Velvet Lounge: St. Louis Blues

Liner Note Author: Deborah Grace Winer.
Illustrator: R.A. Andreas.
Photographer: R.A. Andreas.
Eartha Kitt co-starred with Nat King Cole in the film St. Louis Blues, a screen biography of W.C. Handy, which opened in April 1958, and her label, RCA Victor Records, took the occasion to have her record an album of Handy blues songs and spirituals. This was a departure from her usual practice of performing exotic and sophisticated material in various languages, but she handled the assignment well. On most of the tracks, she was paired with a Dixieland jazz band, Shorty Rogers & His Giants, which consisted of Rogers and John Best on trumpets; Moe Schneider on trombone; Matty Matlock on clarinet; Stan Wrightsman on piano; Al Hendrickson on guitar; Morty Corb on bass; Nick Fatool on drums; and Milt Holland on conga, with a male vocal quartet chiming in on some songs. There were also two spirituals, "Steal Away" and "Hist the Window, Noah," on which Kitt was accompanied by the Jester Hairston Choir. Blues and spirituals were not her forte, really, but she did her best, clearly relishing her one chance to throw in a little French (or Creole, anyway, as the lyrics say) with the Cajun-tinged "Chantez les Bas (Sing 'Em Low)." Of course, Handy's version of the blues has a lot of Tin Pan Alley in it, which helped give Kitt something to work with. Rogers and the band were thoroughly familiar with the tunes and provided excellent backing. They didn't make Kitt a jazz singer, either, but she was a professional, and the result was a pleasing interpretation of Handy's music. ~ William Ruhlmann