Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters ( born October 31, 1896 in the Chester County, Pennsylvania, USA, † September 1, 1977 in Los Angeles, California ) was an American actress and singer.
Life and work
Waters sang preferably jazz, but also gospel, known Broadway tunes and with big bands. Their references to black and white pop music are ambivalent For the author Will Friedwald; " It is very much in the tradition of the thick -applying Vaudeville in the early 1920s and before that as the modern jazz -influenced pop music that followed Armstrong and Crosby ".
She grew up near Philadelphia, worked as a maid and married at the age of twelve years for the first time. She made herself out in song. At a talent competition, she was discovered and got her first engagement. In the summer of 1921, she received her first recording contract by Black Swan Records; they saved the company along with Fletcher Henderson from bankruptcy. She was one of the first prominent jazz singers and oriented to Bessie Smith. Ethel Waters defied racism by talent and bravery. Your notoriety increased when she in nightclubs popular songs like " Am I Blue " and " Stormy Weather " sang. The song " Dinah " taught her the "white " audience success.
Waters managed the transition from the jazz of the twenties to the " pop " of the thirties. It influenced many singers, such as Mildred Bailey, Lee Wiley and Connee Boswell. With her husband, trumpeter Eddie Mallory, she toured the U.S. and appeared on Broadway in the revue " Africana " (1927 ), "As Thousands Cheer " (1933 ) and "At Home Abroad " (1935 ) on. The great influence of Armstrong appeared in 1928 in their version of "West End Blues ".
1929 Waters was the first time in the cinema to see the movie musical " On With the Show " by Warner Brothers; the song " Am I Blue? " became their first number 1 hit on the Billboard Top 30 in 1933 she took Columbia to the Irving Berlin- titled " Harlem on My Mind ", which comes from the Broadway show As Thousands Cheer and was intended as a parody of Josephine Baker; it contained the line " damn refined " ( " dman refined ") which traces its own personality. Her second number - one hit was " Stormy Weather ," the Harold Arlen had written Parade for 22 Cotton Club; than the space provided Cab Calloway was not available, sang him Ethel Waters, accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra. For the recording of the song was accompanied by a studio band to Bunny Berigan, Joe Venuti, and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.
In 1940, she played the lead role in Vernon Dukes Broadway musical Cabin in the Sky; in the film version, she sang Happiness Is a Thing Called Joe. Later, Waters switched to dramatic roles without vocals. Waters got great recognition for their achievements in the movie Pinky and The Member of the Wedding. In 1951, she co-wrote with Charles Samuels her autobiography "His eye is on the sparrow". After 1960 she devoted herself entirely to the religious work with and for the evangelist Billy Graham. Ethel Waters was added posthumously in 1984 by the Gospel Music Association in the Gospel Music Hall of Fame Gospel Music Association.
Disco printing specifications
Waters publications include the following albums:
- Album 1921-24
- Incomparable Ethel Waters
- Cocktail Hour
- Takin ' A Chance on Love
- On Stage and Screen (Columbia )
- Push Out, 1938-39 ( Jazz Archives) ( Contains the recordings for Bluebird Records)