Evelyn Knight (singer)
| Evelyn Knight | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Born |
31 December 1917 Reedville, Virginia |
| Died | 28 September 2007 (aged 89) San Jose, California |
Evelyn Knight (December 31, 1917, Reedville, Virginia – September 28, 2007, San Jose, California) was a popular American singer of the 1940s and 1950s. Damon Runyon, in one of his newspaper columns, described Knight as "a lissome blonde lassie with a gentle little voice and a face mother would not mind having brought home to her."
Knight was born Evelyn Davis. Her father was "head of a geodetic survey for the government," and she sang soprano in the young people's choir in a church in her hometown of Reedville, Virginia. After her father's death, Knight and her mother moved to Arlington County, Virginia, in 1926.
When she was 16, she sang in Washington nightclubs billed as Honey Davis. At the age of 18, she married Andrew B. Knight, a war photographer for the Washington Post, and became professionally known as Evelyn Knight.
During a seven-year span in the late 1940s and 1950, Knight had two No. 1 hit records and 13 that made the Top 40. Her debut recording was "Dance With a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stocking)" for Decca Records in 1945. It became a Top 10 hit.
In 1948, she recorded the million-seller "A Little Bird Told Me" with The Stardusters, which was #1 for seven weeks and stayed on the charts for five months. Later that year she recorded "Powder Your Face with Sunshine"; which also reached #1 and remained on the charts well into the following year.
She had other hits including "Buttons and Bows" in 1948, which Bob Hope also sang in the film The Paleface. A list of some of her hits appears below. In 1950, she released "Candy and Cake", originally sung by Mindy Carson, and "All Dressed Up to Smile" with the Ray Charles singers. In 1951, she recorded a duet with country singer Red Foley called "My Heart Cries for You," as well as a pair of titles with Bing Crosby (see link below).
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