Teresa Brewer and Mickey Mantle

Teresa Brewer started out as a spunky novelty vocalist in the 1950s and weathered the rise of rock to emerge as an exuberant jazz singer in the 1970s. Though some find it disconcerting to hear her cutesy, slightly nasal Your Hit Parade-style delivery in a jazz context, at her best she can swing with a loose and easy fervor, aided greatly by the distinguished company she often keeps on her records. Brewer started singing on Major Bowes' Amateur Hour at the age of five and scored her first big hit as a teenager in 1950 with the diabolically catchy "Music! Music! Music!" That dit...