Musical Marilyn

In the majority of cases if you ask someone what they think Marilyn Monroe was best known for, you would get a selection of answers ranging from actress to pinup model but it’s unlikely that you would get the answer ‘singing’ Marilyn’s singing talent has been immensely underrated both during and after her lifetime and yet she still sells records, CDs and mobile phone ring tones!  

Marilyn is still in the top 10 highest earning dead celebrities list earning an estimated $8 million a year - some of this revenue is from record sales.  

Marilyn’s passion for music began at an early age, Norma Jeane enjoyed singing at Sunday school and her favourite hymn was Jesus Loves Me, This I Know (see lyrics below) 

Jesus Loves Me This I Know

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong;
They are weak, but He is strong.
 
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
Yes, Jesus loves me!
The Bible tells me so.

Jesus loves me! This I know,
As He loved so long ago,
Taking children on His knee,
Saying, “Let them come to Me.”

Jesus loves me still today,
Walking with me on my way,
Wanting as a friend to give
Light and love to all who live.

Jesus loves me! He who died
Heaven’s gate to open wide;
He will wash away my sin,
Let His little child come in.

Jesus loves me! He will stay
Close beside me all the way;
Thou hast bled and died for me,
I will henceforth live for Thee.

At the age of five Gladys arranged piano lessons for her daughter with a music teacher called Marion Miller. Whilst the young Norma Jeane did her best, she never managed to achieve total competency but as and adult, was able to use her piano skills whilst filming the chopsticks scene during the Seven Year Itch with Tom Ewell. It was the only scene in the entire film that Marilyn managed to successfully complete in one take!   

It seems that the piano became a symbol of the happier side of her childhood. Whilst living on Arbol Street with Norma Jeane, Gladys purchased a white baby grand piano at auction, which was said to have belonged to the actor Fredric March. Unfortunately, Gladys was unable to maintain life outside of the institution for long and with Gladys’s return to care the piano was sold. As an adult, for years after Marilyn searched for the very same piano and eventually was able to locate it and buy it back. The piano remained with Marilyn through various apartment/house moves, until the end of her life. As part of the Strasberg inheritance, the piano was sold at the Christies auction in 1999.

In 2006, the singer Mariah Carey purchased the piano for $600,000 stating that after her death it will go to a museum, where she felt it should have gone in the first place. Hopefully Mariah will not wait until she dies to share this treasure but place it with a reputable museum, then we might all be able to enjoy it with her!

Grace McKee Goddard encouraged the young Norma Jeane in her interest in music. In 1939 she gave her a portable wind-up Victrola gramophone on which Norma Jeane constantly played Glenn Miller albums.

As Marilyn grew, so did her love of music and it was through music that she found the first real love of her life, voice coach Fred Karger (it may be interesting to note that Karger died on 5^th August 1979) he was the music supervisor on Ladies of The Chorus in 1948 and Marilyn’s coach (more about Karger coming soon on Influential People).

In 1949 whilst posing on the sumptuous red velvet for her nude sitting with Tom Kelley the background music playing at the time was Artie Shaws “Begin the Beguine” It has often been documented that Marilyn’s favourite musical artists Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong. She was also enamoured with Mozart, Beethoven and Vivaldi she had very eclectic taste in music. In 1956 when asked what music she liked she replied “I like, well jazz, like Louis Armstrong, and Beethoven”.

Frank Sinatra	Ella Fitzgerald	Louis Armstrong - Photo by Herb Snitzer

During 1953, Marilyn signed a record deal with RCA but only three songs from There’s No Business Like Show Business were released. After her death they released  ‘A Fine Romance’

Marilyn was reported to have had an affair with another of her voice coaches -  Hal Schaefer, who worked with her on There’s No Business Like Show Business,  Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and River of No Return. Schaefer said of Marilyn:

“She loved to sing, she sang well and she just adored her idol, Ella. The most important influence on Marilyn’s vocal art was in fact a recording I gave her called ‘Ella sings Gershwin…”

“I always felt she never really achieved her potential as a singer – I felt she could have been a really good singer. I gave her Ella Fitzgerald albums to listen to for homework, and she fell in love with Ella. She had great potential and never realized it”

It could be considered an accolade to Marilyn’s musical talent that a lot of people believed Marilyn’s singing voice in her films was dubbed. After allegations to that effect by Dorothy Kilgallen, Darryl Zanuck- Fox Studio Chief,  swore an affidavit to say that all Marilyn’s singing was her own!

Many compilation albums have come out over the years and as a matter of note ‘When I Fall in Love’ appears on many of these albums (in fact it appears on all the ones I have and I own about 6) as soon as you hear it you just absolutely know it’s not Marilyn – it transpires that the voice belonged to Sandra Dee!

One of Marilyn’s last major events before her death was to sing for John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Gardens on 19^th May 1962, where she totally brought the house down with her unique rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’

According to Eunice Murray, Marilyn was in the habit of listening to Judy Garland’s recording of ‘Who Cares’ this would help her relax and prepare for a forthcoming event. It was a Judy Garland song that was a favourite of Marilyn’s, which was chosen for her funeral ‘Over the Rainbow’

Click here for Marilyn's Song List