Dates: October 31, 1896 - September 1, 1977
Occupation: singer, actress
With all that Ethel Waters contributed to the music and film industries, it is surprising that she is often forgotten. She was a talented blues singer whose unique style distinguished her from other singers. However, her talent extended beyond singing; she went on to become a dramatic actress who earned award nominations for her performances. But what was most remarkable about Waters' performances was how she reconstructed the mammy character into one that challenged stereotypes.
Ethel Waters’ Troubled Childhood
Ethel Waters was born in Chester, Pennsylvania on October 31, 1896. She had a difficult life in poverty with a rejecting mother. Nevertheless, Waters' found her passion in music. As a young child, she began singing in the church choir. Her childhood, however, was cut short when at thirteen she married an abusive man and dropped out of sixth grade. One year later, she was divorced.
Waters Gets Her Start as a Singer
Shortly thereafter, Waters began working as a maid, but her new career choice was short lived; two vaudeville producers discovered her while she was singing in a talent contest in 1917. She immediately began touring with vaudeville shows under the name “Sweet Mama Stringbean.” In 1919, she left the vaudeville circuit and started performing in Harlem nightclubs. Two years later she became one of the first black singers to cut a record on the Black Swan Record label with her release of "Down Home Blues" and "Oh, Daddy".The record was a success, and Waters went on tour to great acclaim. She toured with Fletcher Henderson and the Black Swan Jazz Masters. The Chicago Defender and other newspapers gave the tour substantial notoriety. The tour increased Black Swan’s revenues and made Waters a top performer who became known for her shimmies and soft style of singing.
Waters’ Unique Style
Waters' success was related to her style of singing. She could sing like other classic blues singers with plenty of passion and fire, but she had a unique approach. She was not a shouter, but was able to hold the attention of the audience with her low and sweet voice. According to Jimmy McPartland, who saw her in the 1927 show Miss Calico, “We were enthralled with her. We liked Bessie Smith very much, too, but Waters had more polish, I guess you’d say. She phrased so wonderfully, the natural quality of her voice was so fine . . .”(1)Waters introduced a new style of the blues, one that was influenced by her grandmother who always told her, "You don't have to holler so. God has very big ears. He can hear you even if you whisper."(2) Just the opposite, her mother's preference was more in line with the Holy Rollers and the Baptists style. Waters' style was a combination of both of these approaches. The result was one that was characterized by sophistication, refinement, moderation, only rare growls, and precise enunciation.
Waters’ Varied Repertoire
Waters' unique technique contributed to her ability to sing various styles of music. Like other classic blues singers, she could sing torches, pop songs from Tin Pan Alley, vaudeville, and musical theatre tunes. Her style encompassed the use of wide vocal ranges and upbeat rhythmic renditions that were similar to vaudeville singing. According to Clyde Bernhardt, a jazz musician who saw her perform in 1921 at the Chestnut Auditorium in Pennsylvania, she could do the blues, a fast-tempo jazz song, and a ballad, and make it sound beautiful.Because of her varied repertoire, she has also been categorized as a jazz singer. Her rhythm was closer to jazz than blues, and in her later career she sang popular songs with a jazz approach. Jazz critic, Hugues Panassie, wrote that Waters was a great jazz singer. He praised her clear voice, her extensive range, the ease in which she sang, and the perfect tone of every note. He also claimed that her influence on female jazz singers was "almost as great as that of Louis Armstrong."(3) She influenced such great singers as Billie Holiday, who took songs from her repertoire and recorded them as “Billie’s Blues,” and Sophie Tucker, who paid Waters to sing for her privately so that she could study her style. Other admirers included Mildred Bailey, Ella Fitzgerald, the Boswell Sisters, and Eartha Kitt.
Waters’ talent extended beyond musical style; she also had the gift of interpretation. She set a new standard with her rendition of “Stormy Weather” at the Cotton Club in 1933. Waters changed the original interpretation of the ending and gave it a dramatic conclusion. Her performance was unforgettable and was the talk of New York. Her interpretive talent would not go to waste. As blues women began to fade in popularity, Waters was able use her interpretive ability to take advantage of acting opportunities on stage and screen.
(1) Jimmy McPartland, as quoted in Nat Shapiro and Nat Hentoff, ed., Hear Me Talkin’ to Ya. New York: Rinehart & Company, Inc., 1955.
(2) Ethel Waters, His Eye is on the Sparrow. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1951.
(3) Hugues Panassie, The Real Jazz. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1960.
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