Louise Tobin

This audio only interview was conducted for a radio program by Dan Del Fiorentino and donated to the NAMM Oral History program: Louise Tobin was a popular singer during the golden years of the Big Band Swing era. She performed with such bands as those led by Jack Jenney, Will Bradley, Benny Goodman, Bobby Hackett, Ben Pollack and Ziggy Elman. Louise was born in Texas and was singing on stage by the time she was 12 years old. She joined the Art Hicks in 1935 in Dallas before joining the very successful dance band of Ben Pollack in 1937. In the meanwhile, she married trumpeter Harry James and had two sons. For her second marriage, she wed clarinetist Peanuts Hucko for whom she toured and recorded with beginning in the 1960s. When Peanuts led the Glenn Miller band in the early 1970s, Louise toured and recorded with the band including the song “There’ll Be Some Changes Made.” She lived to be 104 years old.