Maxine Ware


MAXINE WARE

MAXINE WARE
Date of passing: February 25, 2013

At the height of the devastating 1950 Winnipeg flood, a novelty recording by Marsh Phimister & His Orchestra entitled “Sandbags, Sandbags, Sandbags”, recorded at CKY radio’s Main Street studio and sung to the tune of the recent Teresa Brewer pop hit “Music! Music! Music!”, was released on a 78 rpm disk with profits earmarked for the flood relief fund. It received considerable play on local radio stations and helped to rally the public. Of greater musical interest, however, was the B-side, “Give Me A Little Time” sung evocatively by Maxine Ware backed by Marsh and his band. A true gem.

Maxine Ware was born Evelyn Jones in Drumheller, Alberta. Her grandfather was a teacher who was brought from Oklahoma to teach the children of the miners in the community. Her brother became Canadian welter weight boxing champion in 1939. Her brother-in-law received the Order of Canada for winning an Olympic medal. Raised in Vancouver, her career began serendipitously when as a teenager when she attended a Benny Carter band show in Seattle. Carter was one of the biggest names in jazz and big bands at the time. During their set, the singer lost his voice. Benny asked for volunteers from the audience and Maxine gamely stepped up. Suitably impressed with her natural vocal talent, Benny invited her to tour with the band as singer. She was hired on the spot. Changing her name to Maxine Ware, she toured with the Benny Carter band for two years crisscrossing the United States. She appeared with the band at the legendary Apollo Theatre in Harlem and performed on bills with Lena Horne and Nat King Cole.

When Maxine became ill from the rigours of the road in 1945, her sister brought her back to Canada. On the way to Vancouver, Maxine stopped in Winnipeg to visit a family member. Lionel Hampton was in town doing a show. Lionel and Maxine had both worked with Benny Carter so when he heard that Maxine was in town, he invited her to sing with him. Monty Halparin (later Let’s Make A Deal’s Monty Hall) was in the audience. Monty was working at radio station CKRC and offered Maxine work singing commercial jingles. In short order Maxine was recording jingles and appearing at supper clubs around town including the Rancho Don Carlos backed by the Paul Grosney Band. “She really had class,” recalls drummer Wayne Finucan. “She was a wonderful person.”

After a 1947 appearance on CBC radio’s Rhythm and Romance backed by Mitch Parks on piano, Maxine became a regular on several locally-produced CBC radio and television music shows including José Ponéira’s show, A Song For You ¹, and Cabaret ² starring alongside Ann McLeod, Del Wagner and host Marsh Phimister backed by the Mitch Parks Orchestra. The show, billed as “music and dance in a cabaret style” ran Thursday evenings at 8:00 pm in the fall of 1955. Maxine was then tapped to be a regular on The Jack Duffy Show in Toronto singing alongside Robert Goulet. She later returned to Winnipeg in the early 1960s and worked for twenty years as the hostess at the International Inn. Her son Chuck James, having been an early member of local rock band The Shondels, went on to become a noted drummer in Los Angeles and now owns a series of music schools in Hawaii.

Excerpt from “Heart of Gold: A History of Winnipeg Music", (pages 119 and 120) by John Einarson published 2021

On November 23, 1994, the Winnipeg Free Press published an article on Page 74, under the Community Review section, titled Heady Days In Old Nightclubs Live Vividly In Singer's Memory. Manfred Jager interviewed Maxine Ware, who was then 70 years old and a resident in a Charleswood senior's complex. View PDF ARTICLE HERE .


L-R: Paul Grosney, Maxine Ware, Al Johnson, Ray Moga, Wally Townes. The Paul Grosney Band performing at the Rancho Don Carlos, 650 Pembina Highway, Winnipeg, mid 1950s. Owen Clark Collection. Photo contributed to the Manitoba Museum. Photo by Clark Popham. Photo ID: OC-MBMuseum1.	Maxine Ware Owen Clark Collection. Photo contributed by Maxine Ware. Photo ID: OC-MW5.

During the 1950s and 1960s, CBC ran the following musical variety shows in which Maxine appeared.

Cabaret - 1955. This was the first variety show produced in Winnipeg.

The Music of Eric Wild - 1961. Half-hour program taped in Winnipeg, and featuring music by a seventeen piece orchestra conducted by Eric Wild. Guests included vocalists such as Maxine Ware, Florence Faiers, Len Cariou, Evelyn Snider, and Ed Evanko, and Marta Hidy on violin, and Mitch Parks on piano.

A Song for You - 1962 to 1964. Fifteen minute musical variety show from Winnipeg starring pianist/vocalist José Ponéira, who led a combo made up of Lenny Breau on guitar, Robert Gross on drums, and James Cordepal on bass. Each program revolved around a single idea or musical style, illustrated by the musical selections. Vocalist Maxine Ware appeared every other week, and the show welcomed local guest artists or musicians who were appearing in Winnipeg, where the show was produced.

BACK TO OBITUARY INDEX