Christine Kittrell

Christine Kittrell (born August 11, 1929 in Nashville , Tennessee , † December 19, 2001 ) was an American singer of rhythm and blues . According to Bear Family Records, she "made some of the best R&B recordings of the 50s and 60s, but never got overly popular."

Live and act

Kittrell sang in the church choir as a child. In 1951 she made her first recordings ( Old Man You're Slipping ) with Louis Brooks and his band, with whom she had started her career as a professional musician in 1945. Buddy Hagans and Wendell Duconge , who usually played at Fats Domino , accompanied them on their hit Sittin 'Here Drinking (Tennessee 128). Kittrell toured with Big Joe Turner's band in 1951 . In 1952 she sang with Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams ; that's how it became known to Billboard , where it was hailed as the "Blue Discovery of the Decade". In 1954 she worked on the West Coast with Earl Bostic and then with Johnny Otis . Some recordings on the Republic label led to regional successes, for example Lord Have Mercy with Little Richard on piano.

That same year, she initially left the R&B scene to focus on gospel music and became a member of the Simmons Akers Spiritual Singers. In the early 1960s she recorded for Vee Jay Records , including the original version of I'm a Woman (made famous by Peggy Lee ). Since the mid-1960s, she sang for troop support in Southeast Asia, where she was wounded by shrapnel in 1968 . She also appeared occasionally at festivals over the next few decades. Her complete recordings were released under the title Call Her Name on Bear Family Records .

Web links

• Christine Kittrell at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} portrait (Bear Family)