I am reading a book by Zora Neale Hurston and she was friends with Ethel Waters. I googled her name, as I've not heard of her before. That is what brought me here. Ethel was a very beautiful woman.
MS.ETHYL WATERS,I USE TO REMEMBER 1ST HEARING HER ON SOME GOSPEL SHOWS AT ABOUT AGE 12.AND THE SAME NOW AS THEN EVERYTIME I HEARD HER SING I START CRYING UNCONTROBALLY,I BELIEVE BECAUSE I KNEW WHERE"SHE CAME FROM",WHAT ALL SHE HAD TO GO THRU AND IT BREAKS MY HEART.I LOVE YA MS.ETHYL.BROTHER RICH WIXOM
If you haven't seen it you should watch the film "Member of the Wedding" from 1952. It is a very good film and Ethel Waters gives a great performance. Not much singing though. She sings "His Eye is on the Sparrow" in one scene. Great stuff.
The mother of modern singing. She is forgotten by many now but she changed the way singers approached a song. Concentration on lyrics and the inner feel of the song. Everyone imitated her from Bing Crosby to Lena Horne to Sophie Tucker.