Liz Tilton

aka Elizabeth Tilton

Photo of Liz Tilton

Vocalist Liz Tilton worked with a number of orchestras during the big band era. Though never as popular as her older sister, Martha, she had a successful career from the late 1930s until the mid-1940s when she retired to married life. She briefly returned to singing in the early 1950s.

Tilton was born in 1918 in the small town of Bartlett, Kansas, where her father worked as a cashier in a bank. By 1930, the family had relocated to Los Angeles, where her father again worked as a bank teller and later as a cutter in wholesale furnishings. Tilton followed her older sister’s footsteps into show business, beginning her singing career while still in high school, working with many of the better West Coast swing bands over the next several years.

Tilton sang with Gil Evans’s orchestra in late 1936. In June 1938, she was with Kenny Baker, but by November she had joined Buddy Rogers. She stayed with Rogers until spring 1939 when his management agency forced him to give up his swing band in favor of forming a new sweet orchestra. She then re-joined Baker that summer but stayed only briefly. By late August she was with Ray Noble, where she remained until early 1940. She made a solo soundie, “Abercrombie Had a Zombie,” in 1941 with RCM. The song, described by Billboard as “zany,” also featured “eccentric dancer” Lee Murray.[1]

Tilton joined Bob Crosby’s band in April 1941, replacing Bonnie King. She remained with Crosby until at least April 1942. After leaving Crosby, Tilton kept busy with radio appearances on CBS. She also dedicated time to the war effort, singing at USO shows and working at the Hollywood Canteen. In addition, she sang the title song in the patriotic Bugs Bunny short “Any Bonds Today?”

In summer 1942, Tilton toured with the Billy Mills orchestra. She performed with fellow CBS star Gordon Jenkins and his orchestra in a November 1942 show in Long Beach, California. The show also featured Spike Jones. Tilton again returned to Long Beach for New Year’s Eve, singing with Muzzy Marcellino’s orchestra, with Jones again part of the show. Tilton also worked with Vido Musso’s orchestra at some point and with Ozzie Nelson’s band in early 1943.

Tilton joined Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra in April 1943, replacing Barbara Canvin. She stayed only two months, leaving in late June, reportedly either to go solo or due to health reasons. By late July, she’d joined Jan Garber’s new swing band, where she proved popular with audiences and critics. Tilton was gone from Garber in September, perhaps due to illness, as Kay Foster recorded with the band and appeared with them in a musical short that month. Tilton was soon back, however, and aside from a brief absence due to illness in early 1944 she remained with Garber until July of that year when she retired from show business to become a “full-time housewife.”[2] She was back on the stage briefly in January 1946, for a short stay with Gene Krupa’s orchestra, subbing for a departed Anita O’Day. In December 1949, she gave birth to a daughter, Holly.

Tilton returned to singing in 1952, recording with both Clyde McCoy’s orchestra and Billy May that year. She and sister Martha also sang together on Coral Records as The Liltin’ Tiltons in 1952 and 1953. Tilton then retired from show business permanently.

Liz Tilton passed away in 2003 at the age of 84.

Notes

  1. The “zombie” in question was the name of a popular alcoholic drink. This was well before the word came to have its modern meaning. Zombies in the 1940s were not the brain-eating undead creatures as we know them today. That image became the norm after the 1960s, influenced by director Roger Corman’s Living Dead films. The term zombie in the 1940s meant someone who was still alive but under the control of another person by hypnotism or drugs. ↩︎

  2. Tilton married Bruce Hoffine at some point before October 1946. Hoffine ran a wholesale lumber business in 1950. They remained together until her death in 2003. ↩︎

Sources

  1. Simon, George T. The Big Bands. 4th ed. New York: Schirmer, 1981.
  2. The Online Discographical Project. Accessed 16 Jan. 2018.
  3. “Valencia Ballroom Reopens Saturday.” Santa Ana Daily Register [Santa Ana, California] 2 Oct. 1936: 26.
  4. “Noted Orchestra At Casa del Rey.” The San Mateo Times and Daily News Leader [San Mateo, California] 17 Jun. 1938: 14.
  5. “Walt Disney Is Host to 1500 Studio Employees, Friends at Norconian over Weekend.” Corona Daily Independent [Corona, California] 4 Jun. 1938: 1.
  6. “The Reviewing Stand: Buddy Rogers.” Billboard 12 Nov. 1938: 13.
  7. “Rogers Junks Jazz Band.” Down Beat May 1939: 2.
  8. Hyltone, David. “'Lizabeth Tilton Joins Baker.” Down Beat Aug. 1939: 27.
  9. “3d Casa Show Slow Despite Raye, Noble Band, Good Acts.” Billboard 1 Aug. 1942: 63.
  10. “Radio Log.” Charleston Gazette [Charleston, West Virginia] 23 Mar. 1941: 15.
  11. “Bonnie King on St. Louis Radio.” Down Beat 1 May 1941: 7.
  12. “D'Amico out as Crosby Band Lands Ale Show.” Down Beat 1 Aug. 1941: 3.
  13. “Vaudeville Reviews: Paramount, Los Angeles.” Down Beat 4 Oct. 1941: 22.
  14. “Crosby Band Great on Air, But Records Disappoint.” Down Beat 1 Nov. 1941: 14.
  15. “Radio Programs.” Dubuque Telegraph Herald [Dubuque, Iowa] 29 Dec. 1941: 9.
  16. “Vaudeville Reviews: Orpheum, Los Angeles.” Down Beat 25 Apr. 1942: 16.
  17. “Movie Machine Review: Program 1079.” Billboard 1 Aug. 1942: 63.
  18. “On the Air: With Billy Mills.” Circleville Herald [Circleville, Ohio] 19 Aug. 1942: 5.
  19. “Auditorium Dancing Tomorrow With Jones and Jenkins Bands.” Long Beach Independent [Long Beach, California] 24 Nov. 1942: 14.
  20. “Program Notes: Liz Tilton.” Dubuque Telegraph-Herald [Dubuque, Iowa] 14 Dec. 1942: 7.
  21. “Spike Jones to Play Auditorium.” Long Beach Independent [Long Beach, California] 27 Dec. 1942: 19.
  22. “Liz Tilton Is With TD Band.” Down Beat 15 May 1943: 1.
  23. “On the Stand: Tommy Dorsey.” Billboard 29 May 1943: 29.
  24. “Betty Brewer Newest T. Dorsey Thrush.” Billboard 26 Jun. 1943: 24.
  25. “TD Back on Lot, Has New Chirp.” Down Beat 1 Jul. 1943: 11.
  26. “On the Stand: Jan Garber.” Billboard 25 Sep. 1943: 14.
  27. “I'm After the Big Boys!—Garber.” Down Beat 1 Oct. 1943: 4.
  28. “On the Stand: Jan Garber.” Billboard 27 Nov. 1943: 15.
  29. “Garber Band On Road Tour.” Down Beat 15 Mar. 1944: 1.
  30. “Vaudeville Reviews: Chicago, Chicago.” Billboard 25 Mar. 1944: 26.
  31. “Liz Tilton Back With Jan Garber.” Down Beat 1 Apr. 1944: 1.
  32. “Music Grapevine.” Billboard 8 Jul. 1944: 19.
  33. Thomas, Bob. “Hollywood Today.” The Lowell Sun [Lowell, Massachusetts] 31 Jan. 1946: 13.
  34. “Birds Fleeing Cages at fast Clip -- Subs Fill.” Billboard 9 Feb. 1946: 16.
  35. “Record Reviews: Billy May.” Down Beat 7 Mar. 1952: 14.
  36. “Record Reviews: Clyde McCoy.” Down Beat 21 May 1952: 10.
  37. “United States, Social Security Numerical Identification Files (NUMIDENT), 1936-2007,” database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6K4H-YWYB : 11 February 2023), Elizabeth Ann Tilton.
  38. “United States Census, 1920,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MF6V-TB4 : Fri May 03 16:05:50 UTC 2024), Entry for Fred S Telton and Frances E Telton, 1920.
  39. “United States Census, 1930,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCV3-HSN : Sun Mar 10 16:21:52 UTC 2024), Entry for Fred S Tilton and Frances Tilton, 1930.
  40. “United States Census, 1940,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9C2-HH3 : Fri Mar 08 01:13:41 UTC 2024), Entry for Frederick S Tilton and Frances E Tilton, 1940.
  41. “United States Census, 1950,” FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6XGS-ZD2P : Fri Oct 06 04:15:30 UTC 2023), Entry for Bruce E Hoffine and Elizabeth A Hoffine, 12 April 1950.