From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Sat Oct 19, 2002  2:06 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Marie Adams
 
MARIE ADAMS

Born Ollie Marie Givens, 19 October 1925, Linden, Texas
Died 23 February 1998, Houston, TX

Known affectionately as TV Mama (the one with the big wide screen),
by her colleagues in the Johnny Otis band, singer Marie Adams began
her recording career in Houston, Texas, for the local Peacock label in
1952. Accompanied by Bill Harvey's Band, her first release, an earthy
blues called "I'm Gonna Play The Honky Tonks", went to # 3 on the
R&B charts. She became one of the many artists to benefit from using
Johnny Otis' band whilst they were in Houston. By the mid-50s she had
joined the Johnny Otis Revue and relocated to L.A. where she recruited
sisters Sadie and Francine McKinley to form The Three Tons Of Joy.
In 1957 the Johnny Otis Show got its first major label deal, when they
were signed to Capitol. The label showed the strength of its commitment
by issuing no less than four singles simultaneously in October 1957,
making sure that the various individuals of the revue were all highlighted.
Capitol certainly got the reaction they were looking for, but not on home
territory. By January of 1958, Marie Adams and the Three Tons of Joy
found themselves at the top of the UK charts, with the oldie "Ma (He's
Making Eyes At Me)", overdubbed (by producer Tom Morgan) with some
of the wild reaction that the Otis Revue had received at the Orpheum
Theatre in L.A. As a follow-up to "Ma", EMI rushed out a duet between
Marie and Johnny Otis entitled "Bye Bye Baby" (remember the most
recent SAO lyrics quiz?), which also made the UK Top 20. But another
hopped-up oldie "What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?"
met with indifference and by the spring of 1960, Marie and the Three Tons
of Joy left the Johnny Otis Revue to work in and around Los Angeles,
managing to pull a good crowd on the strength of their name.
In the summer of 1972 Johnny Otis finally visited the UK, with Marie
Adams back in the fold.

The CD "The Greatest Johnny Otis Show" (Ace 673) features eight
Capitol tracks by Marie.

(With thanks to Dave Penny.)