Donna Lubertha Hightower (December 28, 1926 – August 19, 2013) was an American R&B,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer and songwriter, who recorded and released albums for the

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

and

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

. Later in her career she was based in Europe, where she had a hit in 1972 with "This World Today is a Mess."

Biography

Donna Hightower was born in

Caruthersville, Missouri Caruthersville is a city in and the county seat of Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States, located along the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of the state's far southeast. The population was 5,562, according to the 2020 census. Histo ...

, to a family of

sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement with regard to agricultural land in which a landowner allows a tenant to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping has a long history and there are a wide range ...

. She listened to singers such as

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

, but never planned to have a singing career and by the age of 23 had been married, had two children, and divorced. While working in a diner in

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

, Hightower was heard singing by Bob Tillman, a reporter with the ''

Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'' newspaper, who then won her a booking as a singer at the Strand Hotel. Initially billed as Little Donna Hightower, she won a recording contract with Decca Records and recorded her first single, "I Ain't In The Mood", in 1951.Randall Riley (August 21, 2013)
Singer/Songwriter Donna Hightower, whose 1972 recording of “This World Today is a Mess” made her an international pop star''
. TypicallySpanish.com. Retrieved August 22, 2013 During the mid 1950s, Hightower recorded R&B songs for RPM Records, often accompanied by the

Maxwell Davis Thomas Maxwell Davis, Jr. (January 14, 1916 – September 18, 1970), was an American rhythm and blues saxophonist, arranger, bandleader and record producer. Biography Davis was born in Independence, Kansas in 1916. In 1937, he moved to Lo ...

Orchestra, as on her 1955 version of "Hands Off". She toured widely in the US, with

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

Della Reese Delloreese Patricia Early (July 6, 1931 – November 19, 2017), known professionally as Della Reese, was an American jazz and gospel singer, actress, and ordained minister whose career spanned seven decades. She began her long career as a s ...

and others. While none of her records made the pop or R&B charts, she received good reviews, and her discs did perform well in Decca Record's own sales guides, with her "I Ain't In The Mood" ranking at No. 1 on their Sepia (race) charts. By 1958, Hightower's career had slowed down, and she began working for a

music publishing A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...

firm 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 ...

, recording

demonstration record A demo (shortened from "demonstration") is a song or group of songs typically recorded for limited circulation or for reference use, rather than for general public release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas in a fixed for ...

s of new songs. Her version of "Light of Love" — later recorded by

Peggy Lee Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...

— was heard by record producer

Dave Cavanaugh David Cavanaugh, also known as Dave Cavanaugh or occasionally Big Dave Cavanaugh, (March 13, 1919 – December 31, 1981) was an American composer, arranger, musician and Record producer, producer. Hightower recorded two albums for Capitol, including ''Take One!'' and ''Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You?'', both released in 1959. While noted for her "range and power, hewas equally compelling doing sentimental, soft ballads." In 1959, Hightower performed in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and elsewhere in Europe, later performing with

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

The Platters The Platters was an American vocal group formed in 1952. They are one of the most successful vocal groups of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound bridges the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the new burgeoning genre. The ac ...

and

Johnny Hallyday Jean-Philippe Léo Smet (; 15 June 1943 – 5 December 2017), better known by his stage name Johnny Hallyday, was a French rock and roll and pop singer and actor, credited for having brought rock and roll to France. During a career spanning 57 ...

. She settled in France, then Belgium and finally in the late 1960s, in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

. In 1971 she won the

Costa del Sol The Costa del Sol (literally "Coast of the Sun" or "Sun Coast") is a region in the south of Spain in the autonomous community of Andalusia, comprising the coastal towns and communities along the coastline of the Province of Málaga and the easte ...

International Song Festival, following which she began recording in

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for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, although her songs were issued in much of Europe by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. Hightower worked with singer Danny Daniel as a duo, Danny y Donna, and they had a hit in the country with "El Vals de las Mariposas". She also recorded solo, and her most successful record, "This World Today Is A Mess" ("Este Mundo es un Conflicto"), which she co-wrote, was an international hit — though not in the US, where it was not released, or in the UK — in 1972, reportedly selling over one million copies worldwide. Hightower is also known for the song "If You Hold My Hand", which was later

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: Base meaning * Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...

for the UK 2007 hit single "Handsfree" by Sonny J. She returned to the US to live in semi-retirement in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, in 1990. Hightower was active in the Austin Chapter of the

Gospel Music Workshop of America Gospel Music Workshop of America is an international music convention founded by Rev. James Cleveland. GMWA membership Active GMWA Membership ranges from professional and amateur Gospel vocalists to instrumentalists, composers, arrangers, directo ...

. She was a member of Calvary Baptist Church, and appeared on local radio programs.Michael Corcoran, ''RIP jazz singer Donna Hightower 1926–2013''
. Retrieved August 23, 2013 Her last performance in Spain was at a jazz festival in 2006. Hightower died in Austin in 2013 at the age of 86.

Legacy

In 2008, Sonny J released a remixed version of Hightower's song "If You Hold My Hand" entitled "Handsfree".

Discography

*"I Ain't In The Mood" (single - 1951) RPM Records * "He's My Baby" (single - 1955)

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

*''Take One'' (LP - 1958) *''Gee Baby, Ain't I Good To You'' (LP - 1959) Guitarra Records *"Soy Feliz" (single - 1970)

(In Spain, as Discos Columbia) *"If You Hold My Hand" (single - 1971) *"El Valz de las Mariposas" (Waltz of the Butterflies) (single - 1971) *"This World Today is a Mess" (Este Mundo es un Conflicto) (single - 1972, LP - 1972) *''Here I Am'' (LP - 1973) *''I'm In Love with Love'' (LP - 1974) *''El Jazz y Donna Hightower'' (LP - 1975) Mastervision Records *''Prima Donna'' (LP - 1985)

Notes

References

External links

*
Donna Hightower at Allmusic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hightower, Donna 20th-century African-American women singers American women jazz singers American jazz singers American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul singers 2013 deaths People from Caruthersville, Missouri Singer-songwriters from Missouri Capitol Records artists 1926 births Jazz musicians from Missouri RPM Records (United States) artists Decca Records artists Columbia Records artists African-American songwriters 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women