'Shine On Harvest Moon' Ruth Etting America's Sweetheart of Song

Ruth Etting

America's Sweetheart of Song, Ruth Etting, was born November 23rd, 1897 in the town of David City Nebraska.  

According to Wikipedia, my favorite source on the web for Biographical material:

Ruth Etting left David City at the age of seventeen to attend art school in Chicago. Her job designing costumes at the Marigold Gardens nightclub led to employment singing and dancing in the chorus there.

She became a featured vocalist at the nightclub, and married gangster Martin "Moe the Gimp" Snyder on July 12, 1922. He managed her career, booking radio appearances, and eventually had her signed to an exclusive recording contract with Columbia Records.

She made her Broadway debut in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927. She went on to appear in a number of other hit shows in rapid succession, including Simple Simon and Whoopee!. In Hollywood, she made a long series of movie shorts between 1929 and 1936, and three feature movies in 1933 and 1934. In 1936, she appeared in London in Ray Henderson's Transatlantic Rhythm.

Ruth on Cover of Radio Mirror

Back to Me:

She had over 60 recordings in her career.  Well known for 'Shine On Harvest Moon'  as well as her hit, 'Get Happy' from her Broadway appearance in 'Nine-fifteen Review', she was a household name. 

She was in over 20 short films through the mid thirties as well as 4 feature films.  The best known is her debut in 'Roman Scandals' with Eddie Cantor and Gloria Stuart.  

She sang, 'Shine On Harvest Moon' while in the Ziegfeld Follies, reviving the tune.  This tune has survived big time through the ages, and has even been recorded by an 8 year old Britney Spears on Mickey Mouse Club, and as recently as 2012 by Lon Milo DuQuette on the Baba Lon II release which includes 11 originals as well. 

There was scandal though, involving her marriage and divorce of gangster MOE the Gimp Snyder.  After their divorce in 1937, she fell in love with her pianist, Myrl Alderman.  He was shot by her ex, the gangster.

 Hospitalized, after two gun shot wounds, he would survive the attack.  Ruth and Myrl married, despite the fact that he was 10 years her junior.  Moe did 1 year in jail. The scandal effectively ended her career.

The images abound on image search, and her discography is hefty for a woman of that time.  She lived well, and passed away at the age of 80 in Colorado Springs in 1978.  

She had so many songs I could choose to share, but as this is the Ukulele Blog, lol, and we have all played this song so many times in the learning of our instrument, I thought it fitting to place this one in the archive for future enjoyment!

Here are some images of cover shots on sheet music featuring Ruth Etting. 

Again, there were so many to choose from but I reduced it to three, and now you can investigate this interesting woman further.  Look her up on youtube for big surprises!

                                                        Shine On Harvest Moon.  

And one more for nostalgia's sake.  Just loved this recording of 'Love Me Or Leave Me'.  One of those voice captures that is so elegant.  This one also has some great photos of Ruth Etting.  If you go on youtube and pull her name up with the word FILM attached, you can actually watch some of the very first musical shorts she was in.  I can't believe how they could get a whole story in to a small ten to twenty minute film.  

                                                           Love Me Or Leave Me