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| Born: 12-23-1935 Died: 8-7-1984 of liver/kidney failure at the age of 48. |
| Esther Phillips was born Esther May Jones on December 23, 1935 in Galveston, Texas. In 1948, she won an amateur contest in Los Angeles, singing Dinah Washington's "Baby Get Lost." Billed as "Little Esther," and sounding way beyond her years, she recorded "Double Crossing Blues" with Johnny Otis, selling 400,000 copies before her 14th birthday. She recorded 12-bar blues and R&B for the Savoy label, and made what amounts to a complete LP by 1950. In 1951/1952, she recorded for the Federal label. (When she sings "I like my men aged and mellow" from this period, you'd never believe you're listening to a 16 year old girl.) She recorded infrequently through the remainder of the 1950s: six sides for Decca in 1953, three for Savoy in 1956, and then three more in 1959. Esther finally landed a hit record when she recorded the country song, "Release Me," for the Lenox label in 1962. The record company quickly went bankrupt, and Esther’s Lenox contract was picked up by Atlantic Records. Sadly, Esther's career came to a temporary halt after these sessions. She recorded a few more sides for Atlantic, released as singles, late in 1966 and in early 1967, but the material was poor and the recordings quickly disappeared. Her career was plagued by drug and personal problems, which lasted sporadically throughout her life. Esther went back to Texas, checked into a rehab program, and didn't appear on record again until she recorded six sides for the Roulette label in 1969. Esther rejuvenated her career after a successful appearance with Johnny Otis at the 1970 Monterey Jazz Festival. She re-signed with Atlantic records and cut a classic live album at The Pied Piper in Los Angeles called "Burnin’." In the mid-1970s, Atlantic issued more material from this same engagement on the "Confessin' The Blues" album. These recordings are rare examples of Esther in live performance, and rank among her finest work. She subsequently signed with Creed Taylor's Kudo/CTI labels. Her 1971 debut album, "From A Whisper To A Scream," was well received by the critics, and more importantly, by Aretha Franklin. Franklin so admired Phillips’ album that when the Queen of Soul was awarded a Grammy for her "Young, Gifted And Black" album, she graciously gave the Grammy to Phillips, saying that she deserved it more. |
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| By 1975 disco was exploding across the airwaves and Tony Sarafino (Creed's A&R man for disco-oriented projects) decided to push Esther into a "disco" album. Her album sales were not adding to the company's bottom line. Add to the fact that famed guitarist Joe Beck had recently been signed to the label, it was decided that he would be given musician duties as well as arranger duties for the basic tracks as well as the string section. Esther was reluctant to record the songs in a "disco style" but conceeded when she was allowed to chose the material. "What A Diff’rence A Day Makes" became a milestone on Esther’s career as her biggest hit and best-selling album ever. Recorded in April 1975, released as a single three months later, its title track (curiously, the big hit of Dinah Washington, Esther’s main idol and influence) exploded in the New York dancefloor scene, and soon it swept dancefloors across America and Europe. The pairing of Esther Phillips and Joe Beck and their success led producer Creed Taylor to do a kind of "Volume 2," quickly booking dates at Van Gelder’s studio in October 1975. Most of the musicians featured on "What A Diff’rence A Day Makes" were once again hired for its follow-up album, "For All We Know," with vocalists Patti Austin and Tasha Thomas writing the vocal arrangements and singing backgrounds. In November, Esther Phillips completed the vocal parts. In December, Joe Beck added the string section. The following month, the first promo copies were mailed to club and radio D.J.'s, who enjoyed the new album almost as much as they had loved the previous one. However, in spite of all the promotional efforts by the Kudo/CTI team, "For All We Know" did not yield any huge hits, although two tracks (shortened versions of "Fever" and "For All We Know"), released as a single, received heavy airplay. Maybe that was the first mistake. According to Joe Beck, “Creed should have selected Unforgettable as the first single, because it was the most commercial track, as well as a potential disco-hit which I had prepared the same way I had done with "What A Diff’rence A Day Makes,” remembers the guitarist, whose name was discretely featured in the album cover. After "For All We Know," Esther, who had already recorded five albums for Kudu ("From A Whisper To A Scream," "Alone Again Naturally," "Black-Eyed Blues," "Performance," and "What A Diff’rence A Day Makes"), cut one final album for the label, "Capricorn Princess," in 1976, with David Matthews replacing Joe Beck as arranger. "Capricorn Princess" gave Esther her second disco-hit and her first 12" single with "Boy I Really Tied One On/Magic's In The Air." The two songs were mixed together from the album, with a flip of a disco track from David Matthews album. The commercial 12" single remains one of my favorites of the era. |
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| Then, after leaving Kudu, Esther released four albums on Mercury, the same label for which her idol Dinah Washington had recorded her most memorable albums. She continued to record disco-oriented material and having minor club hits with her versions of "Pull Yourself Together" (Buddy Miles). "Changin' " (Sharon Riddley) and "Native New Yorker" (Odyssey). Several 12" singles also followed most notably "Our Day Will Come" and the red-hot "Oo Oop Oo Oop." After her contract elapsed with Mercury she released a handful of albums on minor labels with little/ or no fanfare. And by 1984 her years of drinking and drugging took their toll on her. Years of struggling to gain recognition in the cruel music business, Esther found acceptance and new legions of fans after her death with many of her recordings selling more than when originally released. On August 7, 1984 Esther's liver and kidney's failed her, but my guess is that a broken heart also contributed to the passing of a multi-talented star........Esther we love you! |
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