Ethel Waters: selected recordings, 1921-1934

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A selection of Ethel Waters biographies:

• Wikipedia
• IMDb
• AllMusic
• Jazzateria.com
• Drop Me Off in Harlem — artsedge.kennedy-center.org

An excerpt from the biography at the site Drop Me Off in Harlem:

Known as “Sweet Mama Stringbean” for her slender figure, Ethel Waters could sing the blues beyond compare. Her soft, refined voice, theatrical style, and signature shimmy captivated black and white audiences alike.

Waters grew up in the chaotic misery of a Philadelphia slum. “No one raised me,” she recalled. “I just ran wild.” Waters gladly put it all behind her to tour on the vaudeville circuit. She ended up in New York City, performing on the stages of both the Lincoln and Lafayette Theatres.

In 1919 she became one of the first black artists hired by Black Swan Records. The commercial success of two 1921 recordings—”Down Home Blues” and “Oh, Daddy”—landed Waters a touring gig with Fletcher Henderson and the Black Swan Troubadours.

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Oh, Daddy (William “Bill” Russell, Ed Herbert) – 1921

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Brown Baby (Henry – Grant) – 1923

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Tell ‘Em ‘Bout Me (When You Reach Tennessee) – written by Sidney Easton – recorded 25 March 1924

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Sweet Georgia Brown (m. Ben Bernie, Maceo Pinkard, w. Kenneth Casey)

Ethel Waters and Her Ebony Four — recorded on 13 May 1925; issued on the 78 rpm single Columbia 379D, c/w “No One Can Love Me (Like the Way You Do)”

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Dinah (Akst, Lewis, Young) — recorded on 20 October 1925; issued on the 78 rpm single Columbia 487-D, as the B-side of “Sweet Man”

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Sweet Man (Maceo Pinkard, Roy Turk) – recorded on 20 October 1925; issued on the 78 rpm single Columbia 487-D, b/w “Dinah”

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I’ve Found a New Baby (m. Spencer Williams, w. Jack Palmer) — recorded on 22 January 1926 and issued on the single Columbia 561-D, b/w “Tell ‘Em About Me”  — SecondHandSongs.com indicates that the song was first recorded by the Clarence Williams Blue Five. However, the single referred to, OKeh 8286 (which features “Pile of Logs and Stone” as the A-side) was recorded on the same date as the Ethel Waters side.

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Lonesome Swallow ( J.C. Johnson, Andy Razaf ) – 1928

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Ethel Waters and John Bubbles perform “Birmingham Bertha” in On With the Show (1929)

From Wikipedia:

On with the Show! (1929) is historically important in cinema history as the first modern sound film photographed entirely in Technicolor. To explain this breakthrough, this film was promoted in 1929 terms as a 100% ‘talkie’, meaning that it had synchronized speech. Prior to this, Tiffany had released The Cavalier (1928), which was technically the first feature length sound completely in Technicolor, but only had music and sound effects with silent title cards, and would be regarded as a silent film by viewers today.

Am I Blue? (m. Harry Akst, w. Grant Clarke) — in On with the Show!

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(below) issued in June 1929 on the 78 rpm single Columbia 1837-D, as the B-side of “Birmingham Bertha”

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Birmingham Bertha (m. Harry Akst, w. Grant Clarke) — performed by Ethel Waters in On With the Show, with dancing by John William Sublett (John Bubbles)

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(below) issued in June 1929 on the 78 rpm single Columbia 1837-D, b/w “Am I Blue?”

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I Got Rhythm (m. George Gershwin, w. Ira Gershwin) — 1931

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Long before Obama…there was Sammy Davis, Jr., as “Rufus Jones,” running for President

In 1933 Waters performed “Am I Blue?” in the film Rufus Jones for President. Starring as Rufus is seven year old Sammy Davis, Jr. In the following video he introduces the song with the question, “What’s the matter mammy, is you blue? The second song is Underneath a Harlem Moon (Mack Gordon, Harry Revel).

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Career breakthrough —  Stormy Weather

While she had already achieved nightclub and recording success by the mid twenties following the big hit Dinah and sang in some of the earliest “talking pictures” made by Hollywood it was her subtle performance of  Arlen and Koehler’s Stormy Weather at the Cotton Club in 1933 that made her a star and the talk of the town. Irving Berlin caught a performance and signed her up for his revue As Thousands Cheer. Opening September 30, 1933, the show ran to 400 performances, a rarity in the midst of the Depression. Waters received rave reviews for her performances of the Berlin songs Heat Wave and Supper Time. Engagements in other successful Broadway productions followed: At Home Abroad, Mamba ’s Daughters, Cabin in the Sky, and Member of the Wedding.

Stormy Weather (m. Harold Arlen, w. Ted Koehler) Ethel Waters introduced this song at The Cotton Club in Harlem. Her recording in that year was given a Grammy Hall of Fame award in 1973, as were her recordings of Dinah (1925) and Am I Blue? (1929)

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Heat Wave (Irving Berlin) — 1933

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Miss Otis Regrets (Cole Porter) – 1934

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