Kitty Kallen
Katie "Kitty" Kallen (born May 25, 1921 – January 7, 2016) was an American singer whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1960s, including the Swing era of the Big Band years, the post-World War II pop scene, and the early years of rock 'n roll. Kallen performed with popular big band leaders of the 1940s, including Jimmy Dorsey and Harry James, before establishing a solo career. She is best known for her 1954 solo recording '"Little Things Mean a Lot", a song that stayed at the U.S. Billboard number one spot for nine consecutive weeks and took top honor as 1954's #1 song of the year, charted in the U.S. for almost seven months, hit No. 1 on the UK singles chart, and sold more than two million copies. Voted "most popular female singer" in 1954 in both Billboard and Variety polls, Kallen lost her voice at the London Palladium in 1955 at the top of her career and stopped singing before an audience for four years. After testing her voice under a pseudonym in small town venues, she ultimately returned and went on to achieve 13 top-ten career hits. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Philadelphia (largest city in Pennsylvania, United States), Died January 7, 2016 (Cuernavaca (capital of the State of Morelos, Mexico) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1943 - 1957
Roles Represented in DAHR: vocalist
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 1-25 of 84 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Columbia | HCO1126 | 10-in. | 11/21/1944 | I'm beginning to see the light | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | HCO1200 | 10-in. | 1/3/1945 | I wish I knew | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | HCO1227 | 10-in. | 1/18/1945 | I guess I'll hang my tears out to dry | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | HCO1228 | 10-in. | 1/18/1945 | I don't care who knows it | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | HCO1235 | 10-in. | 1/22/1945 | 11:60 P.M. | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | HCO1273 | 10-in. | 2/14/1945 | Yah-ta-ta, yah-ta-ta | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | HCO1371 | 10-in. | 4/25/1945 | Oh, brother! | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | HCO1409 | 10-in. | 5/30/1945 | I'll buy that dream | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | HCO1594 | 10-in. | 11/7/1945 | Baby, what you do to me | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | RHCO10147 | 10-in. | 3/12/1952 | To be loved by you | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | RHCO10148 | 10-in. | 3/12/1952 | Like the moon above you | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | RHCO10149 | 10-in. | 3/12/1952 | When I dream (I always dream of you) | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | RHCO10150 | 10-in. | 3/12/1952 | Still you'd break my heart | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CO35081 | 10-in. | 7/24/1945 | It's been a long, long time | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CO35098 | 10-in. | 8/7/1945 | The wonder of you | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Columbia | CO35107 | 10-in. | 8/20/1945 | Waitin' for the train to come in | Harry James Orchestra ; Kitty Kallen | Jazz/dance band, with female vocal solo | vocalist | |
| Decca | 84907 | 7/27/1953 | Are you looking for a sweetheart | Kitty Kallen | vocalist | |||
| Decca | 84908 | 7/27/1953 | Lonely | Kitty Kallen | vocalist | |||
| Decca | 84909 | 7/27/1953 | Heartless heart | Kitty Kallen | vocalist | |||
| Decca | 84910 | 7/27/1953 | A little lie | Kitty Kallen | vocalist | |||
| Decca | 85625 | 12/30/1953 | Take everything but you | Kitty Kallen | vocalist | |||
| Decca | 85626 | 12/30/1953 | Little things mean a lot | Kitty Kallen | vocalist | |||
| Decca | 85627 | 12/30/1953 | I don't think you love me anymore | Kitty Kallen | vocalist | |||
| Decca | 85628 | 12/30/1953 | In the chapel in the moonlight | Kitty Kallen | vocalist | |||
| Decca | 86515 | 7/2/1954 | It's not the whistle (that pulls the train) | Kitty Kallen | vocalist |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Kallen, Kitty," accessed December 28, 2025, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/324526.
Kallen, Kitty. (2025). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved December 28, 2025, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/324526.
"Kallen, Kitty." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2025. Web. 28 December 2025.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Kitty Kallen
Discogs: Kitty Kallen
Allmusic: Kitty Kallen
Apple Music: Kitty Kallen
IMDb: Kitty Kallen
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Kallen, Kitty - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n91098204
Wikidata: Kitty Kallen - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q508305
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/54332839
MusicBrainz: Kitty Kallen - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/0822ea07-20f8-4740-a97a-a827cb6ce883
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1501499 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/1501499
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