From childhood onward, Sue Raney possessed an exceptional vocal gift that allowed her to explore an unusually wide spectrum of music, encompassing lively jazz, intimate ballads, cabaret, mainstream pop, and advertising jingles. Her mother performed as a vocalist, while a great-great aunt had sung in German opera houses. Raney began to sing at the age of four and gave her first public performance one year later during a party in Wichita, Kansas. Because no instructor would accept such a young student, her mother enrolled in voice lessons herself and later transmitted the techniques to her daughter. Already working professionally before reaching her teens, Raney maintained a steady schedule of engagements in New Mexico after her family moved there and spent several summer vacations in Los Angeles. In 1954 she joined the Jack Carson radio program in Los Angeles at the age of barely fourteen. She next performed on Ray Anthony’s television show and soon became the primary singer with his orchestra. At eighteen she launched a solo career. Prior to that step she had already cut sides for Phillips; she then moved to Capitol, where she cut a series of middle-of-the-road pop sessions colored by jazz phrasing. Throughout the 1960s she appeared frequently on variety programs, fronted her own ensemble, and lent her distinctive voice to numerous studio sessions that promoted commercial products. By the early 1980s she had also begun teaching voice. During the 1990s she performed with the L.A. Voices, Supersax, and the Bill Watrous big band, continued solo appearances, and remained active both as a jazz educator and in recording studios. Her principal jazz albums comprised three releases on Discovery during the 1980s; a VSOP/Studio West CD preserves live performances by the singer from the 1960s.
