Gloria Smyth ( 8 March 1934 – April 2015) was an American jazz and soul singer of boundless energy, billed as “ The Princess Of Pop” with a warm and appealing feel for lyrics. She showed influences of Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holiday, but was also sufficiently individual to escape most comparisons.
Gloria Smyth was born in Hackensack, New Jersey..Her first
public appearance was in January 1951, when she appeared at the Apollo Theater
with the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. From there Gloria went to deejay Bill
Cook’s Club Caravan in Newark, New Jersey where she sang for over a year backed
by such greats as Max Roach and Calvin Jackson. The year 1956 found Gloria
working in Miami at The Beachcomber along with Billy Eckstine and Sophie
Tucker. While in Miami she also worked the Singapore Lounge.
In 1958 Gloria joined Steve Gibson and The Red Caps in
Wildwood, New Jersey. She replaced Damita Jo who left to go out on her own. Gloria
toured with Gibson most of ‘58, wound up in Las Vegas at The Sands Hotel. Frank
Sennes, the owner of the Moulin Rouge and Ciro’s in Hollywood, discovered
Gloria while she was appearing with Steve Gibson at The Sands.
In 1959 as Miss Gloria Smyth she recorded "Playmates" on the
Siera label. This popular song was ostensibly written by Saxie Dowell. The main
theme was note-for-note plagiarized from the 1904 intermezzo "Iola"
by Charles L. Johnson, for which Johnson sued, settling out of court for an
undisclosed sum. The tiny Sierra Records was located at the same address in
Hollywood on Sierra Bonita as the address of her manager, Robert Leonard, who
may have owned the label.
Sennes formed a group for Gloria and put her in The Stardust
Lounge opposite Billy Daniels. After Vegas, she came to Los Angeles where she
played Jack Denison’s with Pianist Eddie Cano’s group and The Jazz Seville
opposite Ahmad Jamal where Richard Bock, president of World-Pacific, heard
Gloria and signed her to a recording contract.
In 1960, World Pacific Records released "Like Soul!" It was the
first and only solo LP for Gloria, and once you hear it you'll wonder why she
didn't cut more. Meanwhile Lenny McBrowne and the 4 Souls, hailed as
"the future of West Coast jazz," released two LPs in the 1960s, with Gloria
as the vocalist on several prime tracks, like her moody take on "Sometimes
I Feel Like A Motherless Child," which is a heart-wrenching masterpiece.
After the Jazz Seville engagement, Gloria went back to Las
Vegas; this time with Lionel Hampton to play the Riviera; then to Mr. Kelly’s
in Chicago with Lenny Bruce; on to The Village Vanguard in New York City
opposite Teddy Wilson; then out west again for an engagement at Fack’s No. 2 in
San Francisco. She flew to
Chicago in May 1960 to play the Music Operators Convention where she was the
hit of the show, followed by two months at The Embers Club in Melbourne,
Australia
For many years, Rasheema was a frequent visitor throughout
Denmark, among others. at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. Rasheema was simply
"the real thing". (quote: Hugo Rasmussen). Together with his regular
partner Torben Kjær, Rasheema recorded material for 2 CDs, of which Stolen
Moments was released on MusicMecca (1992). The CD For All We Know with Torben
Kjær, Jesper Lundgaard, Ole Streenberg, Jens Skou Olsen and Christina von Bülow
was recorded in 1998 but released posthumously in 2016.
Rasheema lived in New Jersey, where she played at the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York, among others. She has appeared in both Europe and Australia and has also had several shows on nationwide radio and TV in the United States.
She died in April 2015 in New Jersey.
(Information edited
from Freshsound records, the Cheerful Earful & Dead Wax blogs and Torben
Kjær)
5 comments:
You share such amazing stuff - thank you! I'm curious if there is a link for the third recording listed here? The 11-track one? Or am I just being blind?
Thanks Andy, Sorry to disappoint you but no third recording I'm afraid. I over-cut and pasted some other info I was working on. Here's a re-post without confusing list!
For Gloria Smyth – Like Soul (1960) go here:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/7ck4Heba
1. Running Wild 2:08
2. Billy 1:57
3. Sittin' And Sighin' (Orison) 3:30
4. Imagination 2:55
5. Motherless Child 1:59
6. I'll Remember April 3:16
7. I'll Be Over 2:09
8. Bye Bye Blackbird 2:12
9. When You're Smiling 2:40
10. Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You 2:31
11. Sometimes I'm Happy 3:25
12. Time After Time 3:42
13. It Don't Mean A Thing 2:28
Smyth (v) with: Teddy Edwards (ts); Les McCann (p); Leroy Vinnegar (b); Ron Jefferson (d); Donald Sleet (tp); Daniel Jackson (ts); Terry Trotter (p); Herbie Lewis (b); Lenny McBrowne (d); Ronnie Ball (p); Ben Tucker (b); Al Levitt (d); Joe Castro (p); Billy Higgins (d). Los Angeles, September 1959; March, May 1960.
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For Lenny McBrowne & the 4 Souls – Complete Recordings” go here:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/4Mn5EV9q
CD 1
01. Soul Sisters (Daniel Jackson) 6:25
02. Invitation (Bronislaw Kaper) 6:28
03. Dearly Beloved (Kern-Mercer) 4:48
04. Lazinka's Tune (Daniel Jackson) 6:25
05. Cerise (Daniel Jackson) 5:42
06. I Married an Angel (Rodgers-Hart) 2:47
07. McBrowne's Galaxy (Elmo Hope) 4:01
08. It Don't Mean a Thing (Ellington-Mills) 2:30
09. Sometimes I'm Happy (Youmans-Caesar) 3:27
10. Running Wild (Gibbs-Grey-Wood) 2:12
11. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (Traditional) 2:02
CD 2
01. Saudi (Daniel Jackson) 4:30
02. No Consideration (Daniel Jackson) 5:42
03. I Don't Know the Melody (Daniel Jackson) 6:14
04. Like Someone in Love (Burke-Van Heusen) 5:25
05. Eastern Lights (Daniel Jackson) 7:40
06. Even Dozen (Daniel Jackson) 4:15
07. Tryin' and Cryin' (Daniel Jackson) 5:01
08. Chicago Preferred (Daniel Jackson) 4:37
ALBUM DETAILS
Sources:
CD 1 Tracks #1-7, from "Lenny McBrowne & The 4 Souls" (Pacific Jazz ST-1)
Tracks #8-11, from Gloria Smyth's "Like Soul!" (World Pacific Stereo-1293)
CD 2 Tracks #1-8, originally issued in LP as "Eastern Lights" (Riverside RS 346)
Personnel: Lenny McBrowne (d), Donald Sleet (tp), Daniel Jackson (ts), Terry Trotter (p), Herbie Lewis (b on CD-1), Jimmy Bond (b on CD-2). Gloria Smyth (vcl on CD-1 #8-11).
CD 1, Track #11 features only Gloria Smyth accompanied by Terry Trotter and Herbie Lewis.
CD 1, Recorded at Rex Productions Studio, Los Angeles, January 2, and March 21 (#8-11), 1960
CD 2, Recorded at United Recording Studios, Hollywood, on October 13, 1960
A big thanks to The Cheerful Earful for original posts.
Any chance of a reup of Gloria Smyth? Thanks.
Hello Neil, Here’s a new link with optional Bonus Tracks.
https://www.imagenetz.de/bTW7j
14. Don’t Take Your Love From me
15. Playmates
16. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child
Much appreciated
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