Westbrook’s Rudy Vallee “Let every loyal Maine man sing

by Charles Francis T hat Rudy Vallee, the first great American popular singer, had connections to Maine is a wellknown fact. Vallee crooned in the tradition of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, who were to succeed him. After all, he was the singer who made The Maine Stein Song famous. Many people believe because of this that Vallee was a Maine native. While he and his sister Kathleen, who was actually the more polished musician, grew up at 36 Munroe Avenue in Westbrook, both were actually born in Vermont. Also, many believe that because Vallee made The Maine Stein Song one of his signature pieces that he was a graduate of the University of Maine. This is a misconception too, for while Vallee did attend the University of Maine, he actually graduated from Yale. In addition, because of his making The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi a hit song and the fact that Sigma Chi fraternity was founded at the University of Maine, many believe Vallee was a member of Sigma Chi. This, too, is a misconception, as Vallee joined Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity when he attended the University of Maine. Even given these facts, however, Rudy Vallee was indeed a Mainer, albeit not a native. Vallee spent his formative years as well as a fair portion of his adult life in Maine.

Hubert Prior “Rudy” and Kathleen Vallee were born in Island Pond, Ver-

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mont. When the two were barely out of infancy, the Vallee family moved to Westbrook where their father, Charles, opened a pharmacy. Rudy and Kathleen graduated from Westbrook High School. Rudy, however, quit for a brief period. In 1917, he lied about his age — he was fifteen — and enlisted in the Navy. When the Navy found out how old he was, it immediately discharged him and he returned to Westbrook and high school.

Rudy and Kathleen Vallee were both academically gifted students as well as talented musicians. Both were multilingual, speaking French, Spanish and Italian. Rudy’s first instrument was the drums, which he played in the Westbrook High School Band. He later took up the clarinet and finally the saxophone, which was his instrument as a bandleader. Kathleen’s instrument was the piano. She went on to classical training in Montreal and at the prestigious Institute of Paris. After studying

in Paris, she returned to Westbrook and taught piano and served as accompanist for the nationally known Chopin Trio. For much of her adult life, she was a member of the Chopin Club of Westbrook.

While Rudy Vallee was still a student at Westbrook High School he began to study the clarinet on his own. He was so successful with it that he was soon playing in the Westbrook City Band. Then, in 1919 he heard a saxophone recording by Rudy Wiedoeft, one of the popular bandleaders of the period. From that time on, he made the saxophone his instrument of choice, practicing some six to eight hours a day. Within a year he was playing at the Strand Theater in Portland. Vallee entered the University of Maine in 1921. Because of his constant playing of Rudy Wiedoeft recordings, his Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity brothers began calling him Rudy, the name he (cont. on page 26)

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would eventually use as a performer. After one year at the University of Maine, Vallee transferred to Yale.

Vallee paid for his education at Yale by playing at local country clubs, social events, and school dances. He also joined the Yale Collegians, one of the premier college vaudeville troops in the country. It was with the Yale Collegians that Vallee first began to sing. It was while the Collegians were on a vaudeville tour across the United States that Vallee began to use what would become his trademark, the megaphone. He did this to enhance his relatively weak voice. Within a few years, a number of other popular singers of the time would copy Vallee.

At the end of his junior year, Vallee dropped out of college and went to London where he played with a band at the posh Savoy Hotel. During his stay in London he made his first recordings (cont. from page 25) with the English Victor Company. After a year he returned to Yale, graduating in 1926.

After a brief stay in Boston, Vallee went to New York to become the featured saxophonist and vocalist for the Bolton and Cipriano Orchestra. He would later become the leader of that orchestra. In 1929 Vallee had his first real brush with fame when WABC began daily broadcasts of the orchestra. From this point on, Vallee’s star was on the rise. The same year that he and his band started on WABC, they went to Hollywood to appear in the film Vagabond Lover. What made Rudy Vallee the first great American crooner was the development of the microphone. Prior to this, the most popular singers had been the ones who belted out songs like Al Jolson and Sophie Tucker. With the advances in electronic technology, it now became possible for singers with soft deliveries like Vallee and later Bing Crosby to be heard easily.

Rudy Vallee went on to star in countless movies, including How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying with Robert Morse, have his own radio show which introduced such future stars as Bob Hope and Edgar Bergan and Charlie McCarthy to America, and featured established stars like Groucho Marks and Lionel Barrymore, and make countless hit records. For the people of Maine, especially graduates of the University of Maine, however, Rudy Vallee will always be associated with The Maine Stein Song, which he first made famous, and which contains the words “Let every loyal Maine man sing.”

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