Ethel Waters Sang Professionally in Baltimore
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At the age of 17 years old, Ethel Waters sang professionally in Baltimore. It was there that she became the first woman to sing “St. Louis Blues” on the stage. In 1925 she appeared at the Plantation Club in Harlem and her performance there led to Broadway. In 1927 she appeared in an all-black revue Africana. Thereafter she divided her time between the stage, nightclubs, and eventually movies. Ms. Waters was born on October 31, 1896 in Chester, Pennsylvania. Growing up in and around Philadelphia area, she became more strong under the influence of white vaudeville singers such as Nora Bayes and Fanny Brice that her southern contemporaries. She became an outstanding example of the group of black singers known as “cake-walking babies” to distinguish them from southern classic blues singers such as Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. She recorded with Black Swan from 1921 through 1923. In early 1924, Paramount bought the Black Swan label, and she stayed with Paramount through 1924. Waters then first recorded for Columbia Records in 1925, achieving a hit with her voicing of “Dinah” –which was voted a Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1998. Soon after, she started working with Pearl Wright, and together they toured in the South. In 1924, Waters played at the Plantation Club on Broadway. She also toured with the Black Swan Dance Masters. Later, in the 1930’s, Ms. Waters found the mainstream of popular music, including jazz and congenial, and brought to it a combination of tragedy and comedy which, in its range, was unsurpassed by any other popular singer. She was also the first black entertainer to move successfully from the vaudeville and nighclub circuits to what blacks called “the white time”. Her vocal resources were adequate though unexceptional, but this shortcoming was mitigated by an innate theatrical flair that enabled her to project the character and situation of every song she performed. The early recordings of Mildred Bailey, Lee Wiley, and Connee Boswell clearly reflect a debt to Waters, and most other popular singers of the time came under her influence to some degree. From 1960 to 1975, Waters toured with the evangelist Billy Graham, singing with less vocal prowess than before but with an undiminished ability to characterize her material. In closing, Ms. Waters is the great-aunt of singer-songwriter Crystal Waters. Ms. Waters often toured with Billy Graham on his crusades. She died on September 1, 1977, at age 80, in Chatsworth, California. .