From: Gino A. Date: Sun Jan 9, 2005 0:44am Subject: Scan Do - Savannah Churchill By Will Anderson & John Corrado Posted to the Doo Wop Café Yahoo Site by Rich Zielinski - 24 June 2003 There have been a number of very fine female vocalists that sang lead with a male vocal group Lillian Leach (Mellows), Ruby Whitaker (Chestnuts), Yvonne Mills (Sensations), and Pearl McKinnion (Kodoks) come readily to mind. However, a songstress that was a pioneer with respect to this phenomenon and with not one, but several, vocal groups recently passed away, with virtually no notice or fanfare whatsoever. It is hoped that this brief article will bring to Savannah Churchill in death some of the recognition from collectors she did not receive while she was alive. Savannah Churchill (her maiden name was Valentine) was born on August 21, 1920, in Colfax, Louisiana, a small town near New Orleans. While an infant, her family moved to Boyce, Louisiana, in the central part of the state. An only child, her father was a railroad man, working for the Missouri Pacific. In 1926, the Valentine family became part of the great black exodus from the rural South to the urban North, as Savannah's father switched from the Missouri Pacific to the Pennsylvania Railroad and moved the family to Brooklyn. While her parents were apparently not musically inclined, Savannah always was. In fact, as a child she played the violin and even took some formal lessons. It was at St. Peter Claver Catholic School in Brooklyn, however, that her singing career began as the youngest member of the school choir. Shortly after graduating from Girls' High School (in Brooklyn) in 1937, she married David Churchill and, of course, became Savannah Churchill. David and Savannah had two children; Gregory (born in 1938) and Michael (born in 1940). As a housewife and mother, Savannah had pretty much forsaken her love of singing and, in fact, was involved in learning dress design at New York University. In 1941, however, tragedy entered Savannah's life when her husband was killed in an automobile crash. Faced with the responsibility of supporting herself and her two young sons, Savannah made The decision to try singing professionally. She approached Benny Carter, a renowned Big Band leader of the day. He liked what he heard and gave her a job as the female vocalist with his band. Equally adept at belting out a jump blues tune or a mellow ballad, it was not long before recording offers starting coming Savannah's way. She made her recording debut with Hurry Hurry on Capitol in 1943. After this one disk on Capitol, she inked a contract with the legendary Manor Recording Company of New York City. For Manor she released 25 sides. On many of these sides, she was backed by the 4 Tunes, one of the earlier R&B/pop groups. She also sang with another very early group, the 5 Kings, on Manor. When Manor changed its name to Arco in October of 1949, Savannah continued to record for this pioneer R&B label. Fourteen sides were released by her on Arco. Probably because of the musicians' strike in 1948, Columbia purchased the masters on two songs (The Best of Friends and The Things You Do To Me) Savannah and the 4 Tunes had recorded, but not released, for Manor. These were released as Columbia 30146 in late 1948. Over the ensuing years of the 1940's and early 1950's, Savannah cut a variety of records for numerous different labels including Regal, Beacon, RCA, and Decca. These ranged from the jump classic Fat Meat is Good Meat on Beacon (Beacon 104, with Jimmy Lytell & His All Star Seven) to the very plaintive and mellow ballads she released on RCA Victor. Savannah cut 11 songs for RCA in 1951 and 1952. In her first session, held in New York, on August 29, 1951, she recorded (It's No) Sin and I Don't Believe in Tomorrow. Although there is obviously a group on both sides, RCA does not credit them. The second session, held in New York City on December 11, 1951, produced In Spite of Everything You Do and Don't Grieve, Don't Sorrow, Don't Cry. On both of these cuts, she was accompanied by the Striders, a quartet consisting of two brothers, C. and E. Strider, and two others, E. Williams and F. Thomas. Fifteen days later Savannah was back at the studio again and cut four more songs, Don't Worry 'Bout Me, Waiting For A Guy Named Joe, I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, and That's My Affair. Once again, a group is utilized but not acknowledged. Savannah's last session for RCA was October 2, 1952, again in New York City. Backed by a "mystery group" consisting of Jimmy Farmer, Ralph Brewster, Little Ryan, and Kevin Gaven, she cut Walking By The River, If I Don't Love You So, and The Greatest Sinner Of Them All. It is interesting to note that on these sessions such greats as Benny Carter (sax), Billy Taylor (piano), Rene Hall (guitar), and Marty Gold (organ) were used as sidemen. Steve Sholes, best remembered as the man who later discovered Elvis Presley for RCA, was the A & R representative at three of the four sessions. All of these RCA cuts were released except one, The Greatest Sinner Of Them All. And, unfortunately, there is no chance that the world will ever hear this song as the master has disappeared from the RCA vaults in Indianapolis. It was with RCA that Savannah hit her peak of popularity. The crowning achievement of her career was when she and the Striders were invited to appear at the London Palladium in 1951. Headlining this 13 week stint was Hoagy Carmichael. (And following Savannah's entourage at the Palladium was none other than Judy Garland herself.) Savannah was also proud of a World War II tour of twenty-six weeks, headlined by the immortal Nat King Cole's Trio. In 1952, Savannah remarried, to Jesse Johnson, who was involved in a talent booking agency in Columbus, Ohio. They were married in Columbus, Mr. Johnson's home town, but then settled in Brooklyn in order to pursue Savannah's career. Savannah, for professional purposes, retained Churchill as her last name. In late 1952/early 1953, Savannah moved to Decca Records, for whom she recorded ten sides. Included in these ten were fine versions of two R&B standards, Shake A Hand, and the Harptones' My Memories Of You. How well Savannah would have fared in the Rock and Roll era will never be known, for her career, for all intents and purposes, ended in 1956. While appearing at the Midwood Club in Brooklyn, a drunk fell out of the balcony and landed directly on Savannah as she was coming out of her dressing room. She suffered numerous injuries, including a broken hip and broken pelvic bone, and was confined to a hospital bed for several months. Even after release from the hospital, however, Savannah was far from perfect, and she was never again to make more than a few personal appearances a year. In the early 1960's, Savannah did try a comeback. For Philadelphia's Jamie label, she recorded an album featuring new arrangements of several of her previously successful songs Is It Too Late, I Want To Be Loved, and Time Out For Tears (the name of the album). Time Out For Tears b/w I Want To Be Loved was also released as a single. Unfortunately, however, the comeback went nowhere; Savannah's mellow style of singing was apparently out of vogue. During the late 1960's and early 1970's, Savannah remained ever- increasingly in her Brooklyn home. Was she bitter that success had been so fleeting? Apparently not. Nor was she the type to play and replay her old recordings while dreaming back to her golden years. In fact, as with so many other artists, she owned but a very incomplete collection (six 78's and the Jamie album) of her own recordings. On April 20, 1974, Savannah Churchill died at the Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn. Cause of death was pneumonia, but she was also suffering from carcinoma, a form of cancer. The news media, mired in Watergate, made but very slight mention of her passing. But as lovers of rhythm and blues, we know better. Consequently, the next time you're in the mood to be mellow, put Once There Lived A Fool, Time Out For Tears, or I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry on your turntable. You'll be treated to some fine, fine sounds from one of the truly great talents of the early Rhythm and Blues era. The authors of this article would like to thank Mr. Jesse Johnson, Savannah Churchill's second husband and a fine gentleman, for his graciousness and information provided in two interviews in New York City in June and July of 1974. Also very much appreciated is the time and effort put forth by RCA with respect to the sides Savannah cut for them almost a quarter of a century ago. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Both Will Anderson and John Corrado are in their thirties, and both have enjoyed and collected R&B/R&R records since the mid-1950's. Both work in New York City and share the honor (?) of commuting to New York on the Penn Central Railroad. Will has his own weekly, 3 hour R&B show (now in its fourth year) over WINE/FM in Brookfield/ Danbury, Connecticut. John has guested on the show on numerous occasions. I found another article: SAVANNAH CHURCHILL: Savannah Churchill was born Savannah Valentine on August 21, 1920 in Colfax, LA. Her first two records were for Joe Davis' Beacon label, recorded and released in 1942. The labels first credited "Jimmy Lytell and his All Star Seven, Vocal Refrain by Savannah Churchill". Both records became hits, selling several hundred thousand copies. Due to Savannah's resultant popularity, Davis changed the labels to "Savannah Churchill and her All Star Seven" for future issues. Savannah next joined Benny Carter's Orchestra in 1943, recording at least five sides. This resulted in two Capitol releases, one side each with "Vocal by Savannah Churchill". In 1945, Irving Berman signed Savannah to Manor Records. Her third record for Manor, I Want To Be Loved, was her first with a vocal group. Their name was the Sentimentalists, a male group derived from the Brown Dots and soon to become the Four Tunes. One of the Sentimentalists, Pat Best, was a major factor in I Want To Be Loved becoming a big hit. He wrote the song (even though credit is given to Savannah on the label) and coached her in how she should sing it. From here on, male vocal groups would back most of Savannah's records. Next came two releases on Manor with backing by the Five Kings. Then, eight records on Manor and one on Arco, all with the Four Tunes on one or both sides. Arco was the new name for Manor starting in late 1949. Then came two more releases on Arco in 1950 followed by another two on Regal in late 1950 and early 1951, all backed by The Striders. There was one record issued on Columbia in 1948. These were two sides that Savannah and The Four Tunes had recorded, but not released, for Manor. In 1951, Savannah signed with RCA Victor resulting in five releases, all with vocal group backing. The first release was backed by The Four Tunes, who had moved to RCA Victor in 1949. The next three RCA Victor releases were backed by The Striders and the last by a pickup group. In 1951, Savannah, along with The Striders, appeared at the London Palladium. In 1953, Savannah went to another major label, Decca, producing five releases. The first is without vocal group on either side. The remainder have vocal groups on all sides, two with The Ray Charles Singers and the final two with an unknown "Quartet". There was one more release of note in 1956 on Argo, a subsidiary of Chess Records. This record has an unknown vocal group on both sides. Savannah died from pneumonia on April 20, 1974, leaving behind an abundance of consistently excellent records, including releases on four of the major labels.