Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Fontella Marie Bass |
Born | St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | July 3, 1940
Died | December 26, 2012 St. Louis, Missouri, U.S. | (aged 72)
Genres | |
Occupation(s) |
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1961–2012 |
Labels |
Fontella Marie Bass (
Early life
Fontella Bass was born in
Bass continued touring with her mother until age of sixteen. As a teenager, Bass was attracted by more secular music. She began singing
Bass originally only played piano with the band, but one night Milton failed to arrive on time, so Sain asked her to sing and she was soon given her own featured vocal spot in the show. Milton and Sain eventually split up and Bass went with Sain; he also recruited male singer Bobby McClure and the group became known as "The Oliver Sain Soul Revue featuring Fontella and Bobby McClure".
Recording career
With the support of Bob Lyons, the manager of
Two years later, she quit the Milton band and moved to Chicago after a dispute with Oliver Sain. She auditioned for
Bass and McClure followed their early success with "You're Gonna Miss Me" that summer, a song that had mild success, reaching the Top 30 on the R&B chart, although it made no significant impression on the pop chart. After a brief tour, Bass returned to the studio. The culmination of one particular session was an original composition with an aggressive rhythm section; backing musicians on the track included drummer
Bass followed with "Recovery," which did moderately well, peaking at #13 (R&B) and #37 (pop) in early 1966. The same year brought two more R&B hits, "I Can't Rest" (backed with "I Surrender)" and "You'll Never Know." Her only album with Chess Records, The New Look, sold reasonably well, but Bass soon became disillusioned with Chess and decided to leave the label after only two years, in 1967. Bass claimed that, although the credited co-writers Carl Smith and Raynard Miner, and record producer Billy Davis, had assured her that her contribution to co-writing the lyrics of "Rescue Me" would be acknowledged, this was never done.[12]
I had the first million seller for Chess since Chuck Berry about 10 years before. Things were riding high for them, but when it came time to collect my first royalty check, I looked at it, saw how little it was, tore it up and threw it back across the desk.[5]
Bass demanded a better royalty rate and artistic control; she approached her then manager Billy Davis about securing her writing credit on the song but was told not to worry about it. When the record came out and her name was still not on it, she was told it would be on the legal documents, but this never happened. She continued to agitate about the matter for a couple of years[2] but later recalled: "It actually side-stepped me in the business because I got a reputation of being a trouble maker."[13]
Tiring of the mainstream music scene, she and husband Lester Bowie left America and moved to Paris
Even with the success of "Rescue Me" it was many years and much litigation before Bass would be credited with her share of the songwriting and the royalties.[citation needed]
Later career and death
The next few years found Bass at several labels, but saw no notable successes. After her second album, Free, flopped in 1972, Bass retired from music and concentrated on raising a family; she had four children with avant-garde trumpeter, Lester Bowie.
The original version of "Rescue Me" was used in a TV advertising campaign by
Like many artists of her time, Bass experienced a revival of interest. She sang on the NBC TV show Night Music in 1989 episode #116. She was featured on the PBS Special and accompanying DVD, Soul Celebration. Soul Spectacular recorded live at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 2001. Her voice can be heard on two tracks on the Cinematic Orchestra's 2002 album Every Day, and another two tracks on their 2007 album Ma Fleur.
In May 2000, Bass received a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.[15]
In the 2000s, she toured Europe with her younger brother David Peaston until she fell ill. For her last years, she had to struggle due to her deteriorating health. Bass survived breast cancer, a series of strokes beginning in 2005, and a leg amputation.[16] On December 26, 2012, she died at a St. Louis hospital from complications of a heart attack suffered earlier in the month; she was 72.[4][17][18] She was survived by four children.[10]
Grammy Awards
The
Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1965 | Best Contemporary Vocal Performance Female | "Rescue Me" | Nominated |
1995 | Best Traditional Soul Gospel Performance | No Ways Tired | Nominated |
Discography
Albums
Year | Album |
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1966 | The New Look |
1970 | Les Stances a Sophie with the Art Ensemble of Chicago |
1970 | Live in Paris with the Art Ensemble of Chicago |
1970 | Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass |
1972 | Free |
1980 | From the Root to the Source |
1992 | Rescued: The Best of Fontella Bass |
1995 | No Ways Tired |
1996 | Now That I Found a Good Thing |
2001 | Travelin' |
Singles
Year | Single | Label & Cat # | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US R&B [20] |
US Pop
[21] |
UK
[22] | ||||||
1962 | "I Don't Hurt Anymore" / "Brand New Love" | Bobbin 134 | — | — | — | Non-album tracks | ||
"Honey Bee" / "Bad Boy" | Bobbin 140 | — | — | — | ||||
1963 | "I Love The Man" / "My Good Loving" | Prann 5005 | — | — | — | |||
1964 | "Poor Little Fool" / "This Would Make Me Happy" | Sonja 2006 | — | — | — | |||
1965 | "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" with Bobby McClure |
Checker 1097 | 5 | 33 | — | |||
"You'll Miss Me (When I'm Gone)" with Bobby McClure |
Checker 1111 | 27 | 91 | — | ||||
"Rescue Me" / "Soul of the Man" | Checker 1120 | 1 | 4 | 11 | The New Look | |||
1966 | "Recovery" / "Leave It in the Hands of Love" | Checker 1131 | 13 | 37 | 32 | Rescued: The Best of Fontella Bass | ||
"I Can't Rest" / "I Surrender" |
Checker 1137 | 31 33 |
— 78 |
— — | ||||
"You'll Never Ever Know" / "Safe and Sound" |
Checker 1147 | 34 — |
— 100 |
— — | ||||
1967 | "Lucky In Love" / "Sweet Lovin' Daddy" | Checker 1183 | — | — | — | The Very Best of Fontella Bass | ||
"—" denotes releases that did not chart. |
References
- ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Ramsey, David (December 7, 2021). "Can't You See That I'm Lonely?: "Rescue Me," on repeat". Issue 115, Winter 2021. Oxford American. Retrieved November 7, 2023.
- ^ Watrous, Peter (January 21, 1989). "Review/Music; The Bass Clan Does Its Individual Things". The New York Times.
- ^ a b "Fontella Bass dead at 72". KSDK.com. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved December 27, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f "Sorry, We Can't Find That Page – Search MSU". Msu.edu. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- ^ Sorkin, Michael D., and Kevin Johnson, "Fontella Bass dies; singer of 'Rescue Me' was a hit in US and a bigger hit in Europe", St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Friday, December 28, 2012.
- ISBN 978-0-252-09750-8.
- OCLC 43321298.
- ISSN 0362-4331.
- ^ ISSN 0190-8286.
- ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Perrone, Pierre (December 28, 2012). "Fontella Bass: Singer famed for her powerful interpretation of the million-seller 'Rescue Me'". The Independent. Retrieved December 29, 2012.
- ^ "Jerry Reuss – Fontella Bass – Rescue Me". www.jerryreuss.com.
- ^ "My Song Rescued Me". The Tuscaloosa News. November 25, 1995.
- ^ "Fontella Bass". stlouiswalkoffame.org.
- ^ Kevin C. Johnson, "R&B and gospel singer David Peaston dies", St Louis Post-Dispatch, February 3, 2012.
- ^ "Fontella Bass Obituary". Legacy.com. December 27, 2012. Retrieved August 30, 2013.
- ^ "Fontella Bass, 72, Singer of 'Rescue Me,' Is Dead". The New York Times. December 28, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- ^ "Fontella Bass". Grammy.com.
- ^ "Fontella Bass (Hot Soul Songs)". billboard.com.
- ^ "Fontella Bass (Hot 100)". billboard.com.
- ^ "Fontella Bass". officialcharts.com.