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Rosetta Howard |
There is limited information online about blues singer Rosetta Howard, but we can share that with examples of her recordings, particularly where she recorded with well-known jazz groups and musicians.
As an introduction, listen to perhaps her most famous 1937 recording If You A Viper with the Harlem Hamfats:
The song is, of course, a nod to marijuana : "Dreamed about a reefer five foot long ...." and the phrasing reminds me a little of Fats Waller who also recorded the number in 1943. Fats' recording is interesting in that it was apparently 'a subtle poke at Harry Anslinger, the first head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, who had declared marijuana use by swing musicians a menace and had promised to prosecute.' You can read more about Fat's recording here.
The Harlem Hamfats in 1937 were Herb Morand (trumpet); Odell Rand (clarinet); Horace Malcolm (piano), Joe McCoy (guitar), Charlie McCoy (guitar and mandolin); Ransom Knowling (bass) and Fred Flynn (drums). They were Chicago, not Harlem based, and were initially a studio band drawn together by record producer and entrepreneur J. Mayo Williams. It is suggested that they might have been the first studio recording band to become a performing act in their own right, recording extensively. Some of their numbers, such as Oh! Red and Why Don't You Do Right?, went on to be recorded by more famous jazz musicians.
Why Don't You Do Right was originally recorded as The Weed Smoker's Dream with numerous references to drugs. The lyrics were later changed to Why Don't You Do Right, a song about 'a conniving mistress and her broke lover', and was later recorded by Peggy Lee with the Benny Goodman Orchestra.
Here is a version of The Weed Smoker's Dream by Hugh Laurie and a band with singer Gaby Moreno.
Rosetta Howard was born on 30th August 1914 (some references say 2013) in Woodruff County, Arkansas. She moved to Chicago in her teens and worked as a dancer at a club where she began singing along to the jukebox.
Around 1932, she began singing professionally with clarinettist Jimmy Noone and other bandleaders, including Jimmy Thompson, and made a number of recordings during the 1930s into the 1940s. Unfortunately there does not appear to be any of these recordings we can share - most of those available are Rosetta with the Harlem Hamfats. Her association with the Hamfats began in 1937. We have heard You're A Viper, so let's listen to Let Your Linen Hang Low. Such suggestive lyrics were not unusual at the time. Fats Waller and others were just as 'cheeky' and years later, George Melly would keep that flame alight. Let Your Linen Hang Low was apparently described by one music journalist as "Howard engaging Kansas Joe McCoy in sexy banter".
Rosetta also recorded with Herb Morand and Odell Rand, who were members of the Hamfats. In 1939 she recorded with the Harlem Blues Serenaders, who included Charlie Shavers, Buster Bailey, Lil Armstrong, Henry "Red" Allen and Barney Bigard. Here she is with the Serenaders in 1939 and Headin' For The River:
Rosetta continued to perform in Chicago in the 1940s, and in 1947 featured on recordings with the Big Three, including Willie Dixon and Big Bill Broonzy. There are one or two recordings with the Big Three on You Tube - here is Rosetta singing Big Bill Broonzy's When I Been Drinking. Some of Big Bill's lyrics (click here) are questionable but are more meaningful when Rosetta sings her version!
Rosetta Howard with Big Bill Broonzy
Generally speaking her recordings were less successful than her earlier work and she did not record again, although in the 1950s she sang with the pianist and Gospel composer Thomas A. Dorsey (who wrote the well known Gospel song Take My Hand, Precious Lord) at the Pilgrim Baptist Church in Chicago.
Rosetta Howard died in Chicago on October 8th, 1974. She is buried at Burr Oak Cemetary. Alsip, Cook County, Illinois.
Albums of Rosetta's recordings are available, including this one in chronological order and where you can sample the tracks - click here.
[If anyone is able to add more information about Rosetta, please let us know]
Perhaps we should finish with something from her heady days with the Harlem Hamfats - here she is with How Long Daddy Will You Keep Me This Way
© Sandy Brown Jazz 2022
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