Martha Davis born 14 December 1917

Martha Davis (December 14, 1917 – April 6, 1960) was an American singer and pianist whose musical comedy act, "Martha Davis & Spouse," was popular in the late 1940s and 1950s. 

Marthesta Faye Robertson was born on December 14, 1917, in Wichita, Kansas. She was the only child of Alabama-born Morgan Robertson (1887-1952; variously, a house painter, a paper hanger, and a farmer) and Kansas-born Pearle Elizabeth Groomer (1884-1968). Martha attended the famous Du Sable High School, and counted Dorothy Donegan and Nat Cole among her class mates. She met Fats Waller in the 1930s, who allegedly taught her some of his piano skills. By the time she was 16 she was playing piano recitals and a later account said that she played with the Harlem Aristocrats during her high school days in Wichita. 

At some point in 1935, Marthesta decided to move to Chicago, 700 miles away to pursue a musical career instead in 1937 she got married to Paul Wilson Davis ( a railroad waiter). In 1939 she first met bass player Calvin Ponder (October 17, 1917 - December 26, 1970), who went on to play in Earl Hines' band. It wasn’t until 1943 that she began playing piano at Elmer's Cocktail Lounge, her first known booking. She then performed regularly as a singer and pianist in most of Chicago’s clubs. In 1945 Martha began playing in Hollywood. 

The Playgoer, the magazine in the Theatre Florentine Gardens, Hollywood writes: "Martha Davis blends charm, personality and showmanship in her piano pleasantries, that gives her style the maximum of appeal. She adds some husky vocal harmonies to her jive ditties but her piano magic and ingratiating personality are outstanding and go far in putting her entertainment on the plus side. 

                                  

By 1947 she had probably divorced Paul Wilson and married bassist Calvin Ponder on September 14, 1948 in Los Angeles. Davis developed her recording career on Jewel Records in Hollywood with a trio including Ponder, Ralph Williams (guitar) and Lee Young (drums). Their cover of Dick Haymes' pop hit "Little White Lies" reached # 11 on the Billboard R&B chart, followed by a duet with Louis Jordan, "Daddy-O" in 1948, which reached #7 on the R&B chart that year. 

Davis and Ponder also began performing together on stage, developing a musical and comedy routine as "Martha Davis & Spouse" which played on their physical characteristics (she was large, he was smaller). The act became hugely popular, touring and having a residency at the Blue Angel in New York City. They appeared together in movies including Smart Politics (with Gene Krupa), and in the mid-1950s, variety films Rhythm & Blues Revue, Rock 'n' Roll Revue and Basin Street Revue. Several of their performances were filmed by Snader Telescriptions for video jukeboxes, and they also broadcast on network TV, particularly Garry Moore's CBS show. 

Martha Davis, also known as the Blue Angel pianist, says that if she diets she can't play well. Her husband and partner, Calvin Ponder, said: "She can only play a piano if she outweighs it." Martha recorded for various labels during her career which included Urban, Jewel, Decca, United Artists, Majestic, Acorn and Coral. In 1957, after a break of several years, they resumed recording for the ABC Paramount label, with whom they cut two LPs. 

Martha Davis and Calvin Ponder had hit the heights. As a duo, they were probably as famous, at the time, as Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gormé, and Louis Prima & Keely Smith. While Martha's record reviews weren't always as good as one would have expected, her live appearances were always lauded. It seemed like their stratospheric ascent was assured. 

But then Martha died. She was hospitalized for three weeks, but after seven days after her release she was rushed back and died on April 6, 1960 at Mount Vernon Hospital (Mount Vernon is just north of New York City). Sources said it was due to either a "glandular condition" or cancer. She was 42 years old. Ponder died ten years later, aged 53. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, Marv Goldberg’s RnB Notebooks & IMDb)