Alberta Hunter
(January 4, 1895 - October 17, 1984) U.S.A.
Blues singer, songwriter, and nurse
Alberta Hunter was born in Memphis, Tennessee, to a poor family. When she was twelve, she ran away to Chicago and began to sing in flop houses and saloons. She was able to move up to the leading cabarets in Chicago and decided to move to New York in 1921. Alberta began recording for the Black Swan label upon her arrival, but soon switched to Paramount in 1922, where she recorded most of her material.
 Hunter started her singing career with King Oliver's Creole Jazz Band. As one of the most popular blues singers in the 1920s, she projected an image of a though woman who could take care of herself. Mostly she sang about anguished love affairs and these had a special resonance for gay audiences.
She wrote many of her own songs and Bessie Smith recorded Alberta's Down Hearted Blues and made it very popular. Alberta continued to record and write under various pseudonyms such as Alberta Prime and Josephine Beatty. Some of her famous hits are, Sugar, your Jelly Roll is Good, Beale Street Blues, and Take That Thing Away.
 Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, some African-American entertainers pursued their careers in Europe, where they experienced less virulent racism and more hospitality than in the US. In 1928 Hunter was featured in the London version of the musical Show Boat.
Alberta worked with the USO tours during World War II and the Korean War. She entertained troops in China, Burma, India, Korea, and Europe.
She continued to play in U.S. and Canadian clubs until her self imposed retirement in 1956.  In the early 60's she recorded for the Prestige-Bluesville, Riverside, and Folkways label.
She then decided to become a nurse at the age of 61. She worked as a nurse at Goldwater Hospital in New York City from age 62 to 82, when she was forced to retire from nursing when it was discovered she had lied about her age, and had passed the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Horrified at the thought of retirement, the following year she was persuaded to sing again, and reappeared on the New York cabaret scene at the age of 83. She worked regularly around New York City and recorded for Columbia Records. Alberta became a sensation in New York at a Greenwich Village club called The Cookery. She continued performing until her death at the age of 89.
Excerpts from: Aldrich R. & Wotherspoon G., Who's Who in Gay and Lesbian History, from Antiquity to WWII, Routledge, London, 2001 - et alii
 Hunter was a lesbian, but she grew up in an era that did not permit discussion of sexuality, much less acceptance of homosexuality. The subject matter remained one she refused to discuss. But she went further.
Alberta did everything to conceal this preference all her life. In her mind lesbianism tarnished the image of propriety and respectability she struggled so hard to achieve.
Excerpt from: Frank C. Taylor and Gerard Cook, Alberta - A Celebration in Blues, New York, 1987
|
