Biography
Laverne Holt demonstrated unusual foresight as a singer-songwriter by committing to tape a pointed statement of black pride and nationalism titled "Mr. Black Man" fully ten years before comparable expressions surfaced among other rhythm-and-blues or soul performers. In correspondence addressed to producer Joe Davis—one of the few industry figures she seems to have trusted—she characterized segments of the music business as consisting of "maliced, deceitful, destructive, ignorant, debauched, filthy, degraded, evil, subverted minds," an assessment that could plausibly apply to any era.
During a 1955 session for Davis she cut two titles, "Mr. Black Man" and "If You Play You Must Pay," the second of which acquired an unintended edge once the transaction came to light as an early instance of pay-to-play arrangements. Holt personally covered the five-hundred-dollar cost of a professional date backed by a quintet, an arrangement that deviated from Davis’s customary practices; the same producer had earlier helped launch the career of Fats Waller and others. The tracks first appeared under the name Enyatta Holta, yet Davis later reissued "Mr. Black Man" in the 1970s, evidently prompted by its forward-looking political stance. Subsequent anthologies drawn from Davis’s catalog have listed the artist variously as Holt or Holta, with the Krazy Kat label employing both spellings across multiple compilations.
The performances benefited from strong support on piano from Al Williams, who had already accompanied an earlier demo of "Mr. Black Man." The remainder of the group comprised guitarist Everett Barksdale, drummer Bobby Donaldson, bassist Bill Pemberton, and baritone saxophonist Haywood Henry. At the same session Henry nominally directed several instrumentals, loose treatments of "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Tenderly" that remained unissued until 1964.
During a 1955 session for Davis she cut two titles, "Mr. Black Man" and "If You Play You Must Pay," the second of which acquired an unintended edge once the transaction came to light as an early instance of pay-to-play arrangements. Holt personally covered the five-hundred-dollar cost of a professional date backed by a quintet, an arrangement that deviated from Davis’s customary practices; the same producer had earlier helped launch the career of Fats Waller and others. The tracks first appeared under the name Enyatta Holta, yet Davis later reissued "Mr. Black Man" in the 1970s, evidently prompted by its forward-looking political stance. Subsequent anthologies drawn from Davis’s catalog have listed the artist variously as Holt or Holta, with the Krazy Kat label employing both spellings across multiple compilations.
The performances benefited from strong support on piano from Al Williams, who had already accompanied an earlier demo of "Mr. Black Man." The remainder of the group comprised guitarist Everett Barksdale, drummer Bobby Donaldson, bassist Bill Pemberton, and baritone saxophonist Haywood Henry. At the same session Henry nominally directed several instrumentals, loose treatments of "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "Tenderly" that remained unissued until 1964.