Lil Green

Lil Green (December 22, 1919 (some sources give 1901 or 1910)[nb 1] – April 14, 1954)[2] was an American blues singer and songwriter. She was among the leading female rhythm and blues singers of the 1940s, with a sensual soprano voice. Gospel singer R.H. Harris has lauded her voice, and her interpretation of religious songs[6]

Lil Green
Background information
Birth nameLillian Green or
Lillie May Johnson
Born(1919-12-22)December 22, 1919
Mississippi, United States
Died(1954-04-14)April 14, 1954
Chicago, Illinois, United States
GenresBlues
Occupation(s)Singer
LabelsBluebird
Atlantic (1951–54)
Associated actsBig Bill Broonzy

Life and career

Originally named Lillian Green or Lillie May Johnson,[4] she was born in Mississippi. After the early deaths of her parents, she began performing in her teens and, having (like many African-American singers) honed her craft in the church performing gospel, she sang in Mississippi jukes, before heading to Chicago, Illinois, in 1929, where she would make all of her recordings.[7]

Green was noted for superb timing and a distinctively sinuous voice. She was reportedly 18 when she recorded her first session for the 35-cent Bluebird subsidiary of RCA. In the 1930s she and Big Bill Broonzy had a nightclub act together.[2] Her two biggest hits were her own composition "Romance in the Dark" (1940),[8] which was later covered by many artists, such as Dinah Washington and Nina Simone (in 1967) (Billie Holiday recorded a different song with the same title), and Green's 1941 version of Kansas Joe McCoy's minor-key blues- and jazz-influenced song "Why Don't You Do Right?",[8] which was covered by Peggy Lee in 1942 and many others since.[7] As well as performing in Chicago nightclubs, Green toured with Tiny Bradshaw and other bands but never broke away from the black theatre circuit.[9]

By 1949, Green had changed direction with the foresight to become a jazz vocalist, and tried to emulate the Jazz style of Billie Holiday. She signed with Atlantic Records in 1951, but at this point was already in poor health.[9] She died of pneumonia in Chicago in 1954 and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, in Gary, Indiana.

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See also

Notes
  1. Most sources give 1919 as her year of birth.[1][2][3] However, Bob Eagle and Eric S. LeBlanc gave the date as 1901, on the basis of information in the 1910 census, and also referred to a Social Security claim, apparently for her, which stated that she was born on December 22, 1910, in Port Gibson, Mississippi.[4][5]

References
  1. Herzhaft, Gérard (1992). Encyclopedia of the Blues. University of Arkansas Press. p. 128.
  2. Pearson, Barry Lee. "Lillian 'Lil' Green: Biography". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
  3. "LIL GREEN". Allaboutbluesmusic.com. 14 April 2013. Retrieved 21 April 2019.
  4. Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 216. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  5. Riesman, Bob (15 May 2011). I Feel So Good: The Life and Times of Big Bill Broonzy. University of Chicago Press. p. 55. Retrieved 21 April 2019 – via Internet Archive. lil green.
  6. Shadwick, Keith (2001). "Lil Green". Encyclopedia of Jazz and Blues. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Quintet Publishing. p. 461. ISBN 1-86155-385-4.
  7. Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. pp. 114–115. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  8. Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. p. 13. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  9. "Lil Green Biography". Oldies.com. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
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