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

[Front Cover] 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

SIDE-A
A-1 10437 Paper Moon -
A-2 10438 Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe -
A-3 10439 Can't Help Lovin' That Man -
A-4 10440 Summertime -
A-5 10442 St. Louis Blues -
SIDE-B
B-1 10441 Suppertime -
B-2 10443 Travelin' -
B-3 10444 A Hundred Years From Today -
B-4 10445 Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child -
B-5 10446 The Crucifixion -
B-6 10447 Little Black Boy -

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
[MG-20051 FRONT] [MG-20051 BACK]



Labels

Side A Side B
[MG-20051 A] [MG-20051 B]



MATSUBAYASHI 'Shaolin' Kohji <shaolin@rhythmaning.org>
Initially Published: June 23, 2002.
Last Updated: (none)