Biography
Born as Ollie Marie Givens on 19 October 1925 in Linden, Texas, USA, singer Marie Adams earned the fond nickname ‘TV Mama’ (the one with the big, wide screen) from fellow members of the Johnny Otis band. Her recording debut came in Houston for the Peacock label in 1952, backed by the ensembles led by Bill Harvey, Chuck Dillon and Pluma Davis, and her initial single ‘I’m Gonna Play The Honky Tonks’ brought her early attention. In 1953 she tackled Johnny Ace’s ‘My Song’ during a Peacock date in New York City alongside the Cherokee Conyers Orchestra, essentially a reduced Buddy Johnson outfit, after which she became a regular with Johnny Otis’s group. Remaining until the close of the decade, she contributed to Otis sessions for Peacock and, fronting the Three Tons Of Joy, delivered several Capitol sides that included the pop rock ‘n’ roll staples ‘Ma, He’s Making Eyes At Me’, ‘In The Dark’ and ‘What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For’. During the first half of the sixties she cut further tracks in Los Angeles for Sure Play and Encore Artists, then rejoined the Three Tons Of Joy for live work and joined Otis once more on a global trek in 1972, though reports indicate she passed away not long after that journey.