early Influence dinah Washington

Dinah Washington, as she herself would readily acknowl­ Washington’s recording career in 1943. Feather heard edge, was called Queen of the Blues, During a show at the Washington with Hampton at the Apollo Theater in London Palladium, she told an audience that purportedly Harlem. He thought she had the right voice for some blues included Queen Elizabeth, “There is but one heaven, one tunes he’d written. With members of Hampton’s band, hell, one queen, and your Elizabeth is an imposter,” Feather and Washington entered New York’s RKO Studio Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones in Tuscaloosa, for a session that, yielded four sides. Among them was Alabama,'in 1924, but grew up in Chicago’s Southside. “Evil Gal Blues,” a tune that would become an R&B hit, Washington was raised by a devoutly religious mother which she performed with come-hither, bad-girl bravado. who sang in church and taught piano in the neighbor­ Washington’s first recordings were released by tiny hood, Washington learned to play piano at an eatly; age independent Keynote. She moved on to Harlem-based and proved to be a powerful gdspel singer. She and her Apollo, then landed at Mercury, where she reigned for fif­ mother became a popular attraction at local churches, teen years as R&B royalty. While the public proclaimed earning little money but considerable respect. her Queen of the Blues, industryites dubbed her Queen of As a teenager, Washington was drawn to secular sounds, the Jukeboxes because much of her large black audience but her mother sternly disapproved of the music. At 15, couldn’t afford record players and relied on public juke­ Washington secretly entered — and won — a talent contest boxes to hear the latest numbers. Stacking machines with" at the Regal Theater. She began to lead a double life, divid­ Dinah Washington tunes proved to be a lucrative business. ing her talents between churches and clubs. Before her Her R&B audience was so loyal that Mercury never, made mother could find out about her clandestine club-hopping, a serious effort to reach a larger pop market. Her 1§59 Washington was discovered by gospel star Sallie Martin. hit, “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes,” crossed ovel to the Martin took Washington back on the gospel circuit full­ pop charts thanks to a groundswell of support, not hype. time, first as her pianist, then as a vocalist in the Sallie When the hits stopped coming at Mercury, she signed with Martin Colored Ladies Quartet. However, Washington’s Roulette and attempted to woo the pop market again desire for the secular spotlight proved too strong. Washington’s career ended abruptly with her death in When Washington learned that Billie Holiday was December 1963 at age 39; she had been in dubious booked into the Chicago'’« Garrick Stage Lounge, she health due to her reliance on diet pills for weight control. wanted to study the singer up close. But she didn’t want Just as there are traces^ Bessie Smith and BiUise Holiday to be merely a paying customer. Washington finagled an in Washington’s performances, Washington remains an audition to sing with the house band in the Garrick’s echo in the work of younger black female artists, smaller upstairs room, and she soon found herself work­ including Hall of Fame inductees Ruth Brown and Etta ing in the same club, if not on the same stage i f her idol. James. She is remembered by many for her regal bear­ There- she officially became Dinah Washington, a name ing. She could be generous or imperious; she enjoyed that seemed better suited to a marquee than Ruth Jones. having fine clothes, furs, even a private plane, and she \ Lionel Hampton, who had come to the Garrick, was fond of the institution marriage, having loved caught Washington’s show and offered to take her on the and left, several husliands. “I change husbands »before road with his big band. With Hampton she received her they change me,” she once remarked. But it was her first national exposure. But it was transplanted handling of a lyric, the way she could conjure emotions Englishman Leonard Feather, a blues-oriented songwriter that could reduce an audience to tears or bring them to and "jazz;-world fellow traveler, who launched their feet that truly made her Queen. - MI4MHAEL HILL

thirty three

FRANK DRIGGS C Q IM C T IO N (4) clockwise from top left: “big mama” thornton; sippie Wallace; memphis minnie; lil green lil minnie; memphis Wallace; sippie left: thornton; “big top mama” from clockwise Natalie ISIe, M adonna, Whitney Houston, Bonnie Raitt, Raitt, Bonnie Houston, charts; Whitney music adonna, pop M the of ISIe, top Natalie the at residence in women Keep a Good M an D ow n” for the OKeh label would would label OKeh the for n” ow D an M Good a Keep long-ago that but time, the session. at it recording realized blues nobody first Maybe the of anniversary entieth commemorating anniversaries, it’s rather surprising that that surprising rather it’s anniversaries, commemorating women were better known than others; some spent their their spent some others; than known better were women universally was that music of body a created who women have far-reaching effects on the world of rock & roll. roll. & rock of of world issue the current on Any effects far-reaching have Can’t “You and Love” Mamie Called Thing named “That woman a waxed Smith 19^fcfwhen early in afternoon wonders; but each was an important piece of the whole. whole. the of piece one-hit important an were was others each but while wonders; music, their perfecting lives of line unbroken an ©i beginning a the was session experiment, But crucial records” Smith5® business. “race music Mamie and the then, in back financial success and incredible freedom enjoy artistic today others many and much, though. Each m anaged to find her own voipe, voipe, own singing? her torch find tormented to yya^s,it Holiday’s Bfllie anaged m y^etjiet Each though. much, of series a 1® Protected joo^.jj&iats. urban rowdy the the to taking from prevented demands were familial and they all, societal rigid after by own; their of expressions class gender, of differences then-immovable by Separated appealing in its straightforward honesty. Some of these these of Some honesty. straightforward its in appealing 199Q as Cies rhsrtd wn, na ako and Jackson anda W twang, orchestrated Cline?s Patsy down given them slow were didn’t It they play. to sons, roles and and sing to songs husbands brothers, or fathers, crossroads the at ot N nights Delta shoulder! haunted one the over slung them for guitar a with road open find to had they counterparts, male their from caste and n i Considering the passion that most Americans have for for have Americans most that passion the Considering came and went with almost no mention of the sev­ the of mention no almost with went and came the e a e vocalists female we thunder sweet A Billboard Magazine Billboard ok t Women at Look al Dy of Days Early thirty shows plenty ©i plenty shows men making records. Classic blues ladies like Mamie, Mamie, like ladies blues Classic records. making men Brenda Lee’s belting out ©f country and rockabilly hits, hits, rockabilly and country ©f out belting Lee’s Brenda were m ostly relegated to a “chick singer” position, position, singer” “chick a to relegated ostly m were and drugs violence, drudgery, fear, in love, times sex, their of songs- about women of experiences urban the reflected journalism, straight either as presented lyrics, Victoria Their cuit. and Rainey a M sisters their with position for or the sly, sexy twinkle in the voices of Queen Victoria Victoria Hunter. Queen Alberta of and voices Wallace Sippie the Spivey, in twinkle sexy sly, the or hum orous allusion, or strange and beautiful poetry, poetry, beautiful and strange or allusion, orous hum cir­ vaudeville and show tent the on headliners as Spivey vied another) one to relation (no Smith Bessie and Clara were discovering and promoting the careers of a number number a of careers the promoting and discovering were Allen Annisteen like lights Ruth lesser Fifties, and the By James Etta men. by Brown, written by songs led singing orchestras and fronting and dolls beautiful like dressed women when Forties, and Thirties the came Then death. lessons for young ladies even in the restrictive early early restrictive the in even ladies young for lessons Johnny like bandleaders and charting, were Green l ti and ouba a pyn is nl bus ign sas flat a stats singing blues tnale its paying was Columbia man­ somehow singets women earliest the Interestingly, Estelle Lil Scott, abel M onegan, , D ard y w o th H ro o D ille am t>f C erf g fin strong, rm A fleet the er d n u piano to ©bjected nobody rooms; living and parlors of singer-musicians. women Orleans amazing of New in Gayten Paul and Angeles Los in Otis aged to reverse the usual marketplace value system; while while system; value marketplace usual the reverse to aged blues? & rhythm and woogie boogie rockin’ red-hot, out that predicted have could Who of * century. decades this “Lady Dee” Williams those eighty-eight keys would churn churn would keys eighty-eight Devonia those and Williams Brown Dee” Cleo “Lady Johnson, Lj| yancey, ama”, “M n h Tete tee ee lot s ay oe as women many as almost were there Twenties the In The piano was a certifiably ladylike instrument, redolent redolent instrument, ladylike certifiably a was piano The n n c & Roll & ock R s r e g n i S e

female v o c a I i s t s rate (there were of course no royalties in those days) of Brother Montgomery and Roosevelt S.ykes at the key­ approximately $15-20 per issued side, most of their female boards as her only accompaniment. She then disappeared counterparts were getting $100—135 per issued side! again until, with the help of longtime fan and friend Ron Beulah “Sippie” Wallace, nee Thomas (1898-1986), had Harwood and singer Bonnie Raitt, she was gently coaxed not one, not two, but three separate and distinct careers into a third career in the Eighties, one which found her spanning seven decades. In the eggly Twenties she was joining Raitt on a nationwide concert tour and being nom­ known as the “Texas Nightingale,” played the tent show inated for a 1983 Grammy Award. circuit, and recorded for Paramount as a member of the Queen Victoria Spivey was a landmark on the New Thomas family that included her brothers Hersal and York scene for decades. She was born in Houston, George and niece Hociel. Her range of material was aston- Texas, October 15, 1906, and died in her adopted home

ishing, from the hilarious double-entendre song “I’m a of New York on October 3, 1976. A fluid piano player Mighty Tight Woman” to the stark despair of “Murder’s and strong singer, she started recording at ap. early age Gonna Be My Crime.” The tragic early death of her broth­ and traveled all over the musical map, cutting sides for er George, who wrote much of her music, led to her early OKeh, Victor, Vocalion, Decca and many more as well retirement in the Thirties, though she did cut a couple of as appearing in the first all-black musical film, sides for Mercury in the Forties. Fast-forwarding twenty “Halleluia!,” in 1929. One of her most famous songs years or so, we find her being persuaded out of retirement was the lurid “T.B. Blues,” which showcased her deep, in 1966 and recording again for Storyville, with Little moaning, bluesy voice. She cut an album of duets with

f o r t y »hnson for the Bluesv^lf label in 1961, and in New York from 1938 to 1940, and then quit the music that same year formed her own Spivey Records with her business in 1956 and became a registered nurse. By 1961 partner and friend Len Kunstadt. she was back, recording a handful of albums and doing a Memphis-born Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895-October series of clubs, concert dates and even a shampoo com­ 18, 1984) Sang with many of best bands of the mercial! One of her best-known recordings was her con­ Twenties and Thirties., including those fronted by King tribution to the soundtrack of the 1978 film Remember Oliver, Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong. She made her M y Name. But her greatest success came at the very end first records with the Fletcher Henderson unit in 1923 and of her life, when a regular stint at New York’s The 1924 for Paramount. One of the earliest women singers Cookery brought her rave reviews, and she became the to tour Europe, she spent almost as much time overseas as darling of the hip New York clubgoers.

in America during this time; she sang in Nice, France, in Then there Was Lil Green, whS§# ^R om ance in the 1927, at the London Palladium in 1928 and shared head­ Dark” and “Why Don’t You Do Right” were big chart line billing with Paul Robeson in Showboat at London’s successes. During her short life (born in December famed Drury Lane Theater during the 1928-29 season. T#19, died of cancer at age 35 in April 195*4) She Returning to New York, she did a number of Broadway burned her candle at both ends and in the middle. Her shows and revues in the early Thirties before heading back warm, gutsy voice was at its best when the accompani­ to Europe where she joined her compatriot Josephine ment was minimal, and some of her finest sides were cut Baker in Paris in 1934-35. She hosted her own radio M'S#1 with nothing more than Big Bill Broonzy’s guitar and

fort y one female v o c a I i s t s

Black Bob’s piano support. Etta James later recorded an Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton. Both are gone now, atypically moody version of “Why Don’t You Do but each left her mark in a different way. Esther Phillips, Right” as a triumphant tribute to Green. like Billie Holiday, was a vocal wonder who could sing Once in awhile a singer came along who made an blues, R&B and jazz, and successfully blurred the musi­ enormous difference in the lives of those who followed cal boundaries till they no longer mattered. Her “DouMf her. Two of these were Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Crossing Blues,” waxed when she was only 13 years old, Memphis Minnie. Each came to prominence in the Forties was the biggest R&B hit of 1950; she often cited Dinah and Fifties, played a mean lead guitar, and each was a Washington as one of her influences. Big Mama tough, outspoken woman. Memphis Minnie, born Lizzie Thornton made rock & roll her own, recording the Douglas in Algiers, Louisiana, on June 3, 1897, was a vir­ scorching original version of “You Ain’t Nothing But a tuoso guitarist who played like she meant business, wrote Hound Dog” for Houston’s Duke label in the early no-nonsense lyrics, and sang the blues in a way that made Fifties and giving Elvis the essential inspiration for his it clear she was the boss. By the end of her life she was later, chart-topping cover. Like the late Big Joe Turner, confined to a Memphis nursing home, a sweet but vague Big Mama scorned microphones, viewing them as useless old lady who received a series of visiting blues pilgrims nonsense; her powerhouse voice blew the back wall off with great courtesy and accepted their donations with any place she played, with or without a mike. Alas, both dignity. But decades earlier she had taken “Me and My women are gone now, destroyed by drugs and alcohol, Chauffeur Blues” to the charts and airwaves, toured the but with an enduring musical legacy that can be heard in country and recorded for Columbia’s Vocalion, ARC and the later-day recordings of singers like Janis Joplin, Irma OKeh labels, Decca’s Race Records series, Victor’s Thomas, Bonnie Raitt, Koko Taylor and Valerie Bluebird subsidiary, Checker, JOB and countless others. Wellington. Other Otis discoveries included Margie One of this writer’s favorite Memphis Minnie songs per­ Evans, Barbara Morrison and Miss Etta James. fectly sums up her feisty musical and personal attitude in Paul Gayten, of course, had the tremendous Annie four words : “You Can’t Rule Me.” Sister Rosetta (1915- Laurie as his principal vocalist for years and also 1973) was the gospel side of Minnie’s blues coin, with a “found” more obscure artists like Chubby Newsome sinuous playing style and a spirited vocal ability. Though and Myrtld§j|>nes. Backed by Gayten’s orchestra, Annie both often recorded with men (Rosetta with Cab Laurie took “Since I Fell for You,” “Cuttin’ Out,” Calloway in 1940 and then the Lucky Millinder “Creole Gal,” and -^I’ll Never Be Free” to Billboard’s Orchestra in 1941-42, and Minnie with her handful of Top 10 in the late Forties and early Fifties. Chubby husbands), both were always the headliner and neither Newsome was a real shouter whose “Hip Shakin’ would let you forget it. Rosetta, an Arkansas native, was Mama” went to Number Eight, and the lesser known calm and comfortable onstage, whether she was singing at but wonderful Myrtle Jones_cut several unreleased sides a Holiness church program, at the chic Cafe Society or under Gayten’s direction for Chess in the early Fifties. touring Europe with a blues caravan, reminding audiences Tonight a handful of women are being inducted into the ® that big, booming voice of her where the soul of man Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; they’re just a few squares in never dies. She knew what was what financially, too; at the bright musical patchwork quilt begun several, genera­ her outdoor wedding in 1951 there were 25,000 paying tions ago by their older sisters like Viola “Miss guests! You can hear faint echoes of Sister Rosetta’s Rhapsody” Wells, Big Maybelle, Little Miss Cornshucks, swooping, church-style vocals in some of Aretha Varetta Dillard, Annisteen Allen, Dee Dee Sharp, Faye Franklin’s early sides. Barnes, Ella Mae Morse, Rose Marie McCoy and count­ Bandleader Johnny Otis ran a revue-style show, with less others, representing the sweet thunder and lightning several guest artists all backed by a superb core band, and that women have created since the inception of American among his singers were the great Little Esther Phillips and popular music. -MARY KATHERINE A IH S clockwise from top left: alberta hunter; mamie smith; little esther phillips; victoria spivey

forty two HPM K