Martha Davis, jazz blues singer, 1955.

jimmyjamesxxxx | January 06, 2010
Martha Davis playing at the Apollo Theatre, New York, 1955.

Here's information from Martha Davis' wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Davis_(singer)

Martha Davis (December 14, 1917 – April 6, 1960) was an African American singer and pianist whose musical comedy act, "Martha Davis & Spouse", was popular in the late 1940s and 1950s....By the mid 1930s, she had met and been influenced by Fats Waller, and performed regularly as a singer and pianist in Chicago clubs. In 1939, she met, and later married, bass player Calvin Ponder (October 17, 1917 - December 26, 1970), who went on to play in Earl Hines' band.

In 1948, Davis and Ponder moved to California, and Davis developed her recording career on Jewel Records in Hollywood with a trio including Ponder, Ralph Williams (guitar) and Lee Young (drums). Their cover of Dick Haymes' pop hit "Little White Lies" reached # 11 on the Billboard R&B chart, followed by a duet with Louis Jordan, "Daddy-O", from the movie A Song Is Born, which reached the R&B top ten later that year.

Davis and Ponder also began performing together on stage, developing a musical and comedy routine as "Martha Davis & Spouse" which played on their physical characteristics (she was large, he was smaller). The act became hugely popular, touring and having a residency at the Blue Angel in New York. They appeared together in movies including Smart Politics (with Gene Krupa), and in the mid 1950s, variety films Rhythm & Blues Revue, Rock 'n' Roll Revue and Basin Street Revue. Several of their performances were filmed by Snader Telescriptions for video jukeboxes, and they also broadcast on network TV, particularly Garry Moore's CBS show..."

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Here's the comment that I posted on YouTube about this video:

Azizip17 - Thanks for posting this clip. I'd never heard of Martha Davis before I happened upon this video. That's a shame. I like her voice and I like that song (especially the line "Let the door knob hit you where the boogie man bit you".) She has skills on the piano too. Also it's interesting to see that in 1955 when this was filmed the Apollo Theatre audience appears to be entirely made up of White people. I wonder when that changed?