Title:
What a difference a day makes : African American women who conquered 1950s music
JLCTITLE245:
Steve Bergsman ; foreword by Lillian Walker-Moss.
Personal Author:
Publication Information:
Jackson : University Press of Mississippi, [2023]
Physical Description:
ix, 283 pages ; 24 cm.
ISBN:
9781496844965
9781496848956
Series:
Abstract:
"In What a Difference a Day Makes: Women Who Conquered 1950s Music, Steve Bergsman highlights the Black female artists of the 1950s, a time that predated the chart-topping girl groups of the early 1960s. Many of the singers of this era became wildly famous and respected, and even made it into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame. However, there were many others, such as Margie Day, Helen Humes, Nellie Lutcher, Jewel King, and Savannah Churchill, who made one or two great records in the 1950s and then disappeared from the scene. The era featured former jazz and blues singers, who first came to prominence in the 1940s, and others who pioneered early forms of rock 'n' roll. In a companion volume, Bergsman has written the history of white women singers of the same era. Although song styles paralleled, the careers of Black and white female singers of the period ran in very different directions as the decade progressed. The songs of African American vocalists like Dinah Washington and Etta James were R&B segregated or covered by pop singers in the early and mid-1950s but burst into prominence in the last part of the decade and well into the 1960s. White singers, on the other hand, excelled in the early 1950s but saw their careers decline with the advent of rock music. In this volume, Bergsman takes an encyclopedic look at both the renowned and the sadly faded stars of the 1950s, placing them and their music back in the spotlight"-- Provided by publisher.
Bibliography Note:
Includes bibliographical references, discography (pages 253-266), and index.
Subject Term:
Geographic Term:
Added Author:
Variant Title:
Cover title: What a difference a day makes : women who conquered 1950s music
Contents:
Foreword / by Lillian Walker-Moss -- Introduction : Teardrops from my eyes : Mabel Scott, Otis and Leon Rene, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ruth Brown, Rudy Toombs -- I wanna be loved (1950) : Helen Humes, Nellie Lutcher, Jewel King, David Bartholomew, Lew Chudd, Tommy Ridgley, Fats Domino, Dinah Washington, Lionel Hampton -- Smooth sailing (1951) : Savannah Churchill, Joe Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Boswell Sisters, Norman Granz, Margie Day, Griffin Brothers, Ruth Brown, Willis Jackson, Dinah Washington -- 5-10-15 hours (1952) : Ralph Bass, Little Esther (Esther Phillips), Johnny Otis, Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, Wini Brown, Marie Adams, Edna McGriff, Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, Lucky Millinder, Rudy Toombs -- Hound dog (1953) : Elvis Presley, Big Mama Thornton, Jerry Lee Lewis, Big Maybelle, Denver Ferguson, Linda Hayes, Mitzi Mars, Annisteen Allen, Eartha Kitt, Varetta Dillard, Dinah Washington, Christine Kittrell, Sarah Lawler, Ruth Brown, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Faye Adams, Joe Morris -- Teach me tonight (1954) : Fred Mendelsohn and Al Silver, Charles Singleton, Faye Adams, Henry Glover, Lula Reed, Linda Hayes, Ruth Brown, Chuck Willis, Dinah Washington, Patti Austin, Boswell Sisters, Andrews Sisters, The Dreamers (The Blossoms), Shirley Gunter and The Queens -- Tweedle Dee (1955) : Zelma "Zell" Sanders, Ike and Bess Berman, Macy Lee and Charles Henry, Miriam and Herb Abramson, Louise Harris Murray, Rex Garvin, Sol Rabinowitz, Etta James, Barbara Hawkins, Reggie Vinson, Lavern Baker, Winfield Scott, Georgia Gibbs, Dinah Washington, Ruth Brown, Ella Johnson, Priscilla Bowman, Johhny Ace, Varetta Dillard, Clyde McPhatter, Gene & Eunice -- Let the good times roll (1956) : Billie Holiday, Hadda Brooks, Jules and Joe Bihari, Eddie Heywood, Denver Ferguson, Dinah Washington, Joe Greene, Ruth Brown, Lavern Baker, Lincoln Chase, Shirley and Lee, The Teen Queens, The Six Teens, Louise Harris Murray, Zell Sanders, Justine "Baby" Washington, Cliff Driver -- Love is strange (1957) : Zell Sanders, Freddie Scott, Johnnie and Joe, Mickey & Sylvia, The Tune Weavers, Frank Paul, Annie Laurie, Paul Gayten, Lavern Baker, Ruth Brown, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, Dinah Washington, The Bobbettes -- Maybe (1958) : Julia Lee, Marie Adams, Three Tons Of Joy, Mickey & Sylvia, Billy & Lillie, Diane Renay, Bob Crewe, The Quin-Tones, Ruth Brown, Bobby Darin, The Shirelles, The Chantels, George Goldner -- What a diff'rence a day makes (1959 and beyond) : The soloists : Lavern Baker, Ruth Brown, Della Reese, Sarah Vaughan, Nina Simone, Dinah Washington, Arnold Shaw, Clyde Otis, Annie Laurie, Shirley Goodman, Sylvia Vanderpool Robinson, Joe Jones, Lezli Valentine, Etta James -- Sally go 'round the roses (1959 and beyond) : The groups : The Bobbettes, Richard Barrett, The Chantels, The Blossoms (The Dreamers), Phil Spector, The Shirelles, Luther Dixon, The Jaynetts, Abner Spector, Jimmie Raye, Zell Sanders, Artie Butler, Louise Murray, Lezli Valentine -- Epilogue.
Chronological Term:
1951-1960
20th century