From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Jun 23, 2003  1:14 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Helen Humes
 
HELEN HUMES (By Steve Walker)

Born 23 June 1913, Louisville, Kentucky
Died 13 September 1981, Santa Monica, California

Born in Louisville in 1913, Helen Humes got her gift of song from her
parents, who often performed duets together at church and social functions.
As a child she played piano and organ in church and sang with the local
Sunday school band, which boasted future jazz stars such as Dicky Wells and
Jonah Jones.

In 1927, aged only 14, she made her first records for the OKeh label in
St.Louis.

By the time she was a teenager she was a proficient enough vocalist to move
to New York and try her luck at making it in the Big Apple. She found work
with Stuff Smith and a young Al Sears.

While performing with the Sears band at the Cotton Club in Cincinnati, Helen
Humes was spotted by "The King of Swing," Count Basie. He invited her to
replace Billie Holiday and join his band as a singer, but she declined
because she didn't want to venture too far from home.

She was chosen to record vocals with the newly formed Harry James big band
in 1937. Her recordings with the James band on Brunswick included "Jubilee"
and "I Can Dream Can't I", "That's The Dreamer In Me" and "Song Of The
Wanderer".

The following year, Count Basie again invited her to join his band, and this
time she accepted, splitting the vocal duties with Jimmy Rushing. As Jimmy
sang the blues, Helen was asked to sing mainly pop ballads. Some of her
recordings with Basie included "Dark Rapture", "Blame It On My Last Affair",
"And The Angels Sing", "It's Torture" and "Between The Devil And The Deep
Blue Sea".

After her tenure with the Basie band ended in 1941, Helen toured with
Clarence Love (1943-44) and the re-located to Los Angeles where she worked
as a solo performer. Suddenly swept up in the post war movement in L.A., she
switched from a jazz ballad singer to an r&b vocalist and began to get
notices in and around the city. A couple of early releases on Savoy turned
up in late 1944 : "Fortune Tellin' Man" / "I Would If I Could" and "Keep
Your Mind On Me" / "Suspicious Blues".

In 1945 she began recording for the Philo label based in Los Angeles: "Blue
Prelude" and "He May Be Your Man" got good airplay in Southern California.
The follow up on Philo #106 (later Aladdin) "Be Baba Leba" is probably the
recording for which she will be best known on this list. Backed by Bill
Doggett's Orchestra, it was a hit record in late 1945 and made the Humes
name a big draw among r&b fans in and around Central Avenue. Also worth
listening out for is Thurston Harris' remake on Aladdin in 1958

After a spell with Mercury, Helen signed with the newly-formed Discovery
label in 1950, where, backed by the Marshall Royal Orchestra, she released
"Rock Me To Sleep" and "Sad Feeling", both written by Benny Carter. During
this time she appeared at the Club Oasis in L.A. with Nat Cole in a show
that was a huge success.

Helen appeared with The Ravens in Salt Lake City in August 1951, and in the
autumn, Modern Records released "Million Dollar Secret" and "I'm Gonna Let
Him Ride", recorded live at the R & B Jubilee. "Million Dollar Secret" was
a good and steady seller for the rest of the year and was her biggest hit in
some time. Late in the year Aladdin Records issued an LP entitled "Blues
After Hours" (one of the very first r&b LPs) and it included four tunes by
Helen.

Throughout the 50's Helen Humes remained active in the recording studio and
touring with various r&b revues. She recorded for Modern, Decca, Dootone
and Contemporary.

She moved to Australia in 1964, after two successful tours of the country,
returning to the USA in 1967 to take care of her ailing mother. She had
stopped performing by the late 1960s, and upon her mother's death in 1973,
Helen sold her records and piano and resolved never to sing again. However,
music critic Stanley Dance asked her to appear with Count Basie at the
Newport Jazz Festival later that year and, with her father's blessing, she
went. She then remained active until her death in September of 1981.

Helen Humes bridged the link between big bands and rhythm & blues and
offered the best of both worlds. An accomplished performer in both fields of
music, Humes left a legacy of showing all of us where we were and where we
have come. She was a true original and should never be forgotten.

Web page: http://www.home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/HHumes.html

CD's available: Helen Humes 1945-1947 - Melodie Jazz Classic B00000IX8Y
(1999)

plus a further selection at:
http://www.ididit.com/i-did-it-mall-cds-artists-Helen-Humes.asp