Them There Eyes

[ornotna]

Varetta Dillard

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1. Very kool. Late '40s, early '50s?

[ornotna]

2. Early 50's

She was born in Harlem, New York, and spent much of her childhood in hospital due to a congenital bone condition. By her mid-teens, her condition had stabilised, though she remained unable to walk without crutches or other assistance. She met Carl Feaster of doo-wop group The Chords, who encouraged her to enter talent contests as a singer, and in 1951 she won two consecutive competitions at the Apollo Theater. She was signed by Savoy Records, and had her first recording session with the company in September 1951. Although her early singles were commercially unsuccessful, she was invited by Alan Freed to perform at what later became recognised as the first major rock and roll concert: the Moondog Coronation Ball held in Cleveland, Ohio on March 21, 1952. Because of concerns over crowd safety, the concert was shut down by the authorities after the first song by Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams, and Dillard did not perform in the event. However, her next record, "Easy, Easy Baby", reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B chart in July 1952, being especially popular in the South.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varetta_Dillard

Yes, very kool.