Hidden Figures: Eva Taylor

Eva Taylor was a talented entertainer and Blues singer and was one of the first African-American singers to be heard on radio. Born Irene Joy Gibbons in St. Louis, Missouri, Taylor started out as child actor; onstage since the age of three in a traveling revue that toured the world, visiting Europe, Australia and New Zealand before she was in her teens. She also toured extensively with Josephine Gassman and Her Pickaninnies, a vaudeville act, before moving to New York City in 1920 and becoming a popular singer and performer in Harlem nightclubs. In 1921 she married pianist, publisher and producer Clarence Williams, who had been hired by Okeh Records to work with her. The couple worked together on radio and recordings, collaborating on many projects, including dozens of songs, a musical revue called "Bottomland", and radio programs. They recorded together through the 1930s, and she was the lead singer on several of Williams' classic Blue Five recording dates, including the famous sessions that brought together well-known blues artists Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, Sippie Wallace, and Bessie Smith in 1924 and 1925. In 1922 Taylor made her first record for the African-American-owned Black Swan Records, which billed her as "The Dixie Nightingale.” She recorded dozens of blues, jazz and popular sides for Okeh and Columbia throughout the 1920s and 1930s, adopting the stage name Eva Taylor but also working under her birth name in the group 'Irene Gibbons and her Jazz Band.' She was part of the Charleston Chasers, the name given to a few all-star studio ensembles who recorded between 1925 and 1930. In 1927, Taylor appeared on Broadway in Bottomland, a musical written and produced by her husband, which lasted for twenty-one performances. In 1929 she had her own radio show on NBC's Cavalcade. She then worked for many years on radio station WOR, in New York (guesting on Paul Whiteman's radio show in 1932). Taylor stopped performing during the 1940s, returning to the stage only after her husbands death in 1965, when she toured in Europe. Taylor died from cancer in 1977 in Mineola, New York. She was interred next to her husband, Clarence Williams, under the name Irene Joy Williams in Saint Charles Cemetery, in Farmingdale, New York. Their daughter Joy Williams (1931–1970) was a singer and actress, performing under the stage name Irene Williams. Their son, Clarence Williams, Jr. (1923–1976) was the father of the actor Clarence Williams III, who is well known for his lead role as Linc Hayes in the television show ‘The Mod Squad.’ #EvaTaylor #HiddenFigures ****************** Merchandise! MAKE SURE U GETTA SHIRT!! https://www.teepublic.com/user/sssseren Follow me on social media! Instagram: @sensei_aishitemasu Personal Tumblr:   / sensei-aishitemasu   Tumblr for my work:   / sssseren   Snapchat: sssseren GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/tc5wh7q Patreon:   / seren_sensei   ****************** Did you know I wrote a book? ☺️ 'So, About That... A Year of Contemporary Essays on Race and Pop Culture' Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/About-That-Con... Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B013V0CHK6 Digital download (e-book): https://gumroad.com/l/IkUa ****************** Links: Eva Taylor - Scatter Your Smiles (YouTube):    • Eva Taylor - Scatter Your Smiles   EVA TAYLOR AND CLARENCE WILLIAMS (YouTube):    • EVA TAYLOR AND CLARENCE WILLIAMS   Eva Taylor: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/index.php... Eva Taylor: http://www.redhotjazz.com/eva.html Eva Taylor (Wikipedia): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eva_Taylor