Ann Cole (born Cynthia Coleman; January 24 or 29, 1934 – November 1986) was an American R&B and
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
singer who has been described as "a genuinely great soul singer who had the misfortune to be too far ahead of her time". She had several minor hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, but is now most noted as the original performer of "
Got My Mojo Working
"Got My Mojo Working" is a blues song written by Preston "Red" Foster and first recorded by R&B singer Ann Cole in 1956. Foster's lyrics describe several amulets or talismans, called ''mojo'', which are associated with hoodoo, an early African ...
", later popularised by
Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913 April 30, 1983), known professionally as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer and musician who was an important figure in the post-war blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of modern Chicago b ...
.
Life and career
She was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.spiritual vocal group, the Coleman Brothers. In 1949, she formed her own singing group, the Colemanaires, with Joe Walker, Sam Walker, and Wesley Johnson. They toured throughout the US, with Cynthia as lead singer, and released several gospel records in 1953–54 on the Timely and
labels. She released her first secular recordings on the Timely label in 1954, using the pseudonym "Ann Cole", and performed as a singer and pianist in bars around New York City and
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
. There, she was discovered by
Sol Rabinowitz
Saul "Sol" Rabinowitz (April 26, 1924 – March 16, 2013) was an American music business executive. He was the founder and lead producer of Baton Records, an independent record label that recorded rhythm and blues music in New York City during ...
who was establishing a new company,
Baton Records
Baton Records was an American, New York City based independent record label, launched in 1954 by record producer Sol Rabinowitz, mainly to record and release rhythm and blues music.
Baton's first record, and subsequent hit, was "A Thousand Stars" ...
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
country
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...
song "
Are You Satisfied?
''Are You Satisfied?'' is the debut album of English punk duo Slaves. It was released on 1 June 2015. It reached number 8 in its first week on the UK Albums Chart. The album was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize. A deluxe edition was ...
", featuring guitar work by
Mickey Baker
MacHouston "Mickey" Baker (October 15, 1925 – November 27, 2012) was an American guitarist, best known for his work as a studio musician and as part of the recording duo Mickey & Sylvia.
Early life
Baker was born in Louisville, Kentucky. His m ...
, reached no. 10 on the ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
''
R&B chart
The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
in early 1956. Later that year, she was voted the Most Promising Female R&B Vocals by ''
Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...
'' magazine.Biography by Bruce Eder at Allmusic.com Retrieved October 20, 2012 Her fourth single for Baton, "In The Chapel", on which she was backed by vocal group the Suburbans, also reached the R&B chart, in 1957.
Late in 1956, she went on a short tour through the Southern states with Muddy Waters, during which she regularly performed a new song written by Preston Foster, "Got My Mo-Jo Working". The song impressed Muddy Waters, who recorded it when he returned to
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...
, adding some of his own words and allocating himself the songwriting credit. Ann Cole also recorded the song for Baton Records in January 1957, as a follow-up to "In The Chapel". Both versions of the song were released in the same week, but neither made the charts. A later court case resolved a dispute over the song's writing credit in favour of Foster.
Ann Cole continued to record for Baton, with little success, until 1958, and is also believed to be the uncredited female singer on
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique Domino Jr. (February 26, 1928 – October 24, 2017), known as Fats Domino, was an American pianist, singer and songwriter. One of the pioneers of rock and roll music, Domino sold more than 65 million records. Born in New O ...
's record "When I See You". She later recorded for the
Sir
''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "Sieur" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as p ...
,
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
and
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...
labels. Her only record for Roulette was "Have Fun", which reached no. 21 on the R&B chart at the end of 1962; its
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...
, "Don't Stop The Wedding", an
answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...
to
Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...
' "Stop The Wedding", reached no. 99 on the
pop chart
A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include rec ...
. Soon afterwards, she was involved in a serious car accident, which ended her musical career and confined her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.
She died of a
heart failure
Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...
in her sleep in November 1986, aged 52. A compilation of her recordings, ''In the Chapel – 30 Of Her Greatest Hits!'', was issued on CD in 2001.Ann Cole: In The Chapel – 30 of Her Greatest Hits! Retrieved October 20, 2012