Alberta Hunter Biography
1 April 1895, Memphis, Tennessee, USA, d. 17 October 1984, New York City, New York, USA. Growing up in Chicago, Hunter began her remarkable career singing at Dago Frank's, one of the city's least salubrious whorehouses. There she sang for the girls, the pimps and the customers, earning both their admiration and good money from tips. Later, she moved on and marginally upwards to a job singing in Hugh Hoskins' saloon. She continued to move through Chicago's saloons and bars, gradually developing a following. She entered the big time with an engagement at the Dreamland Cafe, where she sang with King Oliver's band. Among the songs she sang was "Down Hearted Blues", which she composed in collaboration with Lovie Austin and which was recorded in 1923 by Bessie Smith. Early in her career she sometimes performed and occasionally recorded under different names, including May Alix and Josephine Beatty. During the 20s and early 30s Hunter often worked in New York, singing and recording with many leading jazzmen of the day, among them Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Eubie Blake, Fletcher Henderson and Fats Waller. She also appeared in various shows on and off Broadway. A visit to London prompted so much interest that she was offered the role of Queenie in Show Boat at the Drury Lane Theatre, playing opposite Paul Robeson in the 1928/9 season. During the 30s she frequently returned to London to appear at hotels and restaurants, including an engagement at the Dorchester Hotel with Jack Jackson's popular band. She also appeared in the UK musical film Radio Parade Of 1935. The 30s saw her in Paris and Copenhagen too, consistently meeting with enormous success. In the 40s she continued to appear at New York clubs and to make records, notably with Eddie Heywood. These recordings include two of her own compositions, "My Castle's Rockin'" and "The Love I Have For You". In the war years she toured extensively to perform for US troops.
In the early 50s she visited the UK with Snub Mosley and again toured with the USO, this time to Korea. She played a number of club dates, but, due to increasingly hard times, in 1954 she retired from showbusiness. At that time, aged 60, she began a new career as a nurse. In 1961 writer and record producer Chris Alberston persuaded Hunter to record two albums, but she continued to concentrate on her new profession. Then, in 1977, her employers belatedly realized that diminutive Nurse Hunter was 82 and insisted that she should retire. Having already lived a remarkably full life she could have been forgiven for calling it a day, but she was a tough and spirited lady. She supplied the score for the film Remember My Name (1978) and, invited to sing at Barney Josephson's club, The Cookery in Greenwich Village, New York, she was a smash hit and began her singing career anew. She made numerous club and concert appearances, made more records and appeared on several television shows. Hunter sang with power and conviction, her contralto voice having a distinct but attractive vibrato. Inimitably interpreting every nuance of the lyrics, especially when they were her own, she made many fine recordings. Even late in her career, she ably controlled her audiences with a delicate but firm hand, all the time displaying a sparkling wit and a subtle way with a risqué lyric. It is hard to think of any singer who has improved upon her performances of certain songs, notably "The Love I Have For You" and "Someday, Sweetheart".
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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