MG-20051: The Favorite Songs Of Ethel Waters / Ethel Waters

	Label Type :	black Mercury type A
	Matrix Number :	SIDE-A	YMG20051A M
		SIDE-B	YMG20051B M

Comments

Some of the tunes are also available on EP-1-3245 and EP-1-3246.

Inside The Groove

Solemn, emotional but real deep “blues”singing by a vaudeville (and later a famous Broadway musical actress and a singer).

Personal Impression (and brief notes)

To tell the truth I didn't notice this was an album by “that” Ethel Waters. From liner-notes on the back cover, she was a famous blues singer, born in 1896. She also was a well-known Broadway actress on Africana (1927), Blackbirds (1930), Rhapsody In Black (1931), Cabin In The Sky (1941) and much more. She even received Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress in Pinky (1949). Some web sites says she gave inevitable influences to other Jazz singers such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horne et al.

As for this album itself, she sings blues song backed up with Reginald Beane at the piano. Every tune is very impressive, solemn but in emotional “blue” tone.

Strictly Personal Rating (to what extent I could enjoy this album)

8 out of 10

Track Listing

Personnel

Personnel/recorded date/master numbers confirmed with the Ruppli's discography.
(“The Mercury Labels - A Discography” by Ruppli and Novitsky, Greenwood Press, 1993)

Ethel Waters (vo) with Reginald Beane (p).
Recorded at Fine Sound Studios, New York City in 1954.

Jackets

Front	Back

Labels

Side A	Side B