Singer Margaret Whiting was born with a silver tuning fork in her hand. Her father, Songwriter Richard A. Whiting (Till We Meet Again, Japanese Sandman, Sleepy Time Gal) was already a big moneymaker in the Pianola, windup phonograph and battery-radio era of popular music. Her aunt and namesake, raucous-voiced Vaudevillian Margaret Young, introduced such ragtime hits as Nobody's Sweetheart Now and Way Down Yonder in New Orleans. Sophie Tucker was little Margaret's red-hot godmamma.
Last week plump, 25-year-old Maggie Whiting herself was one of the big names in popular music. Her recording of Slipping Around, made with Western Singer Jimmy Wakely, was...