Lucy Ann Polk

Perhaps the most talented female vocalist in the later part of the big band era, Lucy Ann Polk left her mark on music history as a singer for Tommy Dorsey and Les Brown in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Polk began her career at a young age as part of the Town Criers vocal group, emerging in the mid-1940s as a breakout star. She mixed solo and group work for several years before leaving the Criers in 1948 and concentrating on her own career. Polk was voted best female band singer for four years in a row—1951, 1952, 1953, and 1954—by Down Beat magazine readers before leaving Brown’s orchestra to focus on home life and solo work. Her solo career never really took off due to her disinterest in touring.

The Polk siblings, Gordon, Elva, Vernon, and Lucy Ann, from oldest to youngest, were born in Idaho during the 1920s and raised in Spokane, Washington, where the family moved not long after Lucy Ann’s birth. Their father worked as a dairy and bakery delivery driver. As children they began performing at a young age, often at local theaters to gain free admission to films. In addition to singing, they backed themselves by playing guitar, bass and xylophone. In 1936, billed as the Four Polks, they earned their own radio program on Spokane station KHQ. They also sang on KHPY and later spent a year on Seattle radio before winning a contest sponsored by Al Pierce, who brought them to Los Angeles in 1940 or 1941 to sing on his radio program. The siblings, along with their parents, remained in California, performing at local clubs and theaters and making two soundies for RCM, The Old Oaken Bucket and Miss You.

Band Years

In June 1942, Bobby Sherwood hired the Polks for his new band, renaming them the Bobettes.^[1] They left Sherwood in November 1942 to join Les Brown, where pianist Willie Rowland dubbed them the Town Criers, the name that they would use for the rest of the decade.^[2] With Brown, the group began to attract national attention. They remained with Brown until near the end of 1943, when they left to do club and radio work. The Polks then ended up with Bob Crosby, touring with his band and appearing on his radio program. They made their first recording with Crosby in summer 1944 on the ARA label, just before he entered the Marines. With Crosby in the service, they became part of Kay Kyser’s College of Musical Knowledge. When Crosby returned from the service in late 1945, they once again joined him while also still appearing with Kyser. They recorded again on ARA in 1945.

The Polk siblings remained together until at least early 1945. Sometime after that and before mid-1946, both Elva and Vernon left the group. Gordon and Lucy Ann continued on with the Town Criers, bringing in replacements. Aside from singing, their act featured comedy, mostly provided by Gordon, and gimmicks. They appeared in two films in 1945, RKO’s Radio Stars on Parade and an uncredited appearance in Columbia’s musical western Song of the Prairie starring Ken Curtis. In 1946, they appeared in another Columbia Ken Curtis musical western, Cowboy Blues, for which they received credit.

By the mid-1940s, both Lucy Ann and Gordon had begun to make names for themselves as soloists. When Georgia Carroll, who was Mrs. Kay Kyser, retired from singing at the end of 1945 due to pregnancy, Lucy Ann took her spot as the band’s featured female vocalist. Billed as “Lucyann” Polk during her time with Kyser, she made her first soloist recordings with the orchestra on Columbia.

In addition to their soloist work, both Lucy Ann and Gordon continued singing with the Town Criers, who still appeared with both bands throughout 1946. The vocal group made several recordings on the ARA label and also recorded for the Music Survey label, which pre-tested songs for music publishing firms. In July 1946, Lucy Ann announced that she’d been secretly married to trombonist Dick Noel, whom she had met while with Brown and who was currently with Harry James.

By early 1947, both the Town Criers and Lucy Ann had left Kyser. They remained with Crosby, touring with his orchestra and appearing on his radio show until May 1947, when they joined Tommy Dorsey’s new group, formed after his original outfit had disbanded in December 1946. Aside from their duties with the Town Criers, both Gordon and Lucy Ann were also featured singers for Dorsey. The Town Criers, with Gordon and Lucy Ann, left Dorsey in March 1948 to do a solo act, bringing in three more members. The new act failed to take off and both Polks returned to Dorsey in May, this time without the Town Criers.

Lucy Ann remained with Dorsey until late 1949, when she signed a solo contract with Bluebird. She didn’t remain a single for long, however, instead joining Les Brown a month later. With Brown, Polk really came into her own, quickly capturing the public’s ear and emerging as one of the top singers in the country. She remained with Brown for four years, winning Down Beat magazine’s reader poll for best female band singer in each of those years. She continued to make solo appearances on radio and early television while working for both Dorsey and Brown.

Polk’s husband, Noel, joined Brown in 1950. The couple had bought a home in the San Fernando Valley, and Lucy Ann became increasingly content to remain there. She decided to quit Brown in June 1953. According to Polk, she was worried that no one would be there to take care of their newly-landscaped front yard if she and her husband both went out on tour.

Post-Band Years

After leaving Brown’s band, Polk signed with Trend Records, owned by the rich jazz philanthropist Albert Marx, who teamed her with the Dave Pell Octet for a series of well-received recordings.^[3] She soon began working regular gigs with Pell’s group as featured vocalist. In mid-1954, Noel left Brown’s band and formed a small combo to back Lucy Ann on further Trend recordings and in live performances in the Los Angeles area.^[4] She and Noel recorded on the Starlite label in 1955. In 1956, Polk spent six months on the Red Rowe television program, and in 1957 she provided vocals for Jerry Fielding on Decca.^[5]

In 1958, Polk found herself back in the spotlight when Mode Records released an album of recordings titled Lucky Lucy Ann. The album received excellent reviews, and Polk made the rounds in the press. She recorded a jazz album for the Interlude label in 1959, but her lack of promotional touring meant that she quickly faded from the public’s eye again. She supported each album with only casual engagements in her home area.

Polk outlived each of her siblings by 25 or more years, passing away in 2011 at age 84.^[6]

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