Della Reese Biography
Dellareese Taliaferro, 6 July 1932, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Reese is a renowned gospel singer, working with Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward before becoming lead singer with the Meditation Singers. Her place was taken by Laura Lee when she left to join the Erskine Hawkins orchestra in 1956. Reese began a solo recording career with Jubilee in 1957, releasing the Top 20 hit "And That Reminds Me" and a version of Cole Porter's "In The Still Of The Night". Now established as a gospel-influenced ballad singer, she signed to RCA in 1959 where Hugo And Luigi produced "Don't You Know", based on an aria from Puccini's opera La Bohème. It reached number 2 and was followed by the Top 20 single "Not One Minute More". Later RCA singles included revivals of "Someday (You'll Want Me To Want You)" (1960) from 1946 and the 20s standard "Bill Bailey" (1961). During the 60s and 70s, she worked frequently in cabaret, recording for ABC and Avco, where she had a minor disco hit with "If It Feels Good Do It" in 1972. In 1980, Reese returned to RCA to record an album of songs adapted from the classics.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
|
