Roburt Posted August 10, 2013 Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) This lady came back into the news when Eli 'Paperboy' Reed first hit it big as he had played in her Chicago church when at college in Chicago and she had helped inspire him (even more) into singing 60's style soul. She goes back many years and gave up singing soul over 40 years back (returning to her gospel roots). She cut a few decent gospel tunes from the 70's on but it's her Chess outings from the 60's that she is remembered for. She enjoyed her first 45 release around her 20th birthday (June 1961) with "I Gotta Get Away From It All". By the end of 1961, she was starring on big R&B Revue shows such as the one in Chicago over Xmas that year (Lloyd Price topped the bill with the Spaniels, the Sheppards, Erma Franklin, Buddy Lamp & of course Mitty also performing). Her biggest hit came in 1964 and it was a straight copy of a gospel tune. Here she is performing the song on 'the Beat' ......... Edited August 10, 2013 by Roburt
Roburt Posted August 10, 2013 Author Posted August 10, 2013 Her first ever release from back in June 61 ...........
Roburt Posted August 10, 2013 Author Posted August 10, 2013 Mitty was still touring across the US on packages in 1965 / 66. Here's a Hot Rod Celebration Show (WWIN Baltimore DJ) staged at the Royal Theatre that Chess Records provided all the acts for (I guess Hot Rod had been featuring lots of Chess tracks on his WWIN show over the previous few months).
Roburt Posted August 10, 2013 Author Posted August 10, 2013 Mitty always felt that she had been ripped off (royalties wise) during her secular music career. She was still peeved as late as 2009 ........ https://articles.chicagotribune.com/2009-08-26/entertainment/0908260153_1_radio-stations-tom-joyner-morning-show-radio-personalities Did the Performance Rights Act ever pass into law in the US or did the media owners manage to get it blocked ?
Roburt Posted August 10, 2013 Author Posted August 10, 2013 As I stated earlier, Eli 'Paperboy' Reed is a big fan of Mitty's ............ https://www.theage.com.au/articles/2008/12/23/1229998532694.html Rusty Springboard also used to credit Mitty as being a big influence on her singing style.
Roburt Posted August 10, 2013 Author Posted August 10, 2013 More info on Mitty's career here ............... https://blogs.suntimes.com/hoekstra/2012/11/the_giving_soul_of_mitty_colli.html
Roburt Posted August 10, 2013 Author Posted August 10, 2013 (edited) Mitty's 1972 gospel remake of her biggest hit ............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i9r_hkqROo Edited August 10, 2013 by Roburt
Recommended Posts
Get involved with Soul Source
Add your comments now
Join Soul Source
A free & easy soul music affair!
Join Soul Source now!Log in to Soul Source
Jump right back in!
Log in now!