- Connee Boswell
-
Connee Boswell 
Boswell in 1941.Background information Birth name Constance Foore Boswell Born December 3, 1907
Kansas City, Missouri, United StatesDied October 11, 1976 (aged 68)
New York, United StatesGenres Jazz Occupations Vocalist Instruments Vocal Constance Foore "Connee" Boswell (December 3, 1907, Kansas City, Missouri – October 11, 1976, New York) was an American female vocalist born in Kansas City but raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. With her sisters, Martha and Helvetia "Vet" Boswell, she performed in the 1930s as The Boswell Sisters and became a highly influential singing group during this period via recordings and radio. Connee herself is widely considered one of the greatest jazz female vocalists and was a major influence on Ella Fitzgerald who said, "My mother brought home one of her records, and I fell in love with it....I tried so hard to sound just like her."[1]
In 1936, Connee's sisters retired and Connee continued on as a solo artist (having also recorded solos during her years with the group).
Contents
Biography
The Boswells came to be well known locally while still in their early teens, making appearances in New Orleans theaters and radio. They made their first recordings for Victor Records in 1925, which included "Cryin' Blues" where Connee is featured singing in the style of her early influence, the African American singer Mamie Smith. The Boswell Sisters became stage professionals that year when they were tapped to fill in for an act at New Orleans' Orpheum Theatre. They received an invitation to come to Chicago and perform in 1928 and honed their act on the Western Vaudeville Circuit. When their tour ended they traveled to San Francisco. The hotel that had been recommended had a less than savory reputation, and the man at the desk suggested that these three young ladies might be better off in another hotel. That man, Harry Leedy, would later become their manager on a handshake and become a permanent part of Connee's life.
The Boswell Sisters travelled to Los Angeles where they performed on local radio and "side-miked" for the soundies, including the 1930 production "Under Montana Skies." They did not attain national attention, however, until they moved to New York City in 1930 and started making national radio broadcasts. After a few recordings with Okeh Records, they made numerous recordings for Brunswick Records from 1931-1935. In 1935, the sisters had a #1 hit with "The Object of My Affection", the biggest of twenty top 20 records they would enjoy.
In 1936, the group signed to Decca Records and after just three releases called it quits (the last recording was February 12, 1936). Connee Boswell continued to have a successful solo career as a singer for Decca.
All through her career with The Boswell Sisters, and well into the 1940s, her name was spelled "Connie". She later changed the spelling to Connee, reputedly because it made it easier to sign autographs.
Connee Boswell was also an arranger and a composer.
Connee sang from a wheelchair - or seated position - during her entire career, due to either a childhood bout with polio or a childhood accident (sources differ). The general public was not aware of her condition although Boswell herself did not keep this secret. During World War II, she tried to get involved with the USO tours but was not given permission to travel overseas. The Army thought it might not be a morale-booster to have a singer who used a wheelchair perform for the troops.
Connee Boswell was a favorite duet partner of Bing Crosby and they frequently sang together on radio as well as recording several hit records as a duo in the 1930s and 1940s. Boswell, Crosby, and Eddie Cantor recorded a version of Alexander's Ragtime Band that was a #1 hit in 1938.In 1939, Crosby and Boswell had three hit duet records that each climbed into the top 12 on Billboard; "An Apple For The Teacher" climbed all the way to #2.
Boswell also had several dozen solo hits, including "Moonlight Mood" in 1942. Boswell's career slackened in the 1950s but she still recorded occasionally and would be featured on a number of television broadcasts including a regular stint on the 1959 series "Pete Kelly's Blues".
Connee Boswell died from stomach cancer at age 68 in 1976, in New York. A number of her recordings are now available on CD, both as a soloist and part of the Boswell Sisters.
Hit singles (solo)
Year Single Chart positions US 1932 "Say It Isn't So" 10 1934 "Isn't It a Shame" 19 1935 "Moon Over Miami" 19 1936 "On the Beach At Bali Bali" 3 1937 "Whispers In the Dark" 9 "Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)"(with Bing Crosby) 1 "Basin Street Blues"(with Bing Crosby) 12 1938 "Fare Thee, Honey, Fare Thee Well" 11 "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart" 5 "Alexander's Ragtime Band"(with Bing Crosby) 1 "Simple and Sweet" 12 1939 "An Apple For Teacher"(with Bing Crosby) 2 "Start the Day Right"(with Bing Crosby) 12 "At Least You Could Say Hello" 14 1940 "Between 18th & 19th On Chestnut Street"(with Bing Crosby) 12 "On the Isle of May" 3 "Let's Be Buddies" 25 1941 "Sand In My Shoes" 24 "I'll Keep On Loving You" 22 1942 "South Wind" 21 "Moonlight Mood" 22 "Why Don't You Fall In Love With Me" 21 1946 "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" 9 "Who Told You That Lie?" 22 "Ole Buttermilk Sky" 14 1948 "You Were Meant For Me" 19 1952 "My Little Nest of Heavenly Blue" 25 1953 "Singin' the Blues" 27 "Main Street On Saturday Night" 29 "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter" 29 1954 "The Philadelphia Waltz" 30 "If I Give My Heart To You" 10 Compact discs
- Connee Boswell (1995, out of print)
- Deep in a Dream (1996)
- Connee Boswell Sings Irving Berlin (1997, out of print)
- Heart and Soul (1997)
- Connee Boswell and the Original Memphis Five in Hi-Fi (1998, out of print)
- They Can't Take These Songs (2004)
- Moonlight and Roses (2004)
- With All My Heart (2005)
- Singing the Blues (2006)
References
- ^ Stephen Holden (1996-06-16). "Ella Fitzgerald, the Voice of Jazz, Dies at 79". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A00E4DC1E39F935A25755C0A960958260. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
External links
Categories:- 1907 births
- 1976 deaths
- People from Kansas City, Missouri
- American female singers
- American pop singers
- Cancer deaths in New York
- Deaths from stomach cancer
- Jazz musicians from New Orleans, Louisiana
- Vaudeville performers
- RCA Victor artists
- Capitol Records artists
- Decca Records artists
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
