Gladys Sands

Gladys in the late 1930s with the Great Lakes Girls' Orchestra

Gladys Sands (nee Smith) (born November 1923) is a Canadian singer, dancer, and musician. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she was a professional singer between the ages of 15 and 22, performing with the Great Lakes Girls' Orchestra out of Fort William, Ontario and on live radio. In 1940, she was personally selected by Benny Goodman to join his band after his singer Martha Tilton fell ill — but her widowed father refused permission. The singer Goodman chose in her place was Peggy Lee. [3,4]

Known as "Glam Gram" or "GG" to her grandchildren, Sands returned to performing after retirement at age 65 and continued singing until 96. [3,5]

Childhood in Winnipeg

Gladys Smith was born in Winnipeg in November 1923. As a child she took piano, ballet, tap, highland dance, and singing lessons. Her first public performance was at age three, when she sang "Side by Side" at the Royal Alexandra Hotel, accompanied by her brother on piano. She entertained regularly after that with the "Winnipeg Kiddies." [3]

She speaks fondly of Winnipeg for enriching lives with theatre, music, opera, and ballet by providing subsidized tickets for low-income families and school children during the Depression. [3]

Fort William and the Great Lakes Girls' Orchestra

Gladys moved to Fort William, Ontario, where she sang with Maurice Jackson's Great Lakes Girls' Orchestra, a twenty-piece jazz band that toured across Canada and the Northern United States in a bus. She also worked in Maurice Jackson's Music Shop and sang live with the "Sunrise Serenaders" on CKPR radio, one of three performers on the show. [3,4]

Amelia Jackson, Maurice's wife, was also on the road with the orchestra during this period. Like others who knew Amelia, Gladys describes her as "strict and exacting," a quality she admired in Amelia and in all her instructors thereafter. [5]

At age 15, she sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" in her audition for Big Joe Turner, beating forty-nine other candidates. This audition presumably took place during the 3-month window between The Wizard of Oz's theatrical premiere in August 1939, and Gladys' 16th birthday in November 1939. [3] Judy Garland was just one year older than Gladys, born June 1922.

The Benny Goodman encounter

In 1940, while rehearsing on one side of a rotating stage in London, Ontario with the Great Lakes Girls' Orchestra, Gladys encountered Benny Goodman, who was rehearsing on the other side. His singer, Martha Tilton, was ill, and hearing Gladys on the other side of the stage, he stormed over and roared, "Why is my singer singing with your band?" Gladys looked at him and said, "I'm not your singer." [3]

Goodman was surprised and confused, but impressed enough to ask her to audition the next day. When she sang "I Should Care" for him, he immediately offered her a job touring with his orchestra. She was seventeen years old and her widowed father would not allow her to go. She turned down the job but never seemed to regret it, claiming that life on the road was lonely for a young woman. The Benny Goodman Band continued their tour and picked up a new singer when they got to Chicago. Her name was Peggy Lee. [3,4]

Marriage and family

After the war she married Jim Sands and they moved to the small town of Hudson, Ontario, whose population at the time would have been around 200 people. Presumably Jim was a railwayman or worked in the bush. The CNR was a massive employer in Northwestern Ontario and Hudson was a railway town. They lived there for 8 years.

Gladys gave up professional singing and started a family. Her two daughters were named after popular singers of the time: Patti (after Patti Page) and Judy (after Judy Garland). In 1953 the family moved to Calgary, where she had a son, Jim, named after his father. [3]

She sang occasionally in musical productions with the Rotary Club while raising her family. [3]

Calgary career

O'Neil Tower, Calgary

In Calgary, Sands held a career managing the O'Neil Tower (a 28-floor residential building with pool and tennis court built in 1967) in downtown Calgary. She retired in 1988. [4]

Return to performing

On her 65th birthday, she left the working world behind and refocused on her music. "Even in my 40s and 50s, I knew I'd still be up on stage performing after I retired," she told Avenue Calgary in 2017. "Music has always been a part of me and that's why I'm still doing it. It's almost like I'm addicted to music." [4]

Sands also plays guitar and piano. After retiring she joined several performance groups: the Grande Ol' Follies, the Seniors Performing Arts Group, and the Silver Stars Musical Revue Society, "always brightening the show with her beautiful voice, sparkling stage presence, beautiful gowns and outstanding costumes." [3,4]

Silver Stars Musical Revue Society

Sands joined the Silver Stars Musical Revue Society, a seniors-only musical theatre group in Calgary that has been running since 1998. By 2017 she had been singing with the Silver Stars for 12 years and was the group's oldest active member. [4]

In 2016, at age 92, she and fellow member Jean Mekitiak, also 92, were still performing. A Calgary Herald profile noted that Gladys used a walker to get around, "but when it's time to go on stage to sing, they toss them aside. That's what veteran entertainers they are." [6]

Her philosophy was simple: "Music is my life. And I'm not slowing down until I'm dead!" [4]

Big Band music of the Thirties and Forties provided the soundtrack to her life, and at ninety her biggest pleasure was being invited to sing the songs she knew so well — and telling the story of turning down Benny Goodman. [3]

Dancing

Sands was a lifelong dancer as well as a singer. She tap danced well into her 80s, only stopping when a bad knee became too problematic. She refused knee replacement surgery, saying she "didn't have time for that." [5]

Later life

She continued singing until age 96, when a broken hip required her to move into a care facility. As of 2020, Sands was 101 years old. She has dementia affecting her short-term memory, though her long-term memory remains relatively intact. [5]

Children

• Patricia "Patti" Dawkins (named after Patti Page), living in Calgary as of 2026.
• Judy (named after Judy Garland).
• Jim Sands (named after his father), living in Vancouver as of 2026.

See also

• Amelia Jackson
• Maurice Jackson
• Dance Centre of Northwestern Ontario
• Fort William Girls Military Band

Sources

[1] "The Jacksons of Fort William", by Harvey L. Smyth. In the Brodie Special Collections.

[2] "Fort William Girls Military Band" website, by William "Bill" Drew [1]

[3] Silver Stars Calgary Facebook page biography, November 2016. Written by Patricia Dawkins. [2]

[4] "Meet 4 Inspiring Calgary Retirees." Avenue Calgary, 12 May 2017. [3]

[5] Patricia Dawkins (daughter of Gladys Sands), personal communication, March 2020.

[6] Hobson, Louis B. "Ageless entertainers sing and dance for Silver Stars Musical Revue Society." Calgary Herald, 10 May 2016. [4]

[7] https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10164901709770393&set=a.10156236919275393

[8] Email correspondence with Patricia Dawkins, 2020–2026.