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Abie Baker
Abie "Available" Baker Leslie Robert Baker; 28 September 1913, in South Bend, Indiana – 14 February 1993, in Harlem) was an American session musician, arranger, and bandleader who played double bass on jazz, R&B, and pop recordings in New York City, from 1934 through the early 1960s. His credits have been chronicled under the names Abe Baker (rarely), Abie Baker (mostly), and Abie "Available" Baker. Career As New York session bassist in jazz from 1934 to 1960, he recorded with Blanche Calloway, Snub Mosley, Herman Chittison, Joey Thomas, Titus Turner and the Howard Biggs Orchestra, Dosie Terry, John Greer, George James and the Howard Biggs Orchestra, Johnny Hartman and the Howard Biggs Orchestra, Jimmy "Baby Face" Lewis, Hadda Brooks, Melvin Smith (vocalist), The Du-Droppers, Annie Laurie, Larry Darnell, Ethel Ennis, Jimmy Tyler, Bobbie and Ronald (vocalists), Varetta Dillard, Cootie Williams, Bill Doggett, Little Willie John, Ruth Brown, King Curtis, LaVern Bak ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South Bend, Indiana
South Bend is a city in and the county seat of St. Joseph County, Indiana, St. Joseph County, Indiana, on the St. Joseph River (Lake Michigan), St. Joseph River near its southernmost bend, from which it derives its name. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city had a total of 103,453 residents and is the List of cities in Indiana, fourth-largest city in Indiana. The South Bend-Mishawaka metropolitan area, metropolitan area had a population of 324,501 in 2020, while its combined statistical area had 812,199. The city is located just south of Indiana's border with Michigan. The area was settled in the early 19th century by fur traders and was established as a city in 1865. The St. Joseph River shaped South Bend's economy through the mid-20th century. River access assisted heavy industrial development such as that of the Studebaker, Studebaker Corporation, the Oliver Corporation, Oliver Chilled Plow Company, and other large corporations. The population of South B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hadda Brooks
Hadda Brooks (October 29, 1916 – November 21, 2002) was an American pianist, vocalist and composer, who was billed as "Queen of the Boogie". She was Inducted in the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993. Career Her first recording, "Swingin' the Boogie", for Modern Records, was a regional hit in 1945. Another R&B Top Ten hit, "Out of the Blue," was her most famous song. Brooks preferred ballads to boogie-woogie, but developed the latter style by listening to Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meade Lux Lewis records. In the 1970s, she commuted to Europe for performances in nightclubs and festivals. She performed rarely in the United States, living for many years in Australia. ''Queen of the Boogie'', a compilation of recordings from the 1940s, was released in 1984. Two years later her manager Alan Eichler brought her out of a 16-year retirement to open a jazz room at Perino's in Los Angeles, after which she continued to perform in nightclubs in Hollywood, San Fran ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Jimmy Scott
James Victor Scott (July 17, 1925 – June 12, 2014), known professionally as Little Jimmy Scott or Jimmy Scott, was an American jazz vocalist known for his high natural contralto voice and his sensitivity on ballads and love songs. After success in the 1940s and 1950s, Scott's career faltered in the early 1960s. He slid into obscurity before a comeback in the 1990s. His unusual singing voice was due to Kallmann syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that limited his height to until the age of 37, when he grew by . The syndrome prevented him from reaching classic puberty and left him with a high voice and unusual timbre. Early life James Victor Scott was born on July 17, 1925, in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The son of Arthur Claude Scott (born Chester Stewart) and Justine Hazel Stanard Scott, he was the third child in a family of 10. As a child he got his first singing experience by his mother's side at the family piano and later in church choir. At 13, he was orphaned when ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Big Joe Turner
Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due to his rock-and-roll recordings in the 1950s, particularly "Shake, Rattle and Roll", but his career as a performer endured from the 1920s into the 1980s. Turner was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, with the Hall lauding him as "the brawny voiced 'Boss of the Blues. Career Early days Turner was born May 18, 1911, in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. His father was killed in a train accident when Turner was four years old. He sang in his church, and on street corners for money. He left school at age fourteen to work in Kansas City's nightclubs, first as a cook and later as a singing bartender. He became known as "The Singing Barman", and worked in such venues as the Kingfish Club and the Sunset, where he and his par ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LaVern Baker
Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I Cried a Tear" (1958). Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. The Hall remarked that her "fiery fusion of blues, jazz and R&B showcased her alluring vocals and set the stage for the rock and roll surge of the Fifties". Between 1955 and 1965, 20 of her songs made the R&B charts. Over the years, Elvis Presley recorded eight Baker songs. Early life Baker was born Delores Evans in Chicago. She was raised in Calumet City, Illinois. Under her mother's new surname, McMurley, Delores – on December 23, 1948, at age , in Cook County, Illinois – married Eugene Williams.Goldberg, Marv (2009)"Lavern Baker". ''Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks'' Retrieved May 25, 2014. Career Baker began singing in Chicago clubs such as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
King Curtis
Curtis Ousley (born Curtis Montgomery; February 7, 1934 – August 13, 1971), known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musical director and record producer. A master of the instrument, he played tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone. He played riffs and solos on hit singles such as " Respect" by Aretha Franklin (1965), and "Yakety Yak" by The Coasters (1958) and his own "Soul Twist" (1962), "Soul Serenade" (1964), and "Memphis Soul Stew" (1967). Early life Curtis Montgomery was born in Fort Worth, Texas, the son of Ethel Montgomery, and was adopted, with his sister Josephine Allen (died 2019), by Josie and William Ousley. Curtis attended I.M. Terrell High School, and studied and performed music with schoolmate Ornette Coleman (1930–2015). Career Curtis started playing saxophone at the age of twelve in the Fort Worth area. He took interest ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Brown
Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the " Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atlantic Records in the 1950s, such as " So Long", "Teardrops from My Eyes" and " (Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean". For these contributions, Atlantic became known as "the house that Ruth built" (alluding to the popular nickname for the old Yankee Stadium). Brown was a 1993 inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Following a resurgence that began in the mid-1970s and peaked in the 1980s, Brown used her influence to press for musicians' rights regarding royalties and contracts; these efforts led to the founding of the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Her performances in the Broadway musical ''Black and Blue'' earned Brown a Tony Award, and the original cast recording won a Grammy Award. Brown was a recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Little Willie John
William Edward "Little Willie" John (November 15, 1937 – May 26, 1968) was an American R&B singer who performed in the 1950s and early 1960s. He is best known for his successes on the record charts, with songs such as " All Around the World" (1955), "Need Your Love So Bad" (1956), " Talk to Me, Talk to Me" (1958), "Leave My Kitten Alone" (1960), "Sleep" (1960), and his number-one R&B hit "Fever" (1956). An important figure in R&B music of the 1950s, he faded into obscurity in the 1960s and died while serving a prison sentence for manslaughter. John was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2022, John was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. Biography John was born in Cullendale, Arkansas on November 15, 1937. He was one of ten children born to Lillie (née Robinson) and Mertis John. Many sources erroneously give his middle name as Edgar. His family moved to Detroit, Michigan, when he was four, so that his father could find factory work. In th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Doggett
William Ballard Doggett (February 16, 1916 – November 13, 1996) was an American pianist and organist. He began his career playing swing music before transitioning into rhythm and blues. Best known for his instrumental compositions "Honky Tonk" and "Hippy Dippy", Doggett was a pioneer of rock and roll. He worked with the Ink Spots, Johnny Otis, Wynonie Harris, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Jordan. Biography Doggett was born in Philadelphia. During the 1930s and early 1940s he worked for Lucky Millinder, Frank Fairfax and arranger Jimmy Mundy. In 1942 he was hired as the Ink Spots' pianist and arranger. In 1951, Doggett organized his own trio and began recording for King Records. His best known recording is "Honky Tonk", a rhythm and blues hit of 1956, which sold four million copies (reaching No. 1 R&B and No. 2 Pop), and which he co-wrote with Billy Butler. The track topped the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart for over two months. He also arranged for many bandleaders and pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cootie Williams
Charles Melvin "Cootie" Williams (July 10, 1911 – September 15, 1985) was an American jazz, jump blues, and rhythm and blues trumpeter. Biography Born in Mobile, Alabama, Williams began his professional career at the age of 14 with the Young Family band, which included saxophonist Lester Young. According to Williams he acquired his nickname as a boy when his father took him to a band concert. When it was over his father asked him what he'd heard and he replied, "Cootie, cootie, cootie." In 1928, he made his first recordings with pianist James P. Johnson in New York, where he also worked briefly in the bands of Chick Webb and Fletcher Henderson. Williams rose to prominence as a member of Duke Ellington's orchestra when the band was playing at the Cotton Club, with which he first performed from 1929 to 1940. He also recorded his own sessions during this time, both freelance and with other Ellington sidemen. Williams was renowned for his "jungle"-style trumpet playing (in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varetta Dillard
Varetta Mamie Dillard (February 3, 1933 – October 4, 1993) was an American rhythm and blues singer in the 1950s whose biggest hit was "Mercy, Mr. Percy". Life and career She was born in Harlem, New York, and spent much of her childhood in hospital due to a congenital bone condition. By her mid-teens, her condition had stabilised, though she remained unable to walk without crutches or other assistance. She met Carl Feaster of doo-wop group The Chords (American band), The Chords, who encouraged her to enter talent contests as a singer, and in 1951 she won two consecutive competitions at the Apollo Theater. She was signed by Savoy Records, and had her first recording session with the company in September 1951. Although her early singles were commercially unsuccessful, she was invited by Alan Freed to perform at what later became recognised as the first major rock and roll concert: the Moondog Coronation Ball held in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1952. Because of concerns over crowd ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ethel Ennis
Ethel Llewellyn Ennis (November 28, 1932 – February 17, 2019) was an American jazz musician whose career spanned seven decades. Ennis spent the majority of her life in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, where she was affectionately known as the "First Lady of Jazz". Life and career Ennis was born in a row house on North Calhoun Street in Baltimore, Maryland, and grew up in the Sandtown-Winchester neighborhood. She began performing as a church pianist at a young age. Embarking on a solo singing career, she recorded a number of songs for Atlantic Records before her LP debut, ''Lullabies for Losers'', was released by Jubilee Records in 1955. In 1957, she moved to Capitol Records for a two-album contract, and released ''A Change of Scenery''. Soon after the 1958 follow-up LP ''Have You Forgotten'', Ennis took a six-year hiatus from recording, during which she toured Europe with Benny Goodman. Two of her recordings 'Call Me Young' and 'Sing Me A tune' were used in the UK during ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
