Priscilla Bowman (born Priscilla I. Mills, May 30, 1928 – July 24, 1988) was an American jazz and rhythm and blues singer, who had a No. 1 hit single on the ''Billboard'' magazine R&B chart in 1955 with the song " Hands Off". She was the lead singer for the

Jay McShann James Columbus "Jay" McShann (January 12, 1916 – December 7, 2006) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader. He led bands in Kansas City, Missouri, that included Charlie Parker, Bernard Anderson, Walter Brown, and B ...

band.

Biography

The daughter of Ethel and Solomon Mills, she was born in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more th ...

, Kansas, and has been called the city's "original rock 'n' roll mama." Her influences included singers

Ruth Brown Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the " Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for At ...

and

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 ...

. She joined the

band in the early 1950s. In 1955 the band 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 ...

, and Bowman recorded two sessions with them. One of the songs, " Hands Off", became a hit and stayed at No. 1 on the R&B chart for three weeks in December 1955. She recorded three sessions for Vee-Jay and its subsidiary label, Falcon, as a solo singer between 1957 and 1959 but could not repeat her success. However, in 1958 she was the first to record the song "A Rockin' Good Way", with uncredited vocal backing by

The Spaniels The Spaniels were an American R&B and doo-wop group, best known for the hit "Goodnite, Sweetheart, Goodnite". They have been called the first successful Midwestern R&B group. Some historians of vocal groups consider Pookie Hudson to be the first ...

. The song was written with

Brook Benton Benjamin Franklin Peay (September 19, 1931 – April 9, 1988), better known as Brook Benton, was an American singer and songwriter who was popular with rock and roll, rhythm and blues, and pop music audiences during the late 1950s and early 1960 ...

and became a hit when Benton recorded it himself as a duo with

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 ...

in 1960. Bowman recorded again for Abner Records in 1959 and continued to record and make personal appearances, some with McShann, through the mid-1970s. She retired to family life. A compilation album of her recordings, ''An Original Rock & Roll Mama'', was released in 1986. Bowman died in July 1988 from lung cancer at the age of 60.

References

External links

Priscilla Bowman discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowman, Priscilla 1928 births 1988 deaths 20th-century African-American women singers American rhythm and blues singers Vee-Jay Records artists 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers Deaths from lung cancer in the United States