Nellie Lutcher

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Nellie Lutcher
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
GenresJazz, R&B
Occupation(s)Musician
LabelsCapitol, Okeh, Decca, Liberty
Past membersCharles Burrell (musician)
Nellie Lutcher as a guest on The Jack Smith Show (1948)

Nellie Rose Lutcher (October 15, 1912 – June 8, 2007)

R&B and jazz singer and pianist, who gained prominence in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Lutcher was most recognizable for her diction and exaggerated pronunciation and was credited as an influence by Nina Simone
among others.

Childhood

Lutcher was born in

saxophonist Joe Lutcher. Her father was a bass player and her mother a church organist. She received piano lessons, and her father formed a family band with her playing piano. At age 12, she played with Ma Rainey, when Rainey's regular pianist fell ill and had to be left behind in the previous town. Searching for a temporary replacement in Lake Charles, one of the neighbors told Rainey that there was a little girl who played in church who might be able to do it.[3]

Career

Aged 15, Lutcher joined her father in

Nat "King" Cole
.

She was not widely known until 1947 when she learned of the

Dave Dexter, a scout for Capitol Records.[5] She was signed by Capitol and made several records, including "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)" and her first hit single, the risqué "Hurry On Down",[7] which went to No. 2 on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart and sold a million copies globally.[8]
This was followed by her equally successful composition "He's A Real Gone Guy", which also made No. 2 on the R&B chart and crossed over to the pop chart where it reached No. 15.

In 1948, she had a string of further R&B chart hits, the most successful being "Fine Brown Frame", her third No. 2 R&B hit.[5] Her songs charted on the pop, jazz, and R&B charts, she toured widely and became well known. She wrote many of her own songs and, unlike many other African-American artists of the period, retained the valuable publishing rights to them.

In 1950, Lutcher duetted with

compered
by Jackson, with great success, later returning there to tour on her own.

With an orchestra for the first time, Lutcher recorded "The Birth of the Blues" and "I Want to Be Near You" in 1951, but she was losing her appeal with the record-buying public and Capitol dropped her the following year.[5] She went on to record, much less successfully, for other labels including Okeh, Decca and Liberty, and gradually wound down her performance schedule.

In 1952, Lutcher was contacted to perform on first a "happy new years" television special, however after she finished her song, it was revealed that she was on the set of, and the honoree of, a This Is Your Life episode.[9]

She died in Los Angeles in 2007, aged 94.[1][10] She was the aunt of Latin jazz percussionist Darryl "Munyungo" Jackson and singer Jacquelyn Levy.

Discography

  • Nellie Lutcher (album of three 78 records, Capitol, 1950))
  • Real Gone! (Capitol, 1950)
  • Whee! Nellie! (10" album, Epic, 1955)
  • Our New Nellie (with Russ Garcia And His Orchestra) (Liberty, 1956)

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0313344237
    .
  2. ISBN 9780816069750
    . Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  3. ^ "Nellie Lutcher: From Obscurity to Rhythm and Blues Sensation 🎹🎶". www.visitlakecharles.org. 2019-10-08. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  4. ISBN 9780899500744
    .
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-85112-732-0
    .
  6. ISBN 9780879101282
    . Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  7. ISBN 9780879307448
    . Retrieved 23 May 2017.
  8. ISBN 0-214-20512-6
    .
  9. ^ "Nellie Lutcher-This is Your Life, Yvonne King, Anita Louise, Hazel Bishop". YouTube. 2015-07-20. Archived from the original on 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2020-04-13.
  10. ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 2018-12-29.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nellie Lutcher.
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