing apples and oranges. There were so many great musicians in the band. When these musicians would jam after hours, I would be so high as if I had taken cocaine! It was a happy, light-hearted band. We were all good friends."

In the ten months that Weber was with Crosby, she waxed ten sides: Whispers In The Dark and You Can't Have Everything (both July 7, 1937); A Foggy Day and This Never Happened Before (both on Nov. 5, 1937); Let's Give Love Another Chance (Nov. 9, 1937); The Thrill Of A Lifetime and Sweet Someone (both on Nov. 16, 1937); It's Wonderful and Always And Always (both on Feb. 3, 1938); and Please Be Kind (Feb. 10, 1938).

In addition to all the fantastic musicians Crosby employed, one of things that made the band so memorable for Weber was the fan response, she said.

"The kids in the audience would go wild whenever the Bob Cats came on to play," Weber said. "They just loved the pure musical drive and energy the guys in band had. Then we had Mrs. Celeste LeBrosi, the wealthy Long Island widow who followed the band for awhile wherever we were playing because she had a huge crush on Gil Rodin. That was pretty colorful. Gil always swore that he couldn't stand her."

LaBrosi traveled behind the Crosby band in a chauffeured limousine equipped with a two-wheeled trailer for her luggage, according to Weber. Reportedly, when the band was at the Ritz-Carlton, she took the hotel's whole top floor and ran up an entertainment tab of more than $1,100 in a single week.

The Crosby band also holds a special place in Weber's heart because it was where she met her husband, trombonist Ward Sillaway. Before joining Crosby, Sillaway recorded with the Joe Haymes band. After his stint with Crosby, he recorded with Tommy Dorsey in 1940, and stayed with Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians for three years before becoming a studio musician for CBS until his death in 1965.

There's an interesting story about Sillaway as told by clarinetist Johnny Mince (of Tommy Dorsey Orchestra fame) that appeared in the October 1977 issue of Record Research:

"It seems that trombone great Jack Teagarden had been hired to do a record date with an all-star group led by trumpeter Taft Jordan. 'Tea' had a conflict in bookings which prevented him from being able to make the session. I was asked by Taft if I knew of a trombonist in town who would be to make the date. I suggested Ward, an old compatriot from the Joe Haymes band. Ward said he would love to do the date, but his horn was in the repair shop. He managed to dig up a horn from a local hock shop. When he showed up for the date, all the guys got quite a laugh at the looks of the old, tarnished, silver horn. I said it was one of those old, very ornate affairs and it was so badly beat up that the slide hardly moved. The band, which included pianist Teddy Wilson and bassist John Kirby, took two days to cut the fours released sides. The sides were issued concurrently in England on the Vocalion label under "Taft Jordan and the Mob." The British magazine Melody Maker gave Ward specific attention claiming that these were the finest sides he had made to date! Did Ward keep the horn?"

While with Crosby, Weber wrote a regular column for a while in Down Beat magazine. She wrote mostly about women jazz musicians. One of the first articles she wrote for the celebrated music publication was a tongue-in-cheek verse about wealthy jazz promoter/philanthropist John Hammond, titled "The Hammond What Am," Weber said.

"I'm not proud of the article, but my beef with John Hammond was he thought nobody could swing except Benny Goodman and Count Basie," Weber said. "The punch line of my poem was saying that Hammond had dementia auricular." (laughs)

Hammond was reportedly a good sport about the jab, and thought the article was funny, according to Weber.

In March 1938, just as the Crosby band was gaining immense popularity, Weber quit because she got tired of being a band singer, she said.

"I wanted to be a vocalist," she said. "I got a manager and had some very fine auditions."

Some of the really big auditions, for one reason or another never materialized. One important audition, in particular, Weber remembers very well because she was upstaged by a comedian from Chicago, she said.

"The prospects for me to do a 15-minute evening music program on radio for NBC that was sponsored by a major cigarette company looked very promising," Weber said. "I would be accompanied by a full band with strings led by Nate Chillquick. I was married to Ward at the time. He was in Chicago in Bob's band and I went to New York for the audition. I didn't hear anything from this audition after I returned to Chicago to be near Ward. The man from the agency called me and apologized saying we were out-priced on the show by a new comedian from Chicago."

Kay Weber, left, with Louis Tobin Hucko, right, at the 1998 Big Band Festival

in Dallas, TX. Performing at the festival was bandleader and former Glenn

Miller star saxophonist Tex Beneke.

Photo courtesy of Alan Glasscock

When Weber left Crosby, her husband remained and stayed on the road with various bands until after World War II when he went into the studios. Married life for the Sillaway's during those "road" days were difficult at times, she said.

"It was hard, especially when the basement got flooded when Ward was on the road, stuff like that," Weber said.

After her days as a band singer and her unsuccessful attempts at launching a solo singing career, Weber discovered a whole other life as a school teacher, teaching the third and fourth grades in the New York City school system for 11 years, she said.

"After Ward had his first heart attack, the doctor told me not to stay home but to get a job," Weber said. "Fortunately, a friend of mine was a school teacher. She reminded me that I volunteered for everything and asked me why do I give myself away? She said that I should be paid for doing the things I do. I wrote shows for our parish and for the North Shore Hospital in New York, and I even volunteered at the community service center for all black kids. I was the consummate ham! (laughs) She encouraged me to get into teaching."

In addition to teaching the standard elementary school curriculum, Weber also taught music, writing all her own music for her students, she said.

Even though Weber was not singing professionally anymore during this time, she continued to remain in close contact with many of her musician friends. The Sillaway's reportedly had dinner with Tommy Dorsey at his 14-room Greenwich, CT, home a few days prior to his death on Nov. 26, 1956, at age 51.

Three years earlier, Tommy and Jimmy reunited and continued playing together until Tommy's death. The Dorsey Brothers had a popular television variety show on CBS in 1954 and one of the last episodes in 1956 featured the first TV appearance by the then unknown Elvis Presley.

Teaching proved to be a blessing to Weber as it helped to provide more stability at home during the time her and her husband were raising their three children.

"I was really very happy," Weber said. "I don't think I could have managed being in the public eye and being a mother to our kids."

As one who appreciates a good laugh, Weber related a story about a trick she played on a new friend who had inquired about her past career as a singer:

"Ward and I were entertaining a new friend of ours and her husband one evening when she told me that she had heard that I made some recordings. I would never play a recording of mine to a captive audience because I think that's really gross. I felt in a playful mood that evening so I asked our guest if she would like to hear one of my records. She said she would. I looked over at Ward and he gave me this 'What's happening to you?' look. I put the record on the turntable and unbeknownst to our guest, I played It's Magic by Jo Stafford. Jo is one of those rare singers who has perfect pitch. However, this particular recording of It's Magic I played was from the comedy music albums that Jo and her husband, Paul Weston, made under the pseudo-name 'Darlene and Jonathan Edwards.' On this recording Jo purposely sang the song a quarter to a half-tone flat. It sounded awful! When our guest heard the recording, she got this look on her face like she was embarrassed. She put her head down and nodded, 'Nice, Nice.' After she discovered it was a hoax by me, all four of us broke up!"

In 1974, Weber moved to Dallas, TX, to be live near her son and daughter, Matty, and their families. Another daughter resides in New Jersey. It only took the former band singer two weeks living in her new surroundings before she was recruited by her daughter for another stint of teaching.

"When I moved to Dallas, my daughter told me there was no music program at St. Patrick's Church," Weber said. "She put in a good word for me and they hired me. I taught only music. I was probably the most unorthodox music teacher anyone could find. I taught kids how to read notes and I never bothered with using the flute-o-phones that most schools use to teach children music. I also played my own accompaniments."

Kay Weber, left, poses for a photo with Louise Tobin Hucko, middle, Tex Beneke,

right, and Dallas bandleader Alan Glasscock, back, at the 1998 Big Band Festival

held in Dallas, TX.

Photo courtesy of Alan Glasscock

Until two years ago, Weber, her daughter and granddaughter pooled their vocal talents together to form "Youngeration," a trans-generational trio that sang exclusively for seniors, Weber said.

"We sang for the fun of singing," Weber said. "Our big piece was a medley of songs from the band era starting with Sentimental Journey and ending with Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy. We did that for four years."

The "Youngeration" act would no doubt still continue to this day if Weber hadn't succumbed to illness, she said.

"Two years ago I had two knee operations, a broken wrist, and a broken hip," Weber said. "I had the hip replaced. I'm back moving around again and playing the piano, too! I thought I'd never play again. Thank God two of my children live in Dallas. I'd be in a nursing home if it weren't for them!"

Weber was also a regular attendee at the Big Band Academy of America annual reunions held in Studio City, CA, every March.

These days Weber still remains in close contact with the many musician friends she and her late husband have made over the years, especially her band buddies from the early days - Roc Hillman, 93, who resides in Woodland Hills, CA, and with Bobby Byrne, 85, and his wife, Marilyn, who reside in Irvine, CA. She still plays her piano, too.

"I would be dead if it were not for music," Weber confided. "I still sit at the piano for about an hour a day. I need that. It takes my mind off the aches and pains. Otherwise, I'd be sitting around feeling sorry for myself."

Weber also enjoys the company of her children, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, she said.

Although Weber's musical presence was prominent at the very beginnings of the big band era, her contributions helped the bands of the original Dorsey Brothers, Jimmy Dorsey and Bob Crosby to achieve musical excellence and to leave their unique and distinctive marks in big band history.

"I just broke them in," Weber said. "I sang with them until they got famous. I was out in the boon-docks. (laughing) It's been a good life all-in-all."