Mavis Rivers - Take a Number / Hooray for Love

Mavis Rivers (1929-1992) was a Samoan-born singer. She used her lovely voice with telling effect, relying not on power, but on outstanding pop phrasing with authentic jazz feeling, and could handle just about any mood or tempo.

When Capitol released her first album, "Take a Number," in May 1959, she was unknown, unheralded; sales were not good, but airplay was great. Disc jockeys were overwhelmed by her refreshing style, comparing her to Ella Fitzgerald; for many she was the best singer to come along in a long, long time. Both the Billboard and Cash Box Disc Jockey Polls placed her among the "Most Promising New Female Vocalists of 1959." In the same category, she won a Grammy nomination.

Early in 1960, Capitol released her second album "Hooray for Love," and also a single, and backed them with the full strength of its promotional efforts. Quality was the hallmark of her singing, and with the arrangements of Nelson Riddle, Jack Marshall, Bob Thompson and Dick Reynolds, she rose to the varied challenges of these albums to run the gamut of her stylistic, emotional and interpretive range to reveal the extent of her memorable talent.