Fontella bass

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Fontella Bass (1965)

Fontella Bass (born July 3, 1940 in St. Louis , Missouri ; † December 26, 2012 there ) was an American R&B and soul singer, pianist and composer. Her best known hit is Rescue Me from 1965. She is often compared to Aretha Franklin .

biography

The daughter of the gospel singer Martha Bass (from the Clara Ward Singers ) sang in the church choir at the age of six. In high school, she began taking part in R&B singing competitions. In 1961 she worked at local shows, played the piano and sang in the choir. She accompanied the blues singer Little Milton during his recordings on the piano. Finally, Bob Lyons from the local radio station KATZ made it possible for her to make her own recordings on the Bobbin Records label.

In the mid-1960s, Bass moved to Chicago , where she was signed to Chess Records . She recorded a few duets with Bobby McClure . Don't Mess Up a Good Thing reached the top of the R&B charts and number 33 on the pop charts in early 1965 . You'll Miss Me (When I'm Gone) followed in the summer, but it didn't get that high.

In the fall of 1965, Rescue Me appeared and stormed to the top of the R&B charts; In the pop charts the title rose to number 4. In Great Britain the title reached number 11. After a few more hits and the album The New Look , Bass left Chess Records in 1967.

In 1970 she recorded two albums with the Art Ensemble of Chicago , Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass and Les Stances à Sophie , the latter being the soundtrack of the French film of the same name (1971) by Moshé Mizrahi . She married the trumpeter of the ensemble, the co-initiator of the AACM and jazz avant-garde player Lester Bowie .

After their second solo album Free in 1972 was without commercial success, Bass largely withdrew from the music business and raised their children. Occasionally she sang in the choir on recordings by other artists. After her retirement, she worked on two albums by Lester Bowie, The Great Pretender (1981) and All the Magic (1982). She also had a guest appearance on the album Breath of Life of the World Saxophone Quartet . In the 1990s she had her own radio show for a short time and recorded some gospelsoul records. Her album No Ways Tired ( Elektra / Nonesuch), produced by Wayne Horvitz , was nominated for a Grammy .

After the turn of the millennium, Bass took part in the recordings of the Cinematic Orchestra : in 2002 she sang two tracks on their album Every Day , and in 2007 two more on the album Ma Fleur . She died in December 2012 after suffering a heart attack three weeks earlier .

Fontella Bass was the sister of gospel and R&B singer David Peaston, who died in February 2012.

Awards

Fontella Bass is featured on the St. Louis Walk of Fame . In 2001 she received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation .

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
US US R&B R&B
1966 The new look US93 (8 weeks)
US
R&B6 (8 weeks)
R&B

More albums

  • 1970: Art Ensemble of Chicago with Fontella Bass
  • 1970: Art Ensemble of Chicago Les Stances à Sophie
  • 1972: Free
  • 1980: Martha Bass / Fontella Bass / David Peaston From the Root to the Source
  • Rescued: The Best of Fontella Bass (compilation of early recordings)
  • 1995: No Ways Tired (with Lester Brown, David Sanborn , Harvey Brooks and others)
  • 1996: Now That I Found a Good Thing
  • 2001: Fontella Bass & the Voices Of St. Louis Travelin

Singles

year Title
album
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)
Remarks
UK UK US US R&B R&B
1965 Don't Mess Up A Good Thing
The New Look
- US33 (11 weeks)
US
R&B5 (16 weeks)
R&B
with Bobby McClure
You'll Miss Me (When I'm Gone)
The New Look
- US91 (2 weeks)
US
R&B27 (6 weeks)
R&B
with Bobby McClure
Rescue Me
The New Look
UK11 (10 weeks)
UK
US4 (13 weeks)
US
R&B1 (19 weeks)
R&B
Recovery
Rescued: The Best of Fontella Bass
UK32 (5 weeks)
UK
US37 (8 weeks)
US
R&B13 (7 weeks)
R&B
1966 I Can't Rest
Rescued: The Best of Fontella Bass
- - R&B31 (5 weeks)
R&B
I Surrender
Rescued: The Best of Fontella Bass
- US78 (6 weeks)
US
R&B33 (2 weeks)
R&B
Safe and Sound
Where the Girls Are Vol. 2
- US100 (1 week)
US
-
You'll Never Know
Rescued: The Best of Fontella Bass
- - R&B34 (7 weeks)
R&B

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. 'Rescue Me' singer Fontella Bass dies. AP article on KTRS (AM), St Louis News and Talk Radio, December 27, 2012, archived from the original on February 16, 2013 ; accessed on December 26, 2017 (English).
  2. Stephen Nugent, Anne Fowler, Pete Fowler: Chart Log of American / British Top 20 Hits, 1955–1974 . In: Charlie Gillett, Simon Frith (Eds.): Rock File 4 . Panther Books, Frogmore (Hertfordshire) / St. Albans, 1976, p. 78.
  3. Jeff Tamarkin: Fontella Bass, R&B Hitmaker Who Stepped into Jazz, Blues & Gospel, Dies at 72 . Obituary in JazzTimes , December 27, 2012, accessed on December 26, 2017.
  4. Jim Salter: R&B singer David Peaston dies at age 54. AP article on Yahoo! News , archived from the original on February 5, 2012 ; accessed on December 26, 2017 (English).
  5. a b Chart sources: UK US