Biography
Known affectionately as the Grand Dame of Detroit Blues, Alberta Adams projects conviction and power across her two Cannonball Records albums: the 1999 release Born With the Blues and its 2000 follow-up Say Baby Say: Life's Trials and Tribulations According to Miss Alberta Adams. Blues critics and radio programmers responded strongly to both sets, which in turn revived her live career through frequent festival appearances across the United States and Canada during the late 1990s and into 2000.
She first took the stage in the late 1930s. Born Roberta Louise Osborne in Indianapolis in the early 1920s, she grew up under the care of an aunt in Detroit. Adams initially gained notice on the city’s vibrant Hastings Street club circuit as a dancer before shifting to vocals; the venue manager, struck by her voice, urged her to broaden her material, and she has remained a singer ever since. On that same scene she absorbed lessons from peers such as John Lee Hooker, Big Maceo, Eddie Burns, and Eddie Kirkland.
The Chess brothers of Chicago encountered Adams while she performed on Hastings Street, resulting in a recording contract with Chess Records. Several sides she cut with Red Saunders’ band later appeared on MCA Records anthology CDs. She also issued a single for the Newark, New Jersey label Savoy Records, backed by the T.J. Fowler Band on the track “Say Baby Say.” Adams belonged to the vocal ensemble the Bluesettes, which traveled with Tiny Bradshaw’s orchestra. As word of her talent spread, she shared bills with touring outfits led by Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, James Moody, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, and T-Bone Walker. Her formative influences included Big Joe Turner, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, and LaVern Baker, although she developed her style largely without formal instruction.
Before issuing Born With the Blues on the since-defunct Minneapolis imprint Cannonball Records, Adams contributed four selections to the label’s Blues Across America series, which spotlighted both emerging and established Motor City blues acts alongside Johnnie Bassett & the Blues Insurgents; those recordings secured her a solo deal. The album appeared on Living Blues magazine’s list of the top twenty-five releases of 1999. On the subsequent Say Baby Say she supplied additional wry, partly autobiographical originals and revisited “Say Baby Say,” one of her most sought-after 45-rpm singles.
She first took the stage in the late 1930s. Born Roberta Louise Osborne in Indianapolis in the early 1920s, she grew up under the care of an aunt in Detroit. Adams initially gained notice on the city’s vibrant Hastings Street club circuit as a dancer before shifting to vocals; the venue manager, struck by her voice, urged her to broaden her material, and she has remained a singer ever since. On that same scene she absorbed lessons from peers such as John Lee Hooker, Big Maceo, Eddie Burns, and Eddie Kirkland.
The Chess brothers of Chicago encountered Adams while she performed on Hastings Street, resulting in a recording contract with Chess Records. Several sides she cut with Red Saunders’ band later appeared on MCA Records anthology CDs. She also issued a single for the Newark, New Jersey label Savoy Records, backed by the T.J. Fowler Band on the track “Say Baby Say.” Adams belonged to the vocal ensemble the Bluesettes, which traveled with Tiny Bradshaw’s orchestra. As word of her talent spread, she shared bills with touring outfits led by Duke Ellington, Louis Jordan, Wynonie Harris, James Moody, Eddie “Cleanhead” Vinson, and T-Bone Walker. Her formative influences included Big Joe Turner, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, and LaVern Baker, although she developed her style largely without formal instruction.
Before issuing Born With the Blues on the since-defunct Minneapolis imprint Cannonball Records, Adams contributed four selections to the label’s Blues Across America series, which spotlighted both emerging and established Motor City blues acts alongside Johnnie Bassett & the Blues Insurgents; those recordings secured her a solo deal. The album appeared on Living Blues magazine’s list of the top twenty-five releases of 1999. On the subsequent Say Baby Say she supplied additional wry, partly autobiographical originals and revisited “Say Baby Say,” one of her most sought-after 45-rpm singles.
Singles
