BOB EBERLY was born on July 24, 1916 in Mechanicville, New York. He was quite succesful in his day as a big band vocalist, best known for his association with Jimmy Dorsey and his duets with Helen O'Connell.

Born Robert Eberle, he changed the spelling of his surname slightly to Eberly. His younger brother Ray Eberle was also a big-band singer, most notably with Glenn Miller's orchestra. Their father, John A. Eberle, was a policeman, sign-painter, and publican (tavern-keeper). Another brother, Al, was a Hoosick Falls, New York village trustee.

Bob Eberly worked with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra from 1935 until going into the military in 1943. In 1938, he recorded "It's The Dreamer in Me". Still with Jimmy Dorsey in the early 1940s, Eberly scored another hit while paired with Helen O'Connell on "Green Eyes". The following year found Bob Eberly recording the original version of "I'm Glad There Is You", which subsequently became a jazz and pop standard. Other hit records included "Besame Mucho" with Kitty Kallen in 1944).  He recorded with Enoch Light in the mid-1950s.

Eberly was married to Florine Callahan from January 23, 1940 until his death at Glen Burnie, Maryland in 1981; the couple had 3 children. In 1980 Eberly had one lung removed but still continued to sing. He died of a heart attack at the age of 65 on November 17, 1981.

CHUBBY'S CAFE 
Mt. Ephraim Avenue & Collings Road, West Collingsowood NJ January 1950

Bob Eberly appeared at Chubby's Cafe on Mt. Ephraim Avenue and Collings Road on the first two weekends in January of 1950. Also on the bill at Chubbys on those dates were The Four Blues with Arthur Davey and the house orchestra, and the Frank Virtuoso Band, perhaps better known somewhat later as Frank Virtue and the Virtues. Over the next six weeks the Frank Virtuoso Band shared the stage with Savannah Churchill, June Christy, Art Lund, Bill Darnel, Dick Todd, Billy Hays, Eve Young, Emilie Longacre, Artie Russell's New Yorkers, and the Doles Dickens Quintet. .

New York Times

September 18, 1981

BOB EBERLY, SINGER, IS DEAD; STAR WITH DORSEY BIG BANDS

GLEN BURNIE, Md., Nov. 17 (AP)— Bob Eberly, a popular Swing Era singer who performed with the Dorsey brothers and helped make famous such songs as ''Tangerine'' and ''Green Eyes,'' died Tuesday at his daughter's home in Glen Burnie. He was 65 years old.

Mr. Eberly's career spanned 45 years and included concerts and nightclub performances throughout the United States and abroad. His last engagement was about 18 months ago at the Top of the World in Disney World, Fla., only weeks before he underwent surgery for removal of his right lung. Mr. Eberly had been suffering from cancer, and he had sustained four heart attacks as a result of chemotherapy treatment, family members said.

The songs he helped make famous also include ''Amapola,'' ''Yours,'' ''Blue Champagne,'' ''The Breeze and I'' and ''I've Grown Accustomed to Your Face.'' The recordings of these others songs he made popular each sold more than 2 million copies, according to friends and relatives. 

Career Began at 17

A native of Mechanicsville, N.Y., Mr. Eberly was 17 and just out of high school when he started singing with one of the biggest of all the so-called Big Bands, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.

When the two brothers went their separate ways some years later, Mr. Eberly remained with Jimmy Dorsey while Tommy Dorsey hired a promising young singer, Frank Sinatra.

On radio and during the early days of television, Mr. Eberly was a contemporary of Perry Como and Arthur Godfrey, and when the two singers got their own television shows Mr. Eberly was a regular guest.

He recorded ''Green Eyes'' with an orchestra and Helen O'Connell, the best-known female vocalist of the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. Mr. Eberly and his wife of 40 years, the former Florine Callahan, lived in Great Neck, L.I., since the mid-1960's, and they were planning to spend at least several weeks at the Glen Burnie home of one of his two daughters, Kathleen Wheeler.

Surviving, besides Mr. Eberly's wife and daughter, are another daughter, Rene M. Eberly, of Hicksville, N.Y., and a son, Bob Eberly Jr., of Greenwich, Conn. Six brothers and sisters also survive.

Recordings with the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra

Bob Eberly

Only A Rose

1938

Bob Eberly

It's The Dreamer in Me

1940

Bob Eberly

The Breeze and I

1941

Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell

Green Eyes

1941

Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell

Time Was

1941

Bob Eberly

All Alone and Lonely

1941

Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell

It Happened in Hawaii

1942

Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell

If You Build A Better Mousetrap

1942

Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell

Tangerine

1941

Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell

Amapola

1941

Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell

Yours

1941

Bob Eberly & Helen O'Connell

Blue Champagne

Bob Eberly

I Understand

Bob Eberly & Kitty Kallen

Besame Mucho

Recordings with Enoch Light 

1956

Bob Eberly

I've Grow Accustomed To Your Face