James W. Pulley

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James W. Pulley (born April 21, 1936 in Philadelphia , USA ; † May 13, 2008 in Berlin ) was a German singer in the fields of blues , gospel and hits .

Life

Pulley grew up in the United States, where he was given up for adoption by his mother at an early age. At the age of 16 he joined the US Army . In 1955 he deserted from a Bavarian US barracks to the GDR , where he was soon integrated into the GDR via the “Internationale Solidarität” cultural center in Bautzen ( Saxony ), which was specially created for the cultural and political-ideological support of deserters from Western armies . In 1956 his musical career began as a singer in dance orchestras (including the Black and White Orchestra from Dresden , Bodo Wiese Orchestra from Altenburg and the Berlin Orchestra Alfons Wonneberg ).

As a black entertainer, Pulley quickly became known because he tried to satisfy certain longings for America and Africa through his songs. So he sang u. a. Songs by Glenn Miller , Louis Armstrong and Harry Belafonte . In addition, he sang German folk songs and hits in German, which were written especially for him by the well-known songwriter and composer Arndt Bause .

He was on tour with the singer Dagmar Frederic for 13 years, including in various Eastern Bloc countries and on TV shows on GDR television . As a soloist, Pulley was on the road up to 60 times a month at events in the GDR until the end of the Iron Curtain . After the fall of the Berlin Wall and the peaceful revolution , Pulley suffered a career decline - as did other stage colleagues from the new federal states. He continued to perform on various stages and on cruise ships. He had been married to his future manager Ursula Pulley since 1960 and lived with her childless in a house in Berlin-Johannisthal . He died in 2008.

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Regina Kerner: How two US soldiers made careers in the GDR: With Blueberry Hill one came to Tashkent. In: Berliner Zeitung , April 25, 1995, p. 3.
personal data
SURNAME Pulley, James W.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German singer
DATE OF BIRTH April 21, 1936
PLACE OF BIRTH Philadelphia
DATE OF DEATH May 13, 2008
Place of death Berlin