Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers were an American smooth harmony popular music singing group of the mid-20th century consisting of Carroll (a female singer) and the Satisfiers (three male singers, Bob Lange, Ted Hansen and Art Lambert) Helen Carroll was the stage name of Helen Kress ( né Fulk) (May 23, 1914,

Bloomington, Indiana Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...

– February 21, 2011, Rye, New Hampshire) She began her singing career as a teenager on radio in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. Carroll returned to Indiana and enrolled at the Indiana University for college, but left school in her senior year to pursue a career in broadcasting. She settled in New York with hopes of working on Broadway, making her debut in the chorus of the short lived

Geoffrey O'Hara Geoffrey O'Hara (February 2, 1882 – January 31, 1967) was a Canadian American composer, singer and music professor. Early life O'Hara was born in Chatham, Ontario, Canada. He initially planned a military career. O'Hara entered the Royal Milit ...

musical ''Rogues and Vagabonds'' in 1930. Her appearances on Broadway were sporadic, including the roles of Daphne in

Arthur Schwartz Arthur Schwartz (November 25, 1900 – September 3, 1984) was an American composer and film producer, widely noted for his songwriting collaborations with Howard Dietz. Biography Early life Schwartz was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on Nov ...

's ''

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

'' (1937), the Citizen of New Amsterdam in '' Knickerbocker Holiday'' (1938-1939), and a woman tourist in ''

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected by ...

'' (1939). She found regular employment performing after auditioning for a group called the Merry Macs. With

the Merry Macs The Merry Macs were an American close-harmony pop music quartet active from the 1920s till the 1960s and best known for the hits " Mairzy Doats", "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" and " Sentimental Journey". The group also sang on recording ...

, she appeared on

Fred Allen John Florence Sullivan (May 31, 1894 – March 17, 1956), known professionally as Fred Allen, was an American comedian. His absurdist, topically pointed radio program ''The Fred Allen Show'' (1932–1949) made him one of the most popular and for ...

's show and in the movie '' Love Thy Neighbor''. Carroll left the group when it relocated to California; she signed on with the Satisfiers only after the group promised to remain in New York. Carroll was married to guitarist

Carl Kress Carl Kress (October 20, 1907 – June 10, 1965) was an American jazz guitarist. Music career Kress started on piano before picking up the banjo. Beginning in 1926, he played guitar during his brief period in Paul Whiteman's orchestra. For most ...

; the couple had a son, Rick, who became a drummer, and went on to become a professor of harmony at Berklee College of Music. Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers were regulars on Perry Como's '' Chesterfield Supper Club'' which ran from 1944 to 1949. (One of Chesterfield's long-term advertising taglines was "They Satisfy", and the Satisfiers were named on this basis.) With or without Carroll, the Satisfiers also backed Como on some recordings. Most of the group's recording on their own were made with trumpeter Russ Case's orchestra for instrumental accompaniment. Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers' recording of "Old Buttermilk Sky" reached #7 on the ''Billboard'' top-selling retail records chart for November 23, 1946 (there was no unified

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streamin ...

chart yet, but the retail sales chart is sometimes (although not always) considered the nearest approximation). ''Billboard'' described the record as exhibiting "easy flowing melodies and rhythms" which "fall easy on the ears" making for a "bright and breezy" performance. This recording also appeared on ''Billboards chart of songs most played on jukeboxes. Helen Carroll and the Satisfiers performed the theme song for the

Little Lulu ''Little Lulu'' is a comic strip created in 1935 by American author Marjorie Henderson Buell. The character, Lulu Moppet, debuted in ''The Saturday Evening Post'' on February 23, 1935, in a single panel, appearing as a flower girl at a wedding ...

theatrical animated shorts. The song was written by Buddy Kaye, Fred Wise, and

Sidney Lippman Sidney Lippman (March 1, 1914 – March 11, 2003) was a composer and songwriter. He wrote the music for Nat King Cole's 1951 No. 1 hit "Too Young". "Too Young (popular song), Too Young's" words were written by Sylvia Dee, a lyricist and longtim ...

for the series, of which 26 episodes were produced by Famous Studios for Paramount Pictures between 1943 and 1948. Helen Carroll with an ad-hoc group called the Swantones backed Frank Sinatra on one 1950 single, "Life is So Peculiar".

Discography

;Singles *"Connee Boswell" with the Satisfiers ("Who'll Lend Me A Rainbow" Decca 18689 and "When I Come Back Crying/You Can't Say I Didn't Try" Coral 60040) -1945 *"Perry Como with the Satisfiers & Russ Case Orchestra ("Dig You Later" also titled "A Hubba-Hubba-Hubba") Victor 20-1750, October 1945 *"(L'il Abner) Don't Marry That Girl!" / "The Boogie Woogie Barnyard" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor 20-1928, 1946) *"Let's Sail to Dreamland" / "Ole Buttermilk Sky" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor 20-1952, 1946) *"Who'd A Thunk It" / "(Why, Oh Why, Did I Ever Leave) Wyoming?" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor 20-2191, 1947) *"Smoke Dreams" / "Do You Love Me Just As Much As Ever?" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (RCA Victor 20-2300, 1947) *"Love Is So Terrific (Ouch! Terrific Thing)" / "A Little Consideration" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (RCA Victor 20-2672, 1948) *"Shauny O'Shea" / "

" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor 20-2673, 1948) *"Big Brass Band from Brazil" / "The Secretary Song (Bidibi Bot Bot)" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (Victor, 1948) *"Takin' Miss Mary to the Ball" / "Walk A Little, Talk A Little" (with the Russ Case Orchestra) (RCA Victor 20-2868, 1948) *"Raggedy Ann" / "Highway to Love" (Victor 20-2915, 1948) ;Compilations *"Auld Lang Syne" (featuring Beryl Davis; with Russ Case & His Orchestra) on ''The Very Best of Beryl Davis'' (2012, Stardust Records) *"I'm Always Chasing Rainbows" (featuring Perry Como) on ''Adapting the Classics'' (2013, Sounds of Yesteryear) *'' Perry Como At the Supper Club'' *'' Perry Como At the Supper Club Part II'' *'' Perry Como At the Supper Club Part III'' *'' Jo Stafford at the Supper Club'' *'' Jo Stafford at the Supper Club Part II'' *'' Jo Stafford at the Supper Club Part III'' ;Compilations (Helen Carroll with the Swantones) *"Life is So Peculiar" (featuring Frank Sinatra) on ''Frank Sinatra Sings Songs From the Movies'' (2003, Sony Music Distribution #70081)

References

Notes

{{The Chesterfield Supper Club Musical groups established in the 1940s American vocal groups