Vaughn
Monroe's Own Life Story in Pictures. Another in the Series of These Exclusive,
Up to Date Pictorial Stories Published By BAND LEADERS Magazine.
VAUGHN MONROE is a small-town boy who made good. Born in
Akron, Ohio, bred in Jeanette, Pennsylvania, and Cudahy, Wisconsin, Vaughn
provides one more shining example of a real American who won success the hard
way.
At the age of eleven, Vaughn was given a battered trumpet as a
gift from a neighbor. This was the beginning of a sensational musical career.
By begging, whining and stamping his feet like any irate child who can't have
his own way, Vaughn finally intimidated his parents into giving him music
lessons.
The church choir in Cudahy started him on his melodic way when
the choirmaster discovered that Vaughn had an excellent baritone voice and a
natural sense of music. His high school band came next, and then, when he
attended Carnegie Tech, he worked his way through college by playing the
nightspots in and around Pittsburgh.
Vaughn's love of music went deep enough for him to give up the
usual childish amusements for the more serious pursuits of a young man with a
dream in his heart. Imagine a boy who'll trade a brand new bicycle for an
ancient trombone. Well he did! And he even traded his beloved marbles for
sheets of music!
Vaughn left college at the end of two years, deciding that he
preferred a place in Austin Kylie's (sic) band to a diploma on
Graduation Day! From there he went on to become a part of the Larry Funk
organization and later, the Jack Marshard orchestra. It was Marshard who was
directly responsible for Vaughn's start as a band leader. While they were
playing in Boston, Jack, who had already introduced Vaughn as a singer and a
featured trumpeter, decided that the public would go overboard for him as a
band master as well. Vaughn -- still extremely shy -- flatly refused, so Jack
was forced to try some smart psychology. He threatened to fire Vaughn if the
latter wouldn't become the leader. The bluff worked because Vaughn needed the
job and liked working with Marshard.
Then came the GREAT moment: in 1938 Vaughn formed his own
band! Recordings, tours and broadcasts brought him and his organization right
up to the top rung of the proverbial ladder of success.
Unquestionably a great deal of his popularity is due to the
fact that he is handsome, with a deep and appealing voice and loads of the
much-talked of charm. Wherever Vaughn plays one always finds an enthusiastic
audience of jitterbugs and ickies. The youngsters swoon and the adults sigh,
and Vaughn, completely unaffected by his "Big Time" status, sings and plays on
and on, making musical history as he goes.
