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vendredi 16 novembre 2018

MILDRED ANDERSON




MILDRED ANDERSON/ Complete Recordings


           
It's hard to believe that a fine female singer like Mildred Anderson who started her recording career with several top notch and famous bandleaders like Albert Ammons, Bill Doggett or Hot Lips Page, waxed two LP's for Prestige Bluesville in the early 60's, is so ill-documented.
            No real article, interview or whatsoever of her in any known blues and jazz magazine (as far as I know), elusive liner notes about herself and her whereabouts, nothing really substantial!
            So, and I guess it's the first time in my Blue Eye blog, here are the complete recordings of Ms Marion Anderson, a very good singer between jazz and blues, that I wasn't able to find much about! She is probably from the East Coast States like so many African Americans who resettled in the New York area during the 1940's. And she was probably born in the twenties! That's all!
            She anyway started to sing and be recorded with maestro piano man Albert Ammons in 1946, is reported to have been - although briefly - the singer of Hot Lips Page's band, then with Bill Doggett during 1953, waxing three nice tracks... And then a gap before she was again in the studios, this time in 1960 for two albums for the then fledgling Prestige-Bluesville label. Once again she is backed by some of the finest jazzmen of the era: Eddie Lockjaw Davis (she might have been her band singer at that time?), Al Sears, organists Shirley Scott and Ernie Hayes, guitarist Lord Westbrook for a jazz and blues programme. Mildred is a very fine gritty alto singer and is able to breathe a strong blues feeling in any song.
            What did she become after 1960? Of course those albums - like most of the Bluesvilles - certainly didn't sell very well and I remember seeing dozens of her two LPs on sale for a couple of Francs at the Saint Ouen Flee Market in the early 1960's! But it is very strange that judging her talents, her location (New York City!) and her pedigree, she wasn't more documented and she didn't resurface later....
            Anyway, she leaves us a strong musical legacy which one is able to hear entirely over here.
                                                                       Gérard HERZHAFT

Thanks to Marc for his help

Bob Eagle, author of the essential reference book Blues/ A regional experience adds those great facts about Mildred Anderson:
Gerard: post-recording info re Mildred Anderson: Mildred and Hortense worked together at the Key Club, 1325 Washington Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota during April 1961, backed by Gene (Bowlegs) Miller and his band. Mildred married Philadelphia-based businessman Bob Freeman in about September 1961. Hortense Allen was also involved with Rufus Rockhead at Montreal, Quebec, Canada, during July 1962, also featuring Mildred Anderson. Mildred almost lost her voice in the 1960s. In November 1970, having recovered her voice, she substituted for Candy Rae at Cyrus Scott’s Sahara Supper Club, Philadelphia .
Fin de la discussion

Mildred Anderson, vcl; Albert Ammons, pno; Ike Perkins, g; Israel Crosby, bs; Jack Cooley, dms. Chicago, Ill. 2 April 1946
01. Doin' the boogie woogie
Mildred Anderson, vcl; Hot Lips Page, tpt; Afred Cobbs, tb; Teddy Smalls, a-sax; Paul Quinichette, t-sax; Freddie Washington, pno; Carl Wilson, bs; Joe Booker, dms. New York City, 7 March 1951
02. That's the one for me
Mildred Anderson, vcl; Hot Lips Page, tpt; Bernard Flood, tpt; Alfred Cobbs, tb; Teddy Smalls, a-sax; Sam Taylor, t-sax; Dave Smalls, b-sax; Bill Doggett, pno: Leroy Kirkland, g; Walter Page, bs; Art Taylor, dms. New York City, 3 May 1951
03. I want to ride like the cowboys do
Mildred Anderson, vcl; Percy Francis, t-sax; Bill Doggett, og; Shep Shepherd, dms. New York City, 18 Februaryer 1953
04. No more in life
Mildred Anderson, vcl; Percy Francis, t-sax; Bill Doggett, og; Mickey Baker, g; Carl Pruitt, bs; Shep Shepherd, dms. 28 August 1953
05. You ain't no good
06. Your kind of woman
Mildred Anderson, vcl; Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, t-sax; Shirley Scott, og; George Duvivier, bs; Arthur Edgehill, dms. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 22 January 1960
07. Person to person
08. Kidney stew blues
09. Connections
10. I'm free
11. Please don't go
12. Hello little boy
13. I didn't have a chance
14. Good kind daddy
Mildred Anderson, vcl; Al Sears, t-sax; Robert Banks, og; Lord Westbrook, g; Leonard Gaskin, bs; Bobby Donaldson, dms. Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 26 September 1960
15. What more can a woman do
16. I'm lost
17. Everybody's got somebody but me
18. I ain't mad at you
19. Hard times
20. That old devil called love
21. Mistreater
22. No more in life
23. Roll'em Pete



20 commentaires:

  1. Completely new to me. Thank you Gérard!

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  2. Thanks for this fine compilation - new, fascinating and very enjoyable.

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  3. Hello Gerard,
    Thank you for this contribution. Unfortunately, access was denied to me.
    I have another request, though. I am currently researching the tour of the 1978 Chicago Blues All Stars with Buddy Guy and Junior Wells as an additional act. I saw the performance of this package in Montreux which later resulted in a Black&Blue LP/CD.
    I wonder if you have any sources that would help make the schedule as complete as possible. As you have been a regular contributor to Soul Bag magazine, you may have old back issues at hand. I am referring to Soul Bag, No 69, 1978, for example. Unfortunately I do not have issues older than No. 80 in my collection. To my knowledge the tour included:
    July 09: Montreux, Switzerland
    July : Nice, France, Grand Parade Du Jazz (7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14)
    July : Faro, Portugal, Algarve Jazz Festival
    July 15: The Hague, Netherlands, North Sea Jazz Festival
    July 21: London, England, Hammersmith Odeon
    Possible date also in Scandinavia. Are you aware of any other shows/dates?
    Thank you for your assistance and have a great weekend,
    B-Flat

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    Réponses
    1. There is no reason that access to those files would have been denied to anybody. Try another browser than IP. Generally it works like that.
      For the Chicago Blues all Stars 1978 tour, I saw it in Lyon (excellent show) at the Auditorium. Don't remember the exact date anyway. I must have the old Soul Bags somewhere but at that time, it's quite a task to search for it (and find it)! So I couldn't tell you more about the tour schedules... For those kind of questions, the best is to ask them not here but through my website

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  4. Thank you, Gerard. Yes, changing the browser sometimes does the trick!
    Also thanks for adding another show to the itinerary.
    Best regards!

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  5. Gerard:

    What a pleasant surprise - thanks for posting more music new to me!

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  6. Thanks Gérard for this underappreciated lady.
    I had some problems with mediafire too (did not like my adblocker!), but indeed opening another windows fixed it.

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  7. excellent collection. Marvelous version of Your kind of woman. Finding in these recordings a giant like Eddie L.Davis is a gift. Thank you. Can I ask a question? Can I find a recording of the meeting of Art Pepper and Jimmy Whiterspoon?

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  8. Merci pour cette belle collection Gérard : Excellent !
    Marc

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  9. Gracias Gerard por tan bella música. Un abrazo. Blues Syndicate

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  10. How do you access? I would love to hear.

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    Réponses
    1. http://www.mediafire.com/file/wxz3y7iuefla492/Mildred_ANDERSON.zip/file

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  11. Thank you Gerard.
    A year ago, I was looking for some information for my profile about Midred Anderson in Czech. I found a mention in Chicago's Jet Magazine from September 1953. It was a social section called New York Beat. At that time she played with Bill Doggett. The journalist mentioned about her brisk solution to the problems with aggressive visitors.
    Unfortunately, I can not give you a link.

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  12. Absolutely wonderful jazzblues..merci beaucoup!!

    Stuffy from Sweden

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