Mary Vartanian, Yandim Tokat Yandim Cifte Telli/Elmaz Yusuk Parmakda Karsilama
Name/Title
Mary Vartanian, Yandim Tokat Yandim "Cifte Telli"/Elmaz Yusuk Parmakda "Karsilama"Description
“Sugar Mary” Vartanian was born in Ankara, Turkey in 1906/7. After her father was murdered during the Armenian Genocide in 1915, she and her mother moved to Istanbul, then to France, where she married at 14. Her husband, a New Yorker working in the Garment District, had traveled to Beirut to find a bride. Disillusioned when he discovered the family had shown him a different girl’s photograph, he left and met Mary in Marseilles—it was love at first sight, she said. By the early 1930s, Mary was performing at New York’s Egyptian Gardens, one of several popular cabarets like the Port Said, Britania, and Ali Baba. Her lively performances, often singing with wooden spoons, quickly made her a favorite on the East Coast. She also performed at Armenian resorts in the Catskills’ “Yogurt Belt,” where she earned the nickname “Sheker Mary” (Turkish for “sugar”). Reflecting on her time there in 1997, she said, “I’d teach children the old Armenian songs and kiss their mothers’ hands, and one mother said I was sweet as sugar.” Vartanian recorded four songs for the Kaliphon label in the late 1940s and sang three songs on George Mgrdician's LP "East of Athens" (Prestige INT 13079) released in the mid-'60s. On this album, sung in Turkish, she is accompanied by Nick Doneff on violin, Marko Melkon on oud, and unknown zill (finger cymbals) and trambuka (dumbek).Audio Format
78 RPM RecordRecording Type
MusicCategory
Vinyl Record