Camille Howard (March 29, 1914 – March 10, 1993)
was an American
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 ...
pianist and singer, who first came to prominence in
Roy Milton
Roy Bunny Milton (July 31, 1907 – September 18, 1983) was an American R&B and jump blues singer, drummer and bandleader.
Career
Milton's grandmother was Chickasaw. He was born in Wynnewood, Oklahoma, and grew up on an Indian reservation bef ...
's Solid Senders in the 1940s. Her most successful recordings included "R. M. Blues" (as Milton's pianist, 1945), "Thrill Me" (as singer with Milton, 1947), and her own "X-Temporaneous Boogie" (1948).
Life and career
She was born in
Galveston
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
, Texas, the daughter of Cecilia ( Hines) and Samuel Browning. Her birth was registered as Deasy Browning, but she grew up using the name Camille Agnes Browning.
She learned piano and, during her teens, was a member of a local group, the Cotton Tavern Trio.
[ J. C. Marion, "Camille Howard", ''Jamm Up'']
. Retrieved November 29, 2016 By 1935 she was performing as a club musician in Galveston, as Camille Browning.
In the early 1940s, as Camille Howard, she moved from Texas to California. By 1943, she became a member of the Roy Milton Trio, who recorded for
Lionel Hampton
Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...
's Hamp-Tone label in 1945.
[Dik de Heer, "Camille Howard", ''Black Cat Rockabilly''](_blank)
Retrieved September 27, 2016 Milton's group then expanded to become a six- or seven-piece band, the Solid Senders, and they were signed by
Art Rupe
Arthur Newton Rupe (born Arthur Goldberg; September 5, 1917 – April 15, 2022) was an American music executive and record producer. He founded Specialty Records, known for its rhythm and blues, blues, gospel and early rock and roll music reco ...
's
Juke Box
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media. The classic jukebox has buttons, with letters and numbers on them, which are used to selec ...
label, which later became
Specialty Records
Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd P ...
. Howard's piano featured on singer and drummer Milton's first hit, "R. M. Blues", recorded in December 1945, on which "she plays seemingly unending, florid melodies with her right hand."
[
The record reached number 2 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 ...
, and number 20 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 ...
, in early 1946.
The record was the first of many R&B hits for Milton on the Juke Box and Specialty labels.[Biography by Bill Dahl, ''Allmusic.com'']
Retrieved November 28, 2016 Following its success, Howard also made her first recordings under her own name for the small Pan-American label in 1946.[ She stayed with Milton's Solid Senders, and was the featured piano player on all their hits through the late 1940s and early 1950s. She was the vocalist on their number 5 R&B hit in 1947, "Thrill Me".]
After the success of "Thrill Me", Rupe began promoting her as a solo artist, and she had her first hit under her own name in 1948 with "X-Temporaneous Boogie", which reached number 7 on the R&B chart,[Whitburn, ''Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995'', p.199] and sold close to a quarter of a million copies.[ The track, a "roaring instrumental" in her characteristic "two-fisted thundering boogie style", was recorded with Milton and bassist Dallas Bartley, and was improvised at the end of her first recording session as leader, late on December 31, 1947; the following day, a ban on recordings imposed by the ]American Federation of Musicians
The American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM/AFofM) is a 501(c)(5) labor union representing professional instrumental musicians in the United States and Canada. The AFM, which has its headquarters in New York City, ...
came into effect.[
She continued to play in Milton's band, and Milton was also a member of her Trio for recordings; they may have been married.] Her own trio included Winston Williams (bass) and Walter Murden (drums), but she also performed occasionally with Milton, and toured with Jimmy Witherspoon
James Witherspoon (August 8, 1920 – September 18, 1997) was an American jump blues singer.
Early life, family and education
Witherspoon was born in Gurdon, Arkansas. His father was a railroad worker who sang in local choirs, and his mot ...
, Little Willie Littlefield
Willie Littlefield, Jr., billed as Little Willie Littlefield (September 16, 1931 – June 23, 2013), was an American R&B and boogie-woogie pianist and singer whose early recordings "formed a vital link between boogie-woogie and rock and roll". ...
, Joe Liggins
Joseph Christopher Liggins, Jr. (born Theodro Elliott; July 9, 1916 – July 26, 1987) was an American R&B, jazz and blues pianist and vocalist who led Joe Liggins and his Honeydrippers in the 1940s and 1950s. His band appeared often on the ''B ...
and others.[
As well as continuing to record with Milton, Howard had 14 singles released under her own name by Specialty between 1948 and 1952, including both "storming boogies and sultry ballads".][ Her R&B chart hits included "You Don't Love Me" (1948), "Fiesta in Old Mexico" (1949), and "Money Blues (If You Ain't Got No Money, I Ain't Got No Use For You)" (1951).] She also recorded with Witherspoon, Lillie Greenwood, and others.
In early 1953, Howard signed with Federal Records
Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. The comp ...
, and released several more singles, but with diminishing success in the face of the growth of rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
.[ She signed with ]Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a h ...
in 1956, and that year toured with Roy Brown, 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" (1 ...
, The 5 Royales
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
, and Joe Tex
Yusuf Hazziez (born Joseph Arrington Jr.; August 8, 1935 – August 13, 1982), known professionally as Joe Tex, was an American singer and musician who gained success in the 1960s and 1970s with his brand of Southern soul, which mixed the style ...
, but she had no more hits.[
She retired from the music business shortly afterwards. She maintained strong religious convictions,][ and in later years was unwilling to talk about her career in secular music.]
She died in Los Angeles in 1993, aged 78.
Discography
* ''Camille Howard, Vol. 1: Rock Me Daddy'' (Specialty SPCD-7046, 1993)
* ''Camille Howard, Vol. 2: X-Temporaneous Boogie'' (Specialty SPCD-7062, 1996)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Camille
American rhythm and blues musicians
20th-century African-American women singers
American blues pianists
Boogie-woogie pianists
Swing pianists
Vee-Jay Records artists
Specialty Records artists
1914 births
1993 deaths
20th-century American women pianists
20th-century American pianists
People from Galveston, Texas
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American singers
African-American pianists