Pearl Bailey
An uninhibited vocalist who gave more to her performances than any other singers around, Pearl Bailey gained fame for her work in Broadway, cabaret, and Hollywood. Bailey's sultry, slurred delivery livened up many a stale standard, including "Baby It's Cold Outside" and her only hit, "Takes Two to Tango."
The daughter of a preacher, Bailey began singing at the age of three (her brother, Bill Bailey, also taught her a few dance steps). She was performing professionally by her early teenage years and after touring as a dancer for several years, she featured both as a singer and dancer with jazz bands led by Noble Sissle, Cootie Williams, and Edgar Hayes. She began performing as a solo act in 1944, and wooed night club audiences with her relaxed stage presence and humorous asides. After briefly replacing Sister Rosetta Tharpe in Cab Calloway's Orchestra during the mid-'40s, she debuted on Broadway during 1946 in the musical St. Louis Woman. Bailey earned an award for most promising newcomer, and made her first film, Variety Girl, in 1947.
Though it wasn't a hit, her version of "Tired" (from Variety Girl) increased her standing in the jazz community. She recorded for several different labels, including Columbia, during the '40s and finally found a hit in 1952 after signing to Coral. Her version of "Takes Two to Tango," backed by Don Redman's Orchestra, hit the Top Ten. That same year, she married drummer Louie Bellson, and he left his position with Duke Ellington to become her musical director. Bailey recorded several albums for Coral during the early '50s, and starred as a fortune teller in the 1954 film Carmen Jones. More starring roles followed, in the W.C. Handy biopic St. Louis Blues as well as the first filmed version of Gershwin's classic operetta Porgy and Bess.
In 1959, a new recording contract (with Roulette) resulted in a change of direction. After her double-entendre LP For Adults Only was banned from radio play, it became a big seller and occasioned a string of similar albums during the early '60s. She continued to perform on Broadway, and won a Tony award in 1970 for her title role in Hello, Dolly!. She led her own television variety show in 1971, but retired from active performance several years later. Pearl Bailey was named to the American delegation to the United Nations in 1976, and awarded the Medal of Freedom in 1988.
© John Bush /TiVo
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Pearl Bailey Sings Songs for Adults Only / More Songs for Adults Only
Jazz - Released by Stage Door on Jul 1, 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Naughty But Nice / Songs of the Bad Old Days
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Stage Door on Jul 13, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Complete Jazz Series 1944 - 1947
Jazz - Released by Complete Jazz Series on Oct 15, 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Jingle Bells Cha Cha Cha
Miscellaneous - Released by Warner Music Group - X5 Music Group on Feb 9, 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sings Songs For Adults/More Songs For Adults Only (2004 Remaster)
Pop - Released by Parlophone UK on Mar 15, 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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All The Best
Classical - Released by Retro Music Box on Apr 16, 2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
New Shoes (Live On The Ed Sullivan Show, February 4, 1962)
Pop - Released by SOFA - AV Catalog DD on Aug 5, 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Pearl Bailey Entertains
Jazz - Released by Blue Pie Records USA on Jan 1, 1950
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Carmen Jones Collection
Dorothy Dandridge, Harry Belafonte, Pearl Bailey
Film Soundtracks - Released by Synergie OMP on Apr 29, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Say "Si - Si"
Vocal Jazz - Released by Vintage Music on Jun 25, 1953
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
St. Louis Blues
Vocal Music (Secular and Sacred) - Released by Stage Door on Jan 1, 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Vintage Vocal Jazz / Swing No. 184 - ep: That's Good Enough For Me
Vocal Jazz - Released by Vintage Music on Sep 10, 1948
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Pearl Bailey
Vocal Jazz - Released by Stage Door on Jun 9, 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Solid Gold Cadillac - From The Archives (Digitally Remastered)
Pearl Bailey, Louis Bellson, Pearl Bailey And Louis Bellson
Jazz - Released by Essential Media Group on Nov 3, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Protect Me
Pop - Released by Carinco Neue Medien AG on Nov 16, 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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St. Louis Blues
Blues - Released by Redwood Records on Apr 11, 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Classy Lady Singers of Jazz, Vol. 2
Jazz - Released by Platinum Collection on Feb 21, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Classy Lady Singers of Jazz, Vol. 5
Jazz - Released by Platinum Collection on Mar 13, 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo