Ethel Waters

Hello everybody! We return to presenting notable lesbian or bisexual female artists. Our pick for today is a Black woman who competed with Bessie Smith for the title of of the most popular Black recording artist of the 20s and early 30s. An artist who, not only was awarded Grammys and other awards posthumously, but also was nominated, during her lifetime for an Oscar (for supporting actress in Pinky/1949), the second African American to achieve this after Hattie McDaniel, as well as an Emmy (for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Series: Route 66/1962). It's Ethel Waters.

Ethel Waters was born in Pennsylvania in 1896, as a result of the rape of her teenaged mother, Louise Anderson (believed to have been 13 years old at the time, although some sources indicate she may have been slightly older), by John Waters, a pianist and family acquaintance from a mixed-race middle-class background. He played no role in raising Ethel. She was raised in poverty and never lived in the same place for more than 15 months. She said of her difficult childhood, "I never was a child. I never was cuddled, or liked, or understood by my family", she later said.

Waters married at the age of 13, but her husband was abusive, and she soon left the marriage and became a maid in a Philadelphia hotel. At age 17, she started to sing professionally, originally at the Lincoln Theatre in Baltimore. After that, Waters toured on the black vaudeville circuit. As she described it later, "I used to work from nine until unconscious." She eventually found her way to Atlanta, where she worked in the same club with Bessie Smith. Smith demanded that Waters not compete in singing blues opposite her. Waters conceded and sang ballads and popular songs. Around 1919, Waters moved to Harlem and there became a celebrity performer in the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s.

In the ’20s, Waters was involved with a dancer named Ethel Williams, performing together as “The Two Ethels,” according to a 2007 biography of Waters by Stephen Bourne. They even lived together as lovers, a disreputable act at the time.

In 1921, Waters became the fifth black woman to make a record, on the tiny Cardinal Records label. She later joined Black Swan Records, where Fletcher Henderson was her accompanist. Waters later commented that Henderson tended to perform in a more classical style than she preferred, often lacking "the damn-it-to-hell bass."

Her first hit, a Top 5 in 1921, was Down Home Blues:

Also a Top 5 in 1921, here's There'll Be Some Changes Made:

Georgia Blues was a hit in 1923:

In 1925, she signed with Columbia Records. Her first big hit was Sweet Georgia Brown, making #6 in the US charts:

A few months later, in 1926, Dinah would be her biggest hit thus far (#2) and one of her signature tunes:

Another Top 10 in 1926, here's Sugar (That Sugar Baby O' Mine):

In 1927, Waters career as an actress began with the musical Africana. She played singing roles in other Broadway productions: Blackbirds (1930), Rhapsody in Black (1931), As Thousands Cheer (1933), At Home Abroad (1936, and Cabin in the Sky (1940). Waters played more dramatic roles in Mamba's Daughters (1939) and The Member of the Wedding (1950). Appearing in nine films between 1929 and 1959, she received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress in Pinky (1949). Through these roles, Waters transformed the image of the older black woman from that of the servile "Mammy" to the self-sufficient Earth Mother. Here she is, in a scene from the 1952 movie "The Member of the Wedding", singing  His Eye Is On The Sparrow:

In 1929, Waters had her first #1 hit, Am I Blue?. It too became one of her signature tunes. Here she is, from the 1929 film 'On With The Show'.

From the same film, here's another hit by Waters: it's Birmingham Bertha.

1931 was a very good year for Waters. She had five Top 20 hits. Here are three of them. Three Little Words came first:

Then came the fabulous Shine On, Harvest Moon:

My favorite from that year is River, Stay 'Way from My Door:

Here she is, in 1932, collaborating with the Cecil Mack Choir in a variation of another classic, St. Louis Blues:

Perhaps her greatest year, as far as recorded songs were concerned, was 1933. She had her second #1 and three more Top 10s. We'll be listening to them all. First, it's the #1: Stormy Weather is a 1933 song written by Harold Arlen and Ted Koehler. Ethel Waters first sang it at The Cotton Club night club in Harlem and then recorded it. Ethel's version was considered to be the definitive until 1941, when Lena Horne recorded it. Since then, the experts and the public are divided as to which version is the best. It is one of the best songs of the 20th Century, a classic of classics.

Don't Blame Me was her next hit:

Then came a sultry version of Heat Wave:

Her last big hit of 1933 was A Hundred Years from Today, for which she collaborated with Benny Goodman’s Orchestra:

1934 was her last year of continued Top 20 success. (She would have another hit at #16 in 1938). Both of her 1934 his are great enough to present. First was her last Top 10 hit, Come Up and See Me Sometime:

Another favorite of mine was her second 1934 hit, the Cole Porter classic Miss Otis Regrets:

Waters toured with evangelist Billy Graham from 1957 to 1976. She is the author of two autobiographies: His Eye is on the Sparrow (1951) and To Me It's Wonderful (1972). Three of her recordings were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Dinah, Stormy Weather and Am I Blue?). Stormy Weather was also listed in the National Recording Registry by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress in 2003.

Ethel Waters died on September 1, 1977, aged 80, from uterine cancer, kidney failure, and other ailments, in California. She was the great-aunt of the singer-songwriter Crystal Waters. As an epilogue, here's a rare video from the 60s, in which Ethel Waters is presented by, talks and sings with none other than Diana Ross.