Nella Dodds born 25 January 1950

Donzella Petty-John, known professionally as Nella Dodds (born January 25, 1950) is an American soul singer and actress, whose records are popular on the Northern soul scene. 

Nella was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, on the mouth of the Susquehanna River, where she and her younger brother were brought up surrounded by music. Her father played piano and always had a jazz band around the house. Inevitably Nella cut her singing teeth in the church choir, but her age was barely in double figures when she was singing in public with her uncle. He had a singing group in Philadelphia and asked Nella and her father to listen to them at a recording studio. 

After the session her father asked the studio boss Frank Virtue if Nella could sing in the recording studio so that he could hear what she sounded like, so she did. Unknown to her, Frank had told producer Jimmy Bishop about Nella’s voice and the following week she was asked to do an audition for him. He was so impressed with her singing that he became her manager and was signed up for New York’s Wand record label via a production with Philadelphia’s Dyno-Dynamic Productions -essentially the precursor of what would eventually evolve into classic 1970s ‘Philly Sound’. 

                                     

This company was owned by Weldon McDougall of doo wop vocal group the Larks, Jimmy Bishop, Luther Randolph, and Johnny Stiles, Dodds recorded with the accompaniment of the Larks' backup band. Although her debut single, "Come See About Me," reached number 74 on the Billboard charts, it was obscured after the tune was covered by the Supremes. Dodds' second release, "Finders Keepers," written by Kenny Gamble, just barely broke into the Top 100. 

Nella became a recording celebrity at the age of 14 years old, whilst still in junior high school. In the early years of her career, she only did live shows on weekends due to being at school & her mother would chaperone her on all her gigs. She sang in supper clubs in Philadelphia, Washington, Detroit and Cleveland. The combination of her unusual, highly beguiling voice, some excellent songs and corking dance grooves as Nelly Dodds have charmed collectors of Northern Soul and girl groups up to the present day. Nella should also have had several major hits, rather than just the two fair to middling ones that she did have. 

Nella was still performing as a 17 year old in 1967, but by the time that Philadelphia usurped Detroit as the epicenter of commercial Soul music and she left her music career to raise a family during the 1970s, '80s, and early '90s. Dodds increasingly turned to religion and recorded a yet to be released gospel album in the late '90s. 

She also received acting training from The Zarro Acting Academy, Norfolk, Virginia. She received additional training with Sylvia Harman of The Actor's Place in Virginia Beach, Virginia where she focused on The Meisner Technique as well as with Tom Logan, national and international director and acting coach, of Los Angeles, California. 

Kent Soul Records released an album titled “This Is A Girl's Life" which included all 12 tracks released as singles plus an additional three that were not released at the time. The tracks were leased by New York's Wand label between 1964 and 1966 and released as a CD. 

All in all, Nella was a very much underrated singer who deserved more than she got. Happily she's still around, (as Donzella Berry) and combines singing with her acting career. She has appeared in Sweet Good Fortune – as Thelma Little (2006) and Evan Almighty – as a Congressperson (2007) and was totally thrilled that her early recordings are at last enshrined on compact disc for soul lovers of all ages. 

(Edited from All Music, Wikipedia, CD liner notes & Soulsource)