Terry Timmons (born Teresa Walker, 12 April 1927 – 3 August 1970)
. Accessed 18 November 2012 was an American R&B singer who performed and recorded in the late 1940s and early 1950s in a style that was compared to

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 ...

.Biography by Bruce Eder at Allmusic.com
Accessed 18 November 2012
Accessed 18 November 2012 She was born in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, shortly after her parents and brothers had moved from

Charleston, West Virginia Charleston is the capital and List of cities in West Virginia, most populous city of West Virginia. Located at the confluence of the Elk River (West Virginia), Elk and Kanawha River, Kanawha rivers, the city had a population of 48,864 at the 20 ...

. She sang at school, and began singing professionally while in her mid-teens. She was spotted singing in a club by

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 ...

who recruited her to his band as a replacement for

Annie Laurie "Annie Laurie" is an old Scottish song based on a poem said to have been written by William Douglas (1682?–1748) of Dumfriesshire, about his romance with Annie Laurie (1682–1764). The words were modified and the tune was added by Alicia Sco ...

. In the late 1940s she moved to

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

, and began performing as the featured singer with

Memphis Slim John Len Chatman (September 3, 1915 – February 24, 1988), known professionally as Memphis Slim, was an American blues pianist, singer, and composer. He led a series of bands that, reflecting the popular appeal of jump blues, included saxopho ...

's band, the Houserockers. Her first recordings were in late 1950 for Premium Records in Chicago, who released two singles, "Eating My Heart Out For You" / "Your Key Won't Fit In My Door", and "You Foolish Thing". In 1951, the record label was bought by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, who released further recordings by her with Memphis Slim, including "Got Nobody To Love" - reissued as a single by the Jazzman label in 2011 - and "Daddy Be Good To Me". She continued to perform with Memphis Slim in Chicago, toured the

Midwest The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four Census Bureau Region, census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of ...

, and recorded for RCA Victor until 1953, but her records had little commercial success. In 1953 she signed for the independent

United United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

label, and released further solo singles, but her recording career ended after her then boyfriend botched the accompaniment on her recordings. Terry Timmons was the

sister-in-law A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations. More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred ...

of singer

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 ...

. She continued to perform in Chicago clubs in the late 1950s. She died in 1970, aged 43. A CD of her recordings, ''The Chronological Terry Timmons, 1950-1953'', was released by the French

Classic Jazz Inner City Records was a jazz record company and label founded by Irv Kratka in 1976 in New York City. The company was a division of Music Minus One and also owned the label Classic Jazz. It started with reissues, then moved on to new recordin ...

label in 2004. The Chronological Terry Timmons, 1950-1953
Accessed 18 November 2012

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Timmons, Terry 1927 births 1970 deaths Singers from Cleveland 20th-century African-American women singers American rhythm and blues singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers RCA Victor artists United Records artists