Episode 436. Adelaide Hall, Sophisticated Lady
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Adelaide Hall (1901 – 1993), entertainer extraordinaire, really had it all: voice, talent, beauty, dancing chops, charisma, joie de vivre and sophistication. She was the first Black performer to attain international stardom, even before Joséphine Baker, with whom she shared a number of similarities (though Hall probably had the superior voice). She was the first singer to scat on record; she helped popularize both the Charleston and the Black Bottom and was considered the epitome of the Flapper; she introduced the world to a number of now-standard songs from the Great American Songbook; she appeared on a rare 1935 Vitaphone short that featured all Black performers; she and her husband owned and ran various night clubs in three different countries, as well as headlining at the legendary Cotton Club; and she headlined the sensational revue Blackbirds of 1928 and several other ground-breaking shows in the 1920s and 1930s. I got to know her work many years back when I happened to find a late-career LP of hers in the basement of an apartment building I was living in. I have been a fan ever since. The number of great musicians with whom she rubbed shoulders is almost mind-boggling (Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Fela Sowande, Joe Turner, and Art Tatum, for starters), and she continued to perform with gusto and sophistication into her late eighties, occasionally returning to her native US from London, where she settled in 1938 and lived until her death. Her range of influence is truly far-flung and her many recordings, made between 1927 and 1989, a generous sampling of which are offered on this episode, continue to bring consistent delight and surprise.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Duke Ellington, James “Bubber” Miley, Rude Jackson: Creole Love Call. Adelaide Hall, Duke Ellington and His Orchestra [1927]
Harry Warren, Mack Gordon: The More I See You. Adelaide Hall, Benny Waters, Mike Pyne, Dave Green, Ron Hetherington [live London 21, 22.IV.1989]
Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields: I Must Have that Man (Blackbirds of 1928). Adelaide Hall, Allie Ross, Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds Orchestra [1928]
Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields: I Must Have that Man (Blackbirds of 1928). Adelaide Hall, The Brian Lemon Half-Dozen [Brian Lemon, Danny Moss, Humphrey Lyttelton, Bruce Turner, Tony Kinsey, Arthur Watts] [1970]
Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields: I Can’t Give You Anything but Love (Blackbirds of 1928). Adelaide Hall, Fats Waller [1938]
Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields: Diga Diga Doo (Blackbirds of 1928). Adelaide Hall, The Brian Lemon Half-Dozen [Brian Lemon, Danny Moss, Humphrey Lyttelton, Bruce Turner, Tony Kinsey, Arthur Watts] [1970]
Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler: You Gave Me Everything But Love. Adelaide Hall, Art Tatum, Francis Carter [1932]
Duke Ellington, Nick Kenny: Drop Me Off in Harlem. Adelaide Hall, Mills Blue Rhythm Band [1933]
Turner in An All-Colored Vaaudeville Show
Mack Gordon, Harry Revel: To Have You, To Hold You. Adelaide Hall, Joe Turner and ensemble [from 1935 Vitaphone short An All-Colored Vaudeville Show]
Ord Hamilton, Bruce Silver: You’re Blasé. Adelaide Hall, Stéphane Grapelli, Arthur Young Swingtette [BBC broadcast 1939]
Jimmy McHugh, Dorothy Fields: Porgy (Blackbirds of 1928). Adelaide Hall, Norman Perry [Overseas Recorded Broadcasting Service, broadcast XI.1945]
Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart: This Can’t Be Love (The Boys from Syracuse). Adelaide Hall, small orchestra [1940]
Andre Kostelanetz, Mack David, Mack Davis [adapted from Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky]: Moon Love. Adelaide Hall, Fela Sowande [1939]
Harold Arlen, Yip Harburg: Savannah’s Wedding Day (Jamaica). Adelaide Hall, Orchestra and Chorus conducted by Lehman Engel [1957]
Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler: Ill Wind (Cotton Club Parade). Adelaide Hall, Mike Pyne [live London 21, 22.IV.1989]
Duke Ellington, Irving Mills: It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got that Swing). Adelaide Hall, produced by Denis Preston [1976]
Duke Ellington, Irving Mills, Mitchell Parish, revised lyrics by Howard Barnes: Sophisticated Lady. Adelaide Hall, Phil Green & His Rhythm on Reeds [1944]
