Esther Phillips
Esther Mae Jones (born December 23, 1935 in Galveston , Texas , † August 7, 1984 in Los Angeles , California ), who appeared as Little Esther and Esther Phillips , was an American singer, who in addition to the blues also jazz , country , Soul and Disco sang. She was often compared to Nina Simone , whereas she named Dinah Washington as her role model. Over a period of 33 years, Phillips had a total of 19 hits on the American R&B charts.
biography
In 1949 she took part in a talent competition at Johnny Otis ' Barrelhouse Club in Los Angeles . Otis was so impressed that he hired her for his revue The California Rhythm and Blues Caravan , where she performed as Little Esther.
In 1950 she had her first hit with the vocal quartet "The Robins", Double Crossin 'Blues . In the same year she had a whole series of great R&B hits: Mistrustin 'Blues , Misery , Cupid Boogie , Deceivin' Blues , Wedding Boogie and Far Away Blues (Xmas Blues) . Ring-A-Ding-Doo followed in 1952 . After her departure from Otis, the success subsided.
In 1962, Little Esther was rediscovered by Kenny Rogers . She now performed under the stage name Esther Phillips and with Release Me had a top 10 hit in the pop and number one hit on the R&B charts. The Beatles invited her to England, where she got her own TV show. In the mid-1960s she was under contract with the Atlantic label . Here you get smaller successes with And I Love Him (1965) and When a Woman Loves a Man (1966). At that time, Phillips was already struggling with her heroin addiction .
In 1972 the album From a Whisper to a Scream was released , which was nominated for a Grammy . Aretha Franklin then received the award, but she passed it on to Phillips as a gesture of admiration. At the time she was under contract with Creed Taylor's Kudu, a sub-label of CTI . In 1975 she had another worldwide hit with a disco version of the classic What a Difference a Day Makes (original by the Dorsey Brothers, a very well-known version by Dinah Washington ). At the end of 1976 she achieved another top 5 success in the US disco charts with Magic's in the Air / Boy, I Really Tied One on . Even after that, she recorded a few songs in this style, but she did not achieve greater success.
Phillips died in 1984 of liver and kidney failure as a result of heroin and alcohol addiction.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1970 | Burnin ' |
US115 (15 weeks) US |
R&B7 (24 weeks) R&B |
Live album
|
| 1971 | From a whisper to a scream |
US137 (15 weeks) US |
R&B16 (17 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1972 | Alone Again, Naturally |
US177 (8 weeks) US |
R&B26 (16 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1974 | Black-eyed blues | - |
R&B17 (9 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1975 | performance | - |
R&B46 (8 weeks) R&B |
|
| What a Diff'rence a Day Makes |
US32 (17 weeks) US |
R&B13 (13 weeks) R&B |
||
| 1976 | Capricorn Princess |
US150 (4 weeks) US |
R&B40 (5 weeks) R&B |
|
| Confessin 'the Blues |
US170 (4 weeks) US |
R&B35 (7 weeks) R&B |
||
More albums
- 1963: Release Me
- 1965: And I Love Him!
- 1966: Esther Phillips Sings
- 1966: The Country Side of Esther
- 1970: Live at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper
- 1975: Esther Phillips and Joe Beck
- 1976: For All We Know
- 1977: You've Come a Long Way, Baby
- 1978: All About Esther
- 1979: Here's Esther, Are You Ready
- 1981: Good Black Is Hard to Crack
- 1986: A Way to Say Goodbye
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 UK
|
US
|
R&B
|
|||
| 1962 | Release Me Release Me |
- | - |
US8 (16 weeks) US |
R&B1 (13 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1963 | I really don't want to know |
- | - |
US61 (5 weeks) US |
- | |
| You Never Miss Your Water (Til the Well Runs Dry) |
- | - |
US73 (2 weeks) US |
- |
with Al Downing
|
|
| 1964 | Hello Walls |
- | - | - |
R&B36 (3 weeks) R&B |
as Little Esther
|
| 1965 | And I Love Him And I Love Him |
- | - |
US54 (9 weeks) US |
R&B11 (9 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1966 | When a Woman Loves a Man |
- | - |
US73 (5 weeks) US |
R&B26 (8 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1969 | Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry |
- | - | - |
R&B35 (5 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1972 | Home Is Where the Hatred Is From a Whisper to a Scream |
- | - | - |
R&B40 (6 weeks) R&B |
|
| Baby, I'm for Real From a Whisper to a Scream |
- | - | - |
R&B38 (6 weeks) R&B |
||
| I've Never Found a Man (To Love Me Like You Do) Alone Again, Naturally |
- | - | - |
R&B17 (9 weeks) R&B |
||
| 1975 | What a Diff'rence a Day Makes What a Diff'rence a Day Makes |
DE16 (20 weeks) DE |
UK6 (8 weeks) UK |
US20 (16 weeks) US |
R&B10 (18 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1976 | For All We Know For All We Know |
- | - | - |
R&B98 (2 weeks) R&B |
|
| 1983 | Turn me out |
- | - | - |
R&B85 (3 weeks) R&B |
|
More singles
- 1950: Double Crossing Blues
- 1950: Mistrusting Blues
- 1950: Misery
- 1950: Cupid's Boogie
- 1950: Deceivin 'Blues
- 1950: Wedding Boogie
- 1950: Far Away Blues (Xmas Blues)
- 1952: Ring-a-Ding-Doo
- 1963: Am I That Easy to Forget
- 1963: If You Want It (I've Got It)
- 1965: Moonglow
- 1965: Let Me Know When It's Over
- 1970: Set Me Free
literature
- Stambler, Irwin: The Encyclopedia Of Pop, Rock And Soul . 3rd revised edition, New York City, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1989, pp. 520f - ISBN 0-312-02573-4 .
swell
- ^ Joel Whitburn: Top R&B Singles 1942-1995 , 1996, page 348, ISBN 0-89820-115-2
- ^ Joel Whitburn: Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003 , 2004, p. 202, ISBN 0-89820-156-X
- ↑ a b Chart sources: DE UK US
Web links
- Esther Phillips at Allmusic (English)
- Esther Phillips at Discogs (English)
- The Story of Little Esther by JC Marion (engl.)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Phillips, Esther |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jones, Esther Mae; Esther, Little |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 23, 1935 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Galveston , Texas |
| DATE OF DEATH | 7th August 1984 |
| Place of death | Los Angeles , California |