Obscure American Artists 1956-1963, Pop 20

 

Freddie Houston. R&B and Soul singer. Born 1938; Winston Salem, North Carolina - died 2014. Freddie typified NYC soul of the early 60s and is best known for his big beat ballads. Between 1961 and 1964 he recorded seven singles: two for Carlton, one for Toto, one for Captain and two for Old Town. Two of these singles entered Cash Box Looking Ahead chart (see NL12). He was also a very popular artist on the Popcorn scene with his Carlton and Captain releases. In the late 1950s he recorded two singles for End, as Johnny Eager (see R18).

India White. Obscure R&B singer. One single in 1958 for Juanita (obscure small label, loc?).

Mel Bocci. Obscure Pop singer. One single in 1959 for Manhattan Records (label from Cleveland, Ohio), with Kathy and Charlene (unidentified girl duo). Bocci composed both tracks.

Tiny Topsy. Real Name: Otha Lee Moore Hall (1930 – 1964). R&B singer from Chicago. Tiny's first recording session was held in Cincinnati on July 9, 1957 and resulted in the bouncy "Aw! Shucks Baby" (Federal 12302), with a great tenor solo by Ray Felder. The label credit reads "Tiny Topsy With The Five Chances". The flip was a cover of "Miss You So", a Top 10 R&B hit for Lillian Offitt (Excello 2104, also # 66 pop). A third track from this session, "A Woman's Intuition", remained unissued until 1988. Her next two singles - both solid rockers - "Come On, Come On, Come On" (Federal 12309) and "You Shocked Me" (Federal 12315) both saw a UK release on the Parlophone label.
Tiny Topsy's fourth Federal single is a very interesting one. Written by the aforementioned Bernice Williams, it is called "Western Rock 'n' Roll" and incorporates snippets of then-current hits (Lollipop, At the Hop, Get a Job, Short Shorts). It opens with gunshots and probably for that reason, Dave Penny (yes, the same one) calls it a "Western Movies pastiche" in his 1988 liner notes for the LP "Aw! Shucks Baby". However, the recording date of "Western Rock 'n' Roll" (March 19, 1958) predates the release date of the Olympics hit by some three months. So it looks like the sound effects on "Western Movies" were inspired by "Western Rock 'n' Roll" instead of the other way round.
Tiny Topsy certainly was a trendsetter, because her next single (and her last one for Federal) was the original of what has become a classic : "Just A Little Bit". Rosco Gordon had a # 2 R&B hit with his version in 1960 and the song has been covered by countless people, including Jerry Lee Lewis on his "Southern Roots" album.
After leaving Federal, Tiny had only one further single released, "Working On Me Baby", coupled with "How You Changed" (Argo 5383). In the UK, "How You Changed" was retitled "After Marriage Blues" (Pye International N 25104).
"Aw! Shucks Baby" was re-released by King in 1963, not long before her untimely death at the age of only 34. She never scored a hit, but her small legacy is thoroughly enjoyable.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/129807139/otha-lee-hall

Zabethe Wilde. Real Name: Elizabeth Dickerson. Ex-shake dancer China Doll Dickerson who changed her name to Zabeth Wild when she became a singer. She recorded four songs for Capitol Records in 1961. She starred in well-known musical in Chicago in 1961 "Kicks and Co." with Burgess Meredith.

https://www.discogs.com/artist/3003623-Zabethe-Wilde