Connie Haines – born Yvonne Marie Antoinette Jasme in Savannah, Georgia on January 20, 1921 – was best-known by her work in the big band era with the Harry James Orchestra, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, and Frank Sinatra. However, her career continued long after swing music’s heyday. Her musical career began at the age of four when she performed in Pick Malone’s Saucy Baby Show in her hometown of Savannah. At the age of 9, she had her own radio show, Baby Yvonne Marie, the Little Princess of the Air. After achieving regional success, she was hired by Harry James – who suggested her name change to Connie Haines – and sang with his big band. From 1942 to 1946, she was the lead vocalist on Abbott and Costello’s radio show. She then joined Tommy Dorsey’s band and continued to develop her vocal and performing style. As the Four Girls, Connie Haines joined forces with Jane Russell, Beryl Davis, and Della Russell to perform a spiritual at a charity function, which lead to a recording contract. When television became popular in the early 1950s, she starred in her own short lived show, Connie Haines Entertains, and later did a show with vocalist Frankie Laine. In the 1960s, she hosted the TV show Faith of Our Children and had yet another short-lived series called The Connie Haines Show. In 1965, she signed to Motown Records, one of the first white artists to record for the label. Out of 14 songs recorded, only two – the A and B-side of the singe “What’s Easy for Two Is Hard for One” – were released at the time. While her recorded output can be heard on various recordings from her big band days, there were albums released under her own name including Connie Haines Sings (1951), On Broadway with Connie Haines (1960), I Am What I Am (1984), and more. By the 1970s, Connie Haines had become an ordained minister in California, working with churches in Sacramento and El Cajon. She would perform sporadically but had essentially retired from the entertainment industry. Connie Haines died on September 22, 2008. She was 87 years old.
