Esther Phillips

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Little Esther" redirects here. For the American stand-up comedian, actress and podcast host, see Esther Povitsky. For Barbadian poet of the same name, see Esther Phillips (poet).
Esther Phillips
Kudu, Mercury
, Lenox

Esther Phillips (born Esther Mae Washington; December 23, 1935 – August 7, 1984)

What a Diff'rence a Day Makes
" was a major hit in 1975. She died from liver and kidney failure due to long-term drug abuse in 1984.

Biography

Early life

Phillips was born Esther Mae Jones in

Barrelhouse Club, owned by Johnny Otis. Otis was so impressed that he recorded her for Modern Records and added her to his traveling revue, the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, billed as Little Esther. She later took the surname Phillips as her stage name, reportedly inspired by a sign at a gas station.[3]

Early career

Her first hit record was "

Mistrusting Blues" (a duet with Mel Walker) and "Cupid's Boogie", both of which also went to number 1 that year. Four more of her records made the Top 10 in the same year: "Misery" (number 9), "Deceivin' Blues" (number 4), "Wedding Boogie" (number 6), and "Far Away Blues (Xmas Blues)" (number 6). Few female artists performing in any genre had such success in their debut year.[2]

Phillips left Otis and the Savoy label at the end of 1950 and signed with Federal Records. But just as quickly as the hits had started, they stopped. She recorded more than thirty sides for Federal, but only one, "Ring-a-Ding-Doo", made the charts, reaching number 8 in 1952. Not working with Otis was part of her problem; the other part was her deepening dependence on heroin, to which she was addicted by the middle of the decade.[4]

In 1954, she returned to Houston to live with her father and recuperate. Short on money, she worked in small nightclubs around the South, punctuated by periodic hospital stays in Lexington, Kentucky, to treat her addiction. In 1962, Kenny Rogers discovered her singing at a Houston club and helped her get a contract with Lenox Records, owned by his brother Lelan.

Comeback

Phillips eventually recovered enough to launch a comeback in 1962. Now billed as Esther Phillips instead of Little Esther, she recorded a country tune, "

Release Me", with the producer Bob Gans. This went to number 1 on the R&B chart and number 8 on the pop chart. After several other minor R&B hits for Lenox, she was signed by Atlantic Records. Her cover of the Beatles' song "And I Love Him" nearly made the R&B Top 20 in 1965. The Beatles flew her to the UK for her first overseas performances.[5] In July 2018, Paul McCartney recalled "the earliest [Beatles cover] that really caught my ear was by Esther Phillips ... "And I Love Him" which is really great. I love it."[6]

She had other hits in the 1960s for Atlantic, such as the

heroin dependence worsened, and she checked into a rehabilitation facility. There she met the singer Sam Fletcher. While undergoing treatment, she recorded some sides for Roulette in 1969, mostly produced by Lelan Rogers. On her release, she returned to Los Angeles and re-signed with Atlantic. Her friendship with Fletcher resulted in a performance engagement at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper club in late 1969, which produced the album Burnin'. She performed with the Johnny Otis Show at the Monterey Jazz Festival
in 1970.

The 1970s and 1980s

"With her lubricious, naturally sardonic high vibrato, this modern blues singer is well equipped to carry Dinah Washington's torch, and a club date with the likes of Chuck Rainey and Cornell Dupree is the perfect place for her to shine her light—even the horn overdubs sound hot."

–Review of Burnin' in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)[7]

One of her biggest post-1950s triumphs was her first album for the

Grammy Award. Phillips lost to Aretha Franklin, but Franklin presented the trophy to her, saying she should have won it instead.[8]

In 1975, she released a

UK Singles Chart.[9] On November 8, 1975, she performed the song on an episode of NBC's Saturday Night (later called Saturday Night Live) hosted by Candice Bergen. The accompanying album of the same name became her biggest seller yet, with arranger Joe Beck on guitar, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, David Sanborn on alto sax, Randy Brecker on trumpet, Steve Khan on guitar and Don Grolnick
on keyboards.

She continued to record and perform throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, completing seven albums for Kudu/CTI and four for

crossovers—she comes up with her most consistent album of the '70s."[7]

In 1983, she charted for the final time with "Turn Me Out" which reached number 85 on the R&B chart. She completed recording her final album, A Way To Say Goodbye a few months before her death; it was released by the Muse jazz label in 1986.

Death

Phillips died at UCLA Medical Center in Carson, California, in 1984, at the age of 48, from liver and kidney failure due to long-term drug abuse.[10] Her funeral services were conducted by Johnny Otis.[8]

Originally buried in an unmarked pauper's grave at Lincoln Memorial Park in

Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
, in Los Angeles. A bronze marker recognizes her career achievements and quotes a Bible passage: "In My Father's House Are Many Mansions" (John 14:2).

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Phillips was twice nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in 1986 and 1987, but was not inducted.[12]

Blues Hall of Fame

In 2023 Phillips was inducted in the Blues Hall of Fame.[13][14]

Grammy nominations

Esther Phillips
Grammy Award History[15]
Year Category Title Genre Label Result
1970 Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance – Female "Set Me Free" R&B Atlantic Nominee
1972 Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance – Female "From a Whisper to a Scream" R&B Kudu/CTI Nominee
1973 Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance – Female "Alone Again (Naturally)" R&B Kudu/CTI Nominee
1975 Best Rhythm & Blues Vocal Performance – Female "
What a Diff'rence a Day Makes
" 		R&B Kudu/CTI Nominee

Discography

Albums

Year Title Label US
[16] 		US
Jazz
[16] 		US
R&B
[16] 		AUS
[17]
1963 Release Me Lenox 46 -
1965 And I Love Him! Atlantic -
1966 Esther Phillips Sings -
The Country Side of Esther -
1970 Live at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper -
Burnin' (Live) 115 12 7 -
1972 From a Whisper to a Scream Kudu/CTI 137 16 -
Alone Again, Naturally Kudu/CTI 177 15 26 -
1974 Black-Eyed Blues 205 15 17 -
1975 Performance 27 46 -
Esther Phillips and Joe Beck 3 -
What a Diff'rence a Day Makes Kudu/CTI 32 13 99
1976* Capricorn Princess Kudu/CTI 150 23 40 -
Confessin' the Blues* Atlantic* (1966, 1970)[18] 170 26 35 -
For All We Know Kudu/CTI 32 33 -
1977 You've Come a Long Way, Baby Mercury -
1978 All About Esther -
1979 Here's Esther, Are You Ready 47 -
1981 Good Black Is Hard to Crack -
1986 A Way to Say Goodbye Muse (Compilation). -

Singles

Year Single Chart positions
US US
R&B 		US
AC 		AUS
[17]
UK
[1]
1950 "Double Crossing Blues"* — 1 — — —
"
Mistrusting Blues
"* 		— 1 — — —
"Misery"* — 9 — — —
"Cupid's Boogie"* — 1 — — —
"Deceivin' Blues"* — 4 — — —
"Wedding Boogie"* — 6 — — —
"Far Away Blues (Xmas Blues)"* — 6 — — —
1952 "Ring-a-Ding-Doo" — 8 — — —
1962 "
Release Me
" 		8 1 — — —
1963 "I Really Don't Want to Know" 61 — — — —
"Am I That Easy to Forget" 112 — — — —
"You Never Miss Your Water (Til the Well Runs Dry)"** 73 — — — —
"If You Want It (I've Got It)"** 129 — — — —
1964 "Hello Walls" — 36 — — —
1965 "And I Love Him" 54 11 14 — —
"Moonglow and Theme from Picnic" 115 — 28 — —
"Let Me Know When It's Over" 129 — — — —
1966 "When a Woman Loves a Man" 73 26 — — —
1969 "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry" 121 35 — — —
1970 "Set Me Free" 118 39 — — —
1972 "Home Is Where the Hatred Is" 122 40 — — —
"Baby, I'm for Real" — 38 — — —
"I've Never Found a Man (To Love Me Like You Do)" 106 17 — — —
1975 "
What a Diff'rence a Day Makes
"*** 		20 10 29 38 6
1976 "For All We Know" — 98 — — —
1983 "Turn Me Out" — 85 — — —

Notes: *With the

US Dance
chart. Another two-sided single, "Magic's In the Air" / "Boy I Really Tied One On", peaked at number 5 on the same chart in 1976.

Complete singles for Federal Records, 1951–1953

All released on 45- and 78-rpm records

1951

Federal 12016, "The Deacon Moves In" (with the

Dominoes
) / "Other Lips, Other Arms"
Federal 12023, "I'm a Bad, Bad Girl" / "Don't Make a Fool Out of Me"
Federal 12036, "Lookin' for a Man to Satisfy My Soul" / "Heart to Heart" (with The Dominoes)
Federal 12042, "Cryin' and Singin' the Blues" / "Tell Him That I Need Him"

1952

Federal 12055, "Ring-a-Ding-Doo" (with

Bobby Nunn
) / "The Cryin' Blues"
Federal 12063, "Summertime" / "The Storm"
Federal 12065, "Better Beware" / "I'll Be There"
Federal 12078, "Aged and Mellow" / "Bring My Lovin' Back to Me"
Federal 12090, "Ramblin' Blues" / "Somebody New"
Federal 12100, "Mainliner" (with 4 Jacks) / "Saturday Night Daddy" (with Bobby Nunn)

1953

Federal 12108, "Last Laugh Blues" (with Little Willie Littlefield) / "Flesh, Blood and Bones"
Federal 12115, "Turn The Lamp Down Low" (with Little Willie Littlefield) / "Hollerin' and Screamin'"
Federal 12122, "You Took My Love Too Fast" (with Bobby Nunn) / "Street Lights"
Federal 12126, "Hound Dog" / "Sweet Lips"
Federal 12142, "Cherry Wine" / "Love Oh Love"

Taken from the original logbooks of the defunct Federal Records, which I copied decades ago.I?

Filmography

Television

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 1-904994-10-5
    .
  2. ^
    ISBN 0-14-015939-8
    .
  3. ISBN 1-57806-331-0
    .
  4. ISBN 1-56159-176-9
    .
  5. ISBN 0-8118-2684-8
    .
  6. ^ McCartney, Paul (July 25, 2018). "Paul McCartney with Jarvis Cocker at LIPA, July 25, 2018" (video). youtube.com. Paul McCartney.
  7. ^
    ISBN 089919026X
    . Retrieved March 10, 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  8. ^
    ISBN 0-415-93653-5
    .
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness. p. 3247.
  10. ^ "Blues Singer Esther Phillips Dead at 48", Baltimore Afro-American, August 4, 1984.
  11. ^ "Esther Phillips' Remains Reinterred At Forest Lawn", Jet, September 2, 1985.
  12. ^ "Complete List of Nominees and Inductees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame". 2007. Retrieved January 22, 2012.
  13. ^ Grein, Paul (2023-03-15). "Esther Phillips, Josh White & More to Be Inducted into Blues Hall of Fame: Full List of 2023 Inductees". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  14. ^ Ehrenclou, Martine (2023-03-15). "Blues Hall of Fame 2023 Inductees Announced". ROCK AND BLUES MUSE. Retrieved 2023-04-16.
  15. ^ "The Envelope, Awards Database". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  16. ^ a b c Steve Huey. "Esther Phillips biography". All Music. Rovi Corp. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
  17. ^
    ISBN 0-646-11917-6
    .
  18. ^ The wrong date is often given for this album, on the Internet and on LPs. The original recording dates were in 1966 and 1970. The album was reissued in 1976 under the 1966 title. Some of the personnel on the album were no longer alive in 1976, so the album could not have been recorded that late.
  19. ^ "Full cast and crew for The Music of Lennon & McCartney (1965)". Internet Movie Data base. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2012.
  20. ^ "Biography for Little Esther Phillips". Internet Movie Data base. IMDb.com, Inc. Retrieved 7 July 2012.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Esther_Phillips&oldid=1219634989"