Ida James born 1 June 1920

Ida James (June 1, 1920 - September 1986) was an American singer and actress.

Delicate beauty Ida James was a sweet-honey voiced singer whose singing could rival the birds. She gained popularity in the 1940s. She was the definition of daintiness and winsomeness. In everything she did, she always had charm and grace in appearance and style.

Ida Mae James was born in Southbridge, Massachusetts. The family moved to Philadelphia where she attended a high school and started singing at the age of 11, after tutorage from her mother. In 1932 she appeared on the radio station WPEN on the Radio Kiddies Hour, a music program for children. In 1935 she sang in a show in the local Starlight Gardens. 

After winning a competition at the Apollo Theater in New York in 1936, she joined the jazz pianist and bandleader Earl Hines, with whom she also recorded in 1937 and 1938.  That year she was briefly with John Kirby , then to become a band singer in the orchestra of Erskine Hawkins, with whose orchestra she titles such as "Knock Me a Kiss", "Jumpin 'in a Julep" and " What Do You Know about Love? ”for Bluebird Records.

                               

In the mid 1940's, Ida James gained some fame as a singer and actress; her signature tune was the song Shoo Shoo Baby, which led to her nicknames The Shoo Shoo Baby and The Shoo Shoo Girl. Further recordings were made with the Count Basie Orchestra (" After You've Gone ") and Louis Jordan. She also sang together with Nat King Cole (Is You Is, Or Is You Ain't My Baby). In 1944 the 

song Close to You, recorded with the Cole trio, was released. During this time, cover versions of the jazz standards “On the Sunny Side of the Street ", "Stormy Weather" and” Honeysuckle Rose " were created in the company of the Nat-Cole trio.

In 1945 Ida James was voted one of the top 20 most popular vocalists in the United States by a music magazine. Accompanied by the Ellis Larkins Trio, she recorded under her own name releasing "You Must Be Blind" and "I Won't Say I Will But I Won’t”for Decca Records in 1947. Other titles included “Try a Little Tenderness”  and “Yesterdays”for Manor. In 1950 James recorded the song "A Rough and Ready Man" with Freddie Washington. For Columbia she recorded The Chair Song / Shake Your Can with the Dick Vance Orchestra in 1951.  In the field of jazz she was involved in 33 recording sessions between 1937 and 1951.

As an actress, she had her first role in the horror film The Devil's Daughter in 1939. In Trocadero (1944) she appeared as a singer, accompanied by the Bob Chester Orchestra. She then starred alongside Cab Calloway in the race film Hi-De-Ho (1947) and in several music short films such as His Rockin 'Horse Ran Away.

She appeared in leading Black magazines and print ads of the time as well. Ida James was always a likable presence on stage and screen. Not too many women possessed such charm, soft, sweet beauty, class and lady-like qualities as Ida James did. She was always a class act, irresistibly pleasing to the eyes and to the ears.

In January 1950, James opened on Broadway in a short-​lived production, the social justice drama How Long Till Summer? As the 1950s rolled around, she turned towards rhythm and blues, recording two sides on Columbia in 1951 and signing with the new Nickelodeon label in 1953. She continued performing through the mid-​1950s but by that time had drifted into obscurity. By the end of the decade as work dried up, she was working as a waitress in Harlem bars.

There was no mention of Ida again until the Pittsburgh Courier of September 10, 1966 let us know that: "Ida James, who a decade ago seemed headed for a big-time singing career, is hostess at Ike Williams' Brite Spot cafe in Philadelphia.” This is the last current mention of Ida James that was found.

Ida James died in Philadelphia sometime in September 1986, after not being in the public eye for over 20 years. 

How sad, that after reaching the heights of popularity in the 1940’s for her beauty, high bird-like voice, grace, and glamour, fame eluded her. her death was unannounced and she never received an obituary from her once adoring press and today many have never even heard of her name.

(Edited from Wikipedia, Bandchirps & Marv Goldberg)