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Category: Womens History


Feb
2022

Eleanor Collins-Canada’s First Lady of Jazz

categories: Women of the Big Band Era, Womens History

One of the reasons I started my blog was to learn about topics and people that I knew nothing about. I’m embarrassed to say that Eleanor Collins-Canada’s First Lady of Jazz is a person I know very little about. Today that all changes!

Let’s meet Eleanor Collins, a Canadian jazz singer, television host and civic leader.

Publicity portrait of Eleanor Collins
Photo: Franz Lindner, CBC Vancouver Photo Collection

Eleanor Collins-Canada’s First Lady of Jazz

FIRST UP…Eleanor at the time of this posting was still very much alive at the wonderful age of 103!

SECONDLY…HER VOICE IS STUNNING!! Often compared to Lena Horne and Ella Fitzgerald.

Take a moment to watch this video to fully understand what I mean….

(Video Link)

Elnora Ruth Procter was born on November 21, 1919 in Edmonton, Alberta. Her parents were of Black and Creole Indian heritage and were originally from the state of Oklahoma. They were drawn to the area by a 1906 advertisement to purchase a quarter section (160 acres) of land for $10, among more than 10,000 Black homesteaders who did so (Source).

Important to note...during this time the Canadian government promoted the concept of untouched land despite the fact that the area was inhabited by several Indigenous nations (Source).

At the age of 15, Collins won a singing contest which lead her to sing on radio station CFRN.

In 1938, Eleanor relocated to Vancouver and began performing with the Swing Low Quartette, a gospel group that consisted of Collins, her sister, Ruby Sneed, along with Edna Panky and Zandy Price. They performed on CBC Radio from 1940 through 1942.

In 1945, she began singing with Ray Norris’ jazz quintet on Serenade in Rhythm, also on CBC Radio; a program that ran for several years and was broadcast to troops overseas.

Singer Eleanor Collins and band in 1948.

Eleanor Performing in a Club in Vancouver January 1st, 1948. Source: Wikipedia

In 1954 she began on the CBC Vancouver TV program Bamboula: A Day in the West Indies, marking the first interracial cast in Canada, and the first variety series produced in Vancouver.

Eleanor Collins Canadian jazz singer in a South American Costume 1940s 1950s vintage photo

Source: opentextbc.ca

Eleanor Collins sings “Ill Wind” in the CBUT (CBC Vancouver) 1954 production of “Bamboula”. So dreamy!

(Video Link)

“The Eleanor Show” premieres in 1955 becoming the first nationally broadcast television series with a Black host.

In 1955, CBC decided to showcase Collins’ style, elegance and sophistication in her own musical variety series; “The Eleanor Show” which ran as a summer series in 1955 and was later reprised as just “Eleanor” in 1964.

Eleanor became the first Canadian music performer to have a show named for her and the first music artist of colour in North America to host her own national television series — groundbreaking features in Canadian history. Her Show pre-dated the 1956 Nat King Cole Show in the United States (Source).

“The studio and the TV medium were all new,” the trailblazing Collins would later recall, “but together we managed to create some amazing watershed moments in Canadian television history… I realize now that I experienced a golden age in television.”

(Source)
1950s Photo of Eleanor Collins preparing for her TV Show in Canada.

Source: CBC Radio

1955 photo of Eleanor Collins on her show Eleanor

Source: Scout

Eleanor also appeared on many radio and television programs through the 1960s and 70s on both CBC and CTV, remaining in Canada despite offers to move to the U.S.

Why did she not move? Collins chose to remain in Canada not only to give stability to her family but also because the country was a rich source of musicians. Furthermore, she was acutely aware of her parents’ decision to leave turn-of-the-century oppression in the United States for a new life in Canada and she wanted to honour their vision.

December 16th, 1956 Eleanor Collins on a Christmas Show in 1950s Fashion.
1960 Photo Shoot of Eleanor Collins in 1960s Fashions
Photo Shoot 1960 -Frank Lindner, CBC

Source: Scout Magazine

In addition to singing on TV and radio variety shows, Eleanor performed in clubs and in concert with Chris Gage, Lance Harrison, Doug Parker and Dave Robbins.

Eleanor Collins Canada's first lady of jazz promotional poster for a night club show.

Source: Canadian Stamp News

Eleanor recorded with Ray Norris in 1951 and appeared on CBC broadcast albums by Gage and Robbins in the 1960s. The only recordings she made were for the CBC (Source).

Eleanor Collins singing at CBC TV Studios, 1960s (Franz Lindner, CBC)
Eleanor Collins singing at CBC TV Studios, 1960s (Franz Lindner, CBC)

By the late 1980’s Collins was considered a living legend and many individuals producing heritage projects began to again search her out. One of those projects was a documentary that she and the Collins Family were featured in, entitled Hymn to Freedom: On This Rock and Telefilm Canada (Source).

Then at the age of 94, Eleanor surprised and delighted a packed house concert audience by singing live at Marcus Mosely’s 3rd and 4th Black History Month Annual Stayed On Freedom Concerts, at St. Andrews Wesley United Church, Vancouver (Source).

Eleanor receives the Order of Canada!

She was awarded the Order of Canada on her 95th birthday: November 21, 2014.

The order is the highest degree of merit, an outstanding level of talent and service, or an exceptional contribution to Canada and humanity (Source).

Eleanor Collins Canadian Jazz singer receiving the order of Canada

“I’m a firm believer,” she once said, “that wherever you are, whatever corner you are in, you can be doing everyone some good. Everyone.”

Eleanor Collins

Personal Life

Eleanor Collins was married to Richard (Dick) Collins for 70 years (Married in 1942). They had four children (Seen below).

In 1948 they moved to Burnaby, B.C. where they were the first Black family in the neighbourhood. Almost immediately, the white community started a petition to prevent them from living there, but Collins and her the family moved in despite the racism they faced.

Collins began to volunteer at her children’s school and taught music there too, all in an effort to put a human face to the stereotypes her family faced from their community (Source).

1950s 1960s photo of Canadian Jazz Singer Eleanor Collins with her family in her Mid Century Living Room.

Source: CBC Radio

Eleanor Collins is now a Canadian stamp!

Eleancor Collins-Canada's First Lady of Jazz Stamp

Eleanor posing with her postage stamp, January 21st, 2022.

Eleanor Collins Canada's first lady of Jazz postage stamp

Source: BC Black History Awareness Society

Here is a stunning portrait of Eleanor at the age of 95. YOOZA! What a beauty!

Eleanor Collins Canadian jazz Singer legend at the age of 95

Source: CBC Radio

Videos to not miss:

Canada Post-Tribute Video and Stamp Reveal (THIS IS A SUPER VIDEO!)

(Video Link)

1988 CBC Vancouver TV series THEN & NOW with co-host Lynne McNamara talking with Eleanor Collins, about her life and career (Video Link).

Thank you for taking the time to learn all about this outstanding Canadian woman! Eleanor is truly special.

Question time: Have you ever heard of Eleanor? Seen her shows maybe? Share any thoughts you have in the comments section below.

Thanks for dropping by!

FURTHER READING:

Liz


Jul
2021

Women of the Big Band Era Everyone Should Know: MAXINE SULLIVAN

categories: Women of the Big Band Era, Womens History

One of my top blog posts is “Women of the Big Band Era that Everyone Should Know” that I wrote in 2016. Since then, I have written several more collections on the talented women of the era, that you can find HERE.

Today’s post is not a collection of women from this era but a focus on just one…..the incredibly talented Maxine Sullivan.

Note: If you have NEVER heard Maxine’s voice, you are in for a real treat. Her voice is so smooth and gorgeous you will be instantly a fan.

Maxine Sullivan Black Jazz Singer in 1947
Maxine Sullivan-1947 via Wikipedia

Women of the Big Band Era Everyone Should Know: MAXINE SULLIVAN

Overview of Maxine’s life:

  • Maxine Sullivan, born Marietta Williams in Homestead, Pennsylvania, May 13th 1911 and began singing & playing music at a young age.
  • Although none of her family members were trained musicians, many of her relatives played musical instruments and contributed to the sounds of what she fondly called the family’s “front porch orchestra”— an informal type of musical education common across the United States in the early twentieth century.
  • Sullivan while working on her singing skills during this time also occasionally played the flugelhorn and the valve trombone.
  • In 1936 Marietta got a gig as a singer for Homestead’s local speakeasy the Benjamin Harris Literary Society.
  • She was then discovered by pianist Gladys Mosier (then working in Ina Ray Hutton’s big band–another one of my “Women you should know” blog posts) and headed off to New York City.
  • Shortly thereafter, Sullivan became a featured vocalist at the Onyx Club in New York City, also known as “Swing Street“.
  • During this period, she began forming a professional and close personal relationship with bassist John Kirby, who became her second husband in 1938 (she would be married 4 different times).

Sources: National Museum of African American History & Culture & Wikipedia

Maxine Sullivan at the Onyx Club – 1938: Trumpeter Charlie Shavers is hiding under the hat; John Kirby is on bass, and Buster Bailey on clarinet.)
Maxine Sullivan at the Onyx Club – 1938: Trumpeter Charlie Shavers is hiding under the hat; John Kirby is on bass, and Buster Bailey on clarinet. Source-Swingandbeyond.com
1938 vintage photo of Black Jazz Singer Maxine Sullivan

Maxine finds her hit song!

Early sessions with Kirby in 1937 yielded a hit recording of a swing version of the Scottish folk song “Loch Lomond“. The song captured widespread attention and catapulted young jazz singer Maxine Sullivan to stardom. The song, her only big hit, followed her over the course of a 40-year career (Source).

This early success “branded” Sullivan’s style, leading her to sing similar swing arrangements of traditional folk tunes mostly arranged by pianist Claude Thornhill, such as “If I Had a Ribbon Bow” (Source).

Personal note about this song: My in-laws are from Glasgow, Scotland (born & raised) and Loch Lomond is not that far away. At my wedding, the mother / son dance was to this version. Their was not a dry eye in the house.

(Video Link)

Hollywood comes a knocking

Her early popularity also led to a brief appearance in the 1938 movie Going Places with Louis Armstrong. (Video Link)

 Her early popularity also led to a brief appearance in the movie Going Places with Louis Armstrong.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQXyiH5ddnQ

Her other big film was the 1939 St. Louis Blues. Both films placed Maxine in the few roles open to African American women at the time, maids and singers (Source).

In the clicp below, Maxine performs her great swing version of “Loch Lomond” in the 1939 film “St. Louis Blues”. (Video Link)

1939 Maxine joins the short lived Swingin’ the Dream

An Al Hirschfeld caricature featuring Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong graced the cover of the 1939 Playbill for “Swingin’ the Dream.”Credit...Playbill.com
An Al Hirschfeld caricature featuring Benny Goodman and Louis Armstrong graced the cover of the 1939 Playbill for “Swingin’ the Dream.”Credit…Playbill.com

Maxine returned to New York City in 1939 and quickly rejoined Armstrong to star opposite him and many other Black entertainers in Swingin’ the Dream. The musical, a jazzed up version of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream set in 1890 New Orleans, ran for only nine performances and went down in history as a disaster. 

It featured some INCREDIBLE names on the bill, like:

  • Louis Armstrong
  • Benny Goodman
  • Count Basie
  • Maxine Sullivan
  • The Dandridge Sisters (including Dorothy Dandridge)
  • Butterfly McQueen (Prissy from Gone with the Wind)
  • Jackie “Moms” Mabley (Comedic actress)

Despite the failure, the musical featured Maxine introducing the world to the beloved jazz standard “Darn that Dream” as Queen Titania (Source).

1940-Sullivan and Kirby become the FIRST Black jazz stars to have their own weekly radio series

From 1940 through 1941, Maxine and then-husband John Kirby headlined the popular CBS radio show “Flow Gently, Sweet Rhythm.” The pair were among the first African Americans to star on a nationally syndicated radio program and included many of their friends within the jazz community, including fellow singer Ella Fitzgerald (Source).

1940s and On….

Maxine continued to work throughout the 1940s performing with a wide range of bands as well as appearing at many of New York’s hottest jazz spots such as the Ruban Bleu, the Village Vanguard, the Blue Angel, and the Penthouse. In 1949, Sullivan appeared on the short-lived CBS Television series Uptown Jubilee, and in 1953 starred in the play, Take a Giant Step (Source).

In the 1950s she opted towards staying home with her children and fourth husband Cliff Jackson as performing opportunities slowed down.

Art Kane’s Photograph ‘A Great Day in Harlem‘-1958

A Great Day in Harlem’ is black-and-white photograph of 57 jazz musicians in Harlem, New York, taken by freelance photographer Art Kane for Esquire magazine on August 12, 1958.

Maxine was 1 of the 3 female musicians in the photo.

s a black-and-white photograph of 57 jazz musicians in Harlem, New York, taken by freelance photographer Art Kane for Esquire magazine on August 12, 1958

After stepping away from music life (1958) and focusing on being a nurse, mother and service to her community, she returned to the stage in 1966 performing in jazz festivals alongside her fourth husband Cliff Jackson.

Sullivan continued to perform throughout the 1970s and made a string of recordings during the 1980s, despite being over 70 years old. She was nominated for the 1979 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (won by Carlin Glynn) for her role in My Old Friends, and participated in the film biography Maxine Sullivan: Love to Be in Love,shortly before her death (Source).

Maxine Sullivan at the Village Jazz Lounge in Walt Disney World, 1975
Sullivan at the Village Jazz Lounge in Walt Disney World, 1975

Maxine Sullivan died aged 75 in 1987 in New York City after suffering a seizure. She was posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998.

Maxine Sullivan African American Jazz Singer during the Big Band Era

I hope you enjoyed learning all about Maxine Sullivan!

Let me know if you are a big fan of Maxine or maybe a new fan thanks to this blog, by leaving a comment in the section below.

Other Blog Posts in the Series: “Women of the Big Band Era Everyone Should Know”:

Stay safe and thanks for dropping by!

Liz