Annie Laurie (tentatively identified as Annie L. Page, August 11, 1924 – November 13, 2006) was an American

jump blues Jump blues is an up-tempo style of blues, usually played by small groups and featuring horn instruments. It was popular in the 1940s and was a precursor of rhythm and blues and rock and roll. Appreciation of jump blues was renewed in the 1990s as ...

and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

singer. She is most associated with the

bandleader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or ...

and

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

Paul Gayten Paul Leon Gayten (January 29, 1920 – March 26, 1991) was an American R&B pianist, songwriter, producer, and record company executive. Career Gayten was born in Kentwood, Louisiana, the nephew of blues pianist Little Brother Montgomery. In hi ...

, although she also registered

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s in her own name. Laurie first recorded in the mid-1940s and her professional career lasted until the early 1960s. Appraisal of her qualities appear to vary between

Dinah Washington Dinah Washington (born Ruth Lee Jones; August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was an American singer and pianist, who has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the 1950s songs". Primarily a jazz vocalist, she performe ...

stating that Laurie was her favorite singer, to

Irma Thomas Irma Thomas ( Lee; born February 18, 1941) is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans". Thomas is a contemporary of Aretha Franklin and Etta James, but never experienced their level of commercial succ ...

, who opined - "Annie Laurie? She was okay." She is best known for her

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 ...

of "

Since I Fell for You "Since I Fell for You" is a blues ballad composed by Buddy Johnson in 1945 that was first popularized by his sister, Ella Johnson, with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra. A version by Annie Laurie with Paul Gayten and His Trio in 1947 led to its ...

", and another US Top Ten R&B hit, "It Hurts to Be in Love."

Life and career

Laurie was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, United States. Her personal details are obscure, but she has been tentatively identified by blues researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc as Annie L. Page, born there in 1924. Her singing career started by vocalising for two

territory band Territory bands were dance bands that crisscrossed specific regions of the United States from the 1920s through the 1960s. Beginning in the 1920s, the bands typically had 8 to 12 musicians. These bands typically played one-nighters, six or seven n ...

s led by Dallas Bartley and

Snookum Russell Snookum Russell (April 6, 1913 – August 1981) was an American pianist and leader of a territory band that played tobacco warehouses and dance halls in the South and Midwest in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Russell was born in Columbia, South ...

, on the

Chitlin' Circuit The Chitlin' Circuit was a collection of performance venues throughout the eastern, southern, and upper Midwest areas of the United States that provided commercial and cultural acceptance for African American musicians, comedians, and other enterta ...

. In 1945, she recorded a version of " Saint Louis Blues" with the Bartley led band for Cosmo Records. She relocated to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, and was engaged by

. In 1947, she was performing in concert in New Orleans with Gayten, when the latter asked the young

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 ...

to come and play "Swanee River Boogie" on stage. Recording for both the Regal and De Luxe labels between 1947 and 1950, Laurie sang on several sides backed by Gayten's orchestra. Her first success was with her version of "

" (1947), of which

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

owner

Cosimo Matassa Cosimo Vincent Matassa (April 13, 1926 – September 11, 2014) was an American recording engineer and studio owner, responsible for many R&B and early rock and roll recordings. Life and career Matassa was born in New Orleans in 1926.Komorowsk ...

said: "Annie Laurie did the first really good record that I liked... hewas just fantastic, I mean nobody will ever make another version like that." She followed its success up with "Cuttin' Out" (1949), "You Ought To Know" (1950), "I Need Your Love" (1950), "Now That You're Gone" (1950) and "

I'll Never Be Free "I'll Never Be Free" is a song written by Bennie Benjamin and George Weiss and performed by Kay Starr and Tennessee Ernie Ford. It reached #2 on the U.S. country chart and #3 on the U.S. pop chart in 1950. Other charting versions *Louis Jorda ...

" (1950). Laurie also toured with Gayten's orchestra in 1951. Laurie's association with Regal Records ended in 1951, and she started recording for

Okeh Okeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name was spelled "OkeH" from the initials of Ott ...

. By 1956 her releases were issued on

Savoy Records Savoy Records is an American record company and label established by Herman Lubinsky in 1942 in Newark, New Jersey. Savoy specialized in jazz, rhythm and blues, and gospel music. In September 2017, Savoy was acquired by Concord Bicycle Music. ...

, for whom she recorded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

with

Hal Singer Harold Joseph Singer (October 8, 1919 – August 18, 2020), also known as Hal "Cornbread" Singer, was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and jazz bandleader and saxophonist. Early life Harold Joseph Singer was born in Greenwood District, Tul ...

's orchestra, featuring guitarist

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 ...

. Her biggest hit came in 1957 when

De Luxe Records De Luxe Records (later DeLuxe Records) was a record company and label formed in 1944 by brothers David Braun (1908–1985) and Julius "Jules" Braun (1911–2002), the sons of Hungarian Jewish immigrants, in Linden, New Jersey. The label ...

released "It Hurts to Be in Love," which was co-written by

Julius Dixson Julius Edward Dixson (who also used the spelling Dixon) (May 20, 1913 – January 30, 2004) was an American songwriter and record company executive. Life and work Born in Barnwell, South Carolina, he served in the Army during World War II in Engl ...

and

Rudy Toombs Rudolph Toombs (1914 – November 28, 1962) was an American performer and songwriter. He wrote "Teardrops from My Eyes", Ruth Brown's first number one R&B song, and other hit songs for her, including " 5-10-15 Hours". He also wrote "One Mint ...

. Other releases with De Luxe included the

Andy Gibson Albert "Andy" Gibson (November 6, 1913 – February 11, 1961) was an American jazz trumpeter, arranger, and composer. Career Gibson played violin early on before settling on trumpet. Although he played professionally in many orchestras, he did ...

co-written track, "Hand in Hand" and "Love Is A Funny Thing (both 1957). In July 1960, Laurie appeared in concert, sharing the bill with

Screamin' Jay Hawkins Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of s ...

the Five Satins The Five Satins are an American doo-wop group, best known for their 1956 million-selling song, "In the Still of the Night (The Five Satins song), In the Still of the Night." They were formed in 1954 and continued performing until 1994. When it w ...

, Joe Turner,

Faye Adams Faye Adams (born Fanny Tuell, May 22, 1923) is an American singer who recorded and performed rhythm and blues and gospel from the late 1940s until the early 1960s. She had several chart hits in the early 1950s, before retiring from the music b ...

Ben E. King Benjamin Earl King (né Nelson; September 28, 1938 – April 30, 2015) was an American soul and R&B singer and record producer. He is best known as the singer and co-composer of " Stand by Me"—a US Top 10 hit, both in 1961 and later i ...

, and

Nappy Brown Napoleon Brown Goodson Culp (October 12, 1929 – September 20, 2008) better known by his stage name Nappy Brown, was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singing, singer. His hit record, hits include the 1955 ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard' ...

, at

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

's Regal Theater. The same month she had her final chart hit with "If You're Lonely." By 1962, her affiliation had switched to Ritz Records, and she recorded several sides for them. However she left the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

at this time, devoting herself to the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

. According to Eagle and LeBlanc, she died in

Titusville, Florida Titusville is a city in eastern Florida and the county seat of Brevard County, Florida, United States. The city's population was 43,761 as of the 2010 United States Census. Titusville is located along the Indian River (Florida), Indian River, west ...

, in 2006, aged 82.

Discography

Chart singles

Compilation albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurie, Annie 1924 births 2006 deaths American blues singers American rhythm and blues singers 20th-century African-American women singers Jump blues musicians Musicians from Atlanta 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women

Life and career

Discography

Chart singles

Compilation albums

See also

References