James Melton papers, 1920-1960

James Melton, 1904-1961, was a professional vocalist, a popular tenor whose career in radio, television, concert, opera, and motion pictures extended from the late 1920s through the 1950s. He began in radio with NBC in "Roxy's Gang" in 1927. He toured Europe with the Reveler's Quartet and in 1934 toured 28 cities with George Gershwin. His operatic debut was in 1938 as Pinkerton in "Madam Butterfly". In the 1940s he was a leading tenor on network shows such as "Texaco Star Theater", "The Telephone Hour", and the "Harvest of Stars". Though he sang leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera, 1942-1950, he was best known for his performances on weekly radio shows like the "Ford Festival TIme", 1951-1952, singing with the Dave Brockman Orchestra among others. His repertoire, a mixture of popular songs, arias, ballads, and folk songs, was said to consist of more than 2,200 selections. He collected many of the original orchestrations for his songs.