Thanks to reader Thomas Wright, I was delighted to hear that Esther Phillips is to be inducted into The Blues Foundation’s Hall of Fame [1]https://blues.org/hall/.
Memorialization is a slow process but it starts with recognition. In his review of Esther’s career for the Blues Foundation [2]https://blues.org/blues_hof_inductee/esther-phillips/, Jim O’Neal touches on many of the aspects that made Esther’s career so tragic. I’m still working on an “Esther Phillips – The early years” which will perhaps explain why her life was so burdened and laced with tragedy.
In her review of Phillips nomination for the magazine “Rock & Blues Muse”, Martine Ehrenclou describes Esther as “a 13-year-old prodigy, singing very adult, saucy blues with the legendary Johnny Otis.” [3]https://www.rockandbluesmuse.com/2023/03/15/blues-hall-of-fame-2023-inductees-announced/ – That’s the problem, Esther’s early songs were biographical rather than “saucy”. That’s been my challenge this year, how to describe Esther’s earliest releases with her actual lived-life experiences in the context of a young lady aged 13-14, who was forced to grow-up too quickly.
To celebrate her nomination here is a 19-minute mix of some of her earliest songs, the tracks are provided by the Internet Archive, recorded from 78RPM records.
Creed Taylor’s production’s of Esther Phillips are well known, especially the disco reworking of Dinah Washington’s “What a Diff’rence a Day Makes” (1975).
The Blues Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, held in conjunction with the Blues Music Awards, will occur on Wednesday, May 10, 2023, at the Halloran Centre (225 S. Main St., Memphis). A cocktail reception honoring the BHOF Inductees and Blues Music Awards nominees will begin at 5:30 p.m., with the formal inductions commencing at 6:30 p.m. in the Halloran Theater. Tickets, including the ceremony and reception, are $75 each and available with Blues Music Awards tickets.
39 years too late, at the most.
Next up the R&B Hall of Fame…
Amen. Lets push for the R& B, Jazz ,C&W and Rock & Roll Halls next
One thing at a time. Been working on some GRAMMY related stuff, but next year…
++Mark.
https://ctproduced.com