Swan's marriage to Carroll turned out to be far less idylic than the love songs she sang. Carroll continued to pursue his career and traveled constantly. After 10 years, they divorced.
Swan said she raised the children practically by herself. She worked at a day care center for a while and moonlighted on the music circuit when she could.
For years, she performed in Atlantic City casinos. And she did a lot of weddings. In 1990, she married Brown, who had played in the Philadelphia area with Chubby Checker, but wound up in the trucking business.
Now they have both a marriage and a musical partnership.
Brown plays the keyboard and sings songs such as "Mack The Knife" and "Runaround Sue." But Mary, whose voice evokes thoughts of Patsy Cline, still takes the lead most of the time. Brown says she has basically the same vocal range as the girl on the recordings from the 1950s.
Heeding the call from some family members living in Florida, they came to Spring Hill in 1996, not knowing if they would find work.
Six years later, they are now fixtures on the local dinner-dance circuit. And they've been seen at various stops on the "animal circuit" - the Elks, the Lions, and the Moose among them.
Frequently, they appear at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Spring Hill, where they have a big concert scheduled for February 2. Already, they are booked for every Wednesday and Friday in 2003.
Although they wouldn't reveal details about their performance income, Brown characterizes it as ranging from "small money to big money." They live in a modelst, yet well apportioned home off Coronado Driive in Spring Hill.
After everything, Mary says her greatest joys in life are her children - now both grown and performing music themselves - and her two new grandchildren. She's singing and having fun, pleasing crowds and being pleased by their response to her.
"It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if I had stayed with it," Swan said of the abrupt halt to her budding career in the 1950s. "I was so fortunate to be a part of it. I thank God for what I got."
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