Nellie Lutcher
{{Short description|American R&B and jazz singer (1912–2007)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Nellie Lutcher
| image = Nellie Lutcher 1950.JPG
| caption = Lutcher in 1950
| image_size =
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name = Nellie Rose Lutcher
| alias =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1912|10|15}}
| birth_place = Lake Charles, Louisiana, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2007|6|8|1912|10|15}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| instrument =
| genre = Jazz, R&B
| occupation = Musician
| years_active =
| label = Capitol, Okeh, Decca, Liberty
| past_member_of = Clarence Hart, Nat "King" Cole
| website =
| current_members =
| past_members = Charles Burrell (musician)
}}
File:Jack Smith Show 1948.jpg (1948) ]]
Nellie Rose Lutcher (October 15, 1912 – June 8, 2007){{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues - A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara| page=379 | isbn= 978-0313344237}} was an American 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 Lake Charles, Louisiana,{{cite book|last1=Weissman|first1=Dick|title=Blues|date=2005|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9780816069750|page=122|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rk_A3-UHgEMC&q=%22Nellie+Lutcher%22&pg=PA122|access-date=23 May 2017|language=en}} the eldest daughter of the 15 children of Isaac and Suzie Lutcher. She was the sister of 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.{{Cite web |date=2019-10-08 |title=Nellie Lutcher: From Obscurity to Rhythm and Blues Sensation 🎹🎶 |url=https://www.visitlakecharles.org/blog/post/about-nellie-lutcher/ |access-date=2024-03-26 |website=www.visitlakecharles.org}}
Career
Aged 15, Lutcher joined her father in Clarence Hart's Imperial Jazz Band,{{Cite book|title=Jazz Women at the Keyboard|url=https://archive.org/details/jazzwomenatkeybo00unte|url-access=registration|last=Unterbrink|first=Mary|publisher=McFarland & Company|year=1983|location=Jefferson, NC|page=[https://archive.org/details/jazzwomenatkeybo00unte/page/n62 53]|isbn=9780899500744 }} and in her mid-teens also briefly married the band's trumpet player. In 1933, she joined the Southern Rhythm Boys, writing their arrangements and touring widely.{{cite book|title=The Guinness Who's Who of Fifties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|publisher=Guinness Publishing|date=1993|edition=First|isbn=0-85112-732-0|page=213}} In 1935, she moved to Los Angeles,{{cite book|last1=Dahl|first1=Linda|title=Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen|date=1984|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9780879101282|pages=70–71|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sq4eXS-IbngC&q=%22Nellie+Lutcher%22&pg=PA70|access-date=23 May 2017|language=en}} where she married Leonel Lewis and had a son. She began to play swing piano, and also to sing, in small combos throughout the area, and began developing her own style, influenced by Earl Hines, Duke Ellington and her friend Nat "King" Cole.
She was not widely known until 1947 when she learned of the March of Dimes talent show at Hollywood High School, and performed. The show was broadcast on the radio and her performance caught the ear of Dave Dexter, a scout for Capitol Records. 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",{{cite book|last1=Bogdanov|first1=Vladimir|title=All Music Guide to Soul: The Definitive Guide to R&B and Soul|date=2003|publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation|isbn=9780879307448|page=433|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o552g5xRRiwC&q=%22Nellie+Lutcher%22&pg=PA433|access-date=23 May 2017|language=en}} which went to No. 2 on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart and sold a million copies globally.{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins Ltd
| location= London
| page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/45 45]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/45
}} 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. 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 Nat "King" Cole on "For You My Love" and "Can I Come in for a Second". The same year, her records began to be released in the UK and were actively promoted by radio DJ Jack Jackson. She headlined a UK variety tour, 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. 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAW_FqVe9XA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/SAW_FqVe9XA |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|title=Nellie Lutcher-This is Your Life, Yvonne King, Anita Louise, Hazel Bishop |publisher=YouTube |date=2015-07-20 |access-date=2020-04-13}}{{cbignore}}
She died in Los Angeles in 2007, aged 94.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/jun/14/guardianobituaries.musicnews|title=Obituary: Nellie Lutcher|last=Vacher|first=Peter|date=2007-06-13|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=2018-12-29|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}} 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
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Nellie Lutcher}}
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm02YKi6rOc Nellie Lutcher performing on Today in 1956, from YouTube]
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAW_FqVe9XA Nellie Lutcher on This Is Your Life (claiming 1916 birth year)]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20090211135848/http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/Nellie.html Biography from Earthlink.net]
- [http://www.oldies.com/artist-view/Nellie-Lutcher.html Biography from Oldies.com]
- [http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Nellie%20Lutcher.html Biography from Soul Walking]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928083859/http://www.beautyinmusic.com/artist_pages/nellie_lutcher.htm Listing from Beauty in Music]
- [http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=20299 Article from All About Jazz]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080102171100/http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article2643064.ece Obituary from the Independent (UK)]
{{Portal bar|Biography|United States|Jazz}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lutcher, Nellie}}
Category:Capitol Records artists
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in California
Category:Musicians from Lake Charles, Louisiana
Category:American women jazz singers
Category:American jazz singers
Category:20th-century African-American women singers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:Singers from Louisiana
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:Jazz musicians from Louisiana