In Celebration of the Human Voice - The Essential Musical Instrument

Anita Kerr

Born: 1927. Died: 2022. Lived in: Geneva, Switzerland.
Anita Jean Grilli known professionally as Anita Kerr, was an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed successfully with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Europe. In 1956, Anita Kerr's singers won a contest on the Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts national television program. Now, cut down to a quartet at Godfrey's suggestion, the group travelled to New York City two weeks out of every six to appear with Godfrey on his daily television and radio broadcasts. A few years later, Kerr and her singers performed five times a week with Jim Reeves on his national radio program at WSM. The quartet's roster at this time featured tenor Gil Wright, baritone Louis Nunley, alto Dottie Dillard, and Kerr herself as both soprano and arranger. Singers and arranger soon began contributing to between twelve and eighteen recording sessions weekly

Groups directed - Anita Kerr Singers

Media Articles
Obituary, New York Times, Anita Kerr, an Architect of the Nashville Sound, Dies at 94

Arrangements | Recordings | Trax CDs

Recordings and DVDs

Displaying 1-2 of 2 items.

Anita Kerr Singers : From Nashville... The Hits of Anita Kerr

Sometimes a quartet, sometimes an octet, the former Anita Jean Grilli's groups had possibly even more to do with reshaping country music from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s than Elvis and the Jordanaires. The direction in which she took country music is very clear on "From Nashville:" pop and light classics, not country. Still, these 12 bright, smooth, upbeat hits, accompanied by saxophones and massed violins are powerful and fine. Songs like "Hey, Joe," "My Last Date (With You)," "Singing the Blues," "You Don't Know Me," "The Old Master Painter," "Night Train to Memphis," "Bye, Bye Love" "Four Walls" and "Oh Lonesome Me" opened up the possibility of scoring major pop hits for country singers, and Anita was in on the ground floor of a fast-growing recording industry in Nashville. More than a period piece, "From Nashville" is country and pop music history in the making.

Songlist: Hey Joe, My Last Date (With You), Singing The Blues, The Old Master Painter, You Don't Know Me, Near You, Night Train to Memphis, I'll Hold You In My Heart, Bye Bye Love, Four Walls, Oh Lonesome Me, Half As Much

Anita Kerr SIngers : Sounds

This accompanied pop classic of "Sounds" (dig the new sounds, baby) from Anita and her often-changing group of singers from the late 60s features a more saccharine, innocent take on that turbulent era. For the first time in her career, Anita selects songs that had not been hits, the only two immediately hummable songs being "Swinging on a Star" and "The Beat Goes On," a hit for Sonny & Cher in 1966. 12 songs that are generally new to our ears, polished with sweet vocals and strings: "Happiness," "Wine in the Wind," "Say You Do," "Long Live Our Love," "I Would Love You," "The Two of Us," "I've Got Love Going for Me" and "They Always Ask Me"...these are romantic songs to slow dance and fall in love to, that would fit right in on Lawrence Welk's or Andy Williams' show, the kind of songs sung by Anita and her Singers to appreciative audiences from 4 generations.

Songlist: Happiness, Wine in the Wind, Today is, Say You Do, I'm Falling in Love Again, Long Live Our Love, I Would Love You, The Beat Goes On, The Two of Us, I've Got Love Going for Me, They Always Ask Me, Swinging on a Star

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