Ketty Lester
Encyclopedia
Ketty Lester is an American
singer and actress, who is best known for her 1962 hit single
, "Love Letters
", which reached the Top 5 of the charts
in both the United States
and the United Kingdom
.
, Arkansas
, one of a family of 15 children, and first sang in her church and school choirs. She won a scholarship to study music
at San Francisco State College, and in the early 1950s began performing under the name Ketty Lester in the city's Purple Onion club. She later appeared as a contestant on the game show
You Bet Your Life
, and toured Europe
as a singer with Cab Calloway
's orchestra.
Returning to California
, she recorded her first single, "Queen For A Day", for the Everest
label. She was introduced by the singer and comedienne Dorothy Shay
to record producers and songwriters Ed Cobb
and Lincoln Mayorga
, of The Four Preps
and The Piltdown Men
, who won her a contract with Era Records
in Los Angeles
. In 1961 they released her single, "I'm a Fool to Want You" b/w "Love Letters". Radio listeners and disc jockeys preferred the B-side, a reworking of a 1945 hit by Dick Haymes
, and Lester's recording of "Love Letters", which featured Lincoln Mayorga's sparse piano arrangement and Earl Palmer
on drums, rose to # 5 in the Billboard
Hot 100 early in 1962. The record also reached # 2 on the R&B chart
, and # 4 in the UK Singles Chart
, selling over one million copies in all, and in 1991 was ranked 176th in the R.I.A.A.
compiled list of Songs of the Century
. In 1962 she toured the UK as support act on the Everly Brothers tour.
The follow-up, a version of George
and Ira Gershwin
's "But Not for Me
" from the musical
Girl Crazy
, reached # 41 in the US pop charts and # 45 in the UK. She released an album, Love Letters, which contained the tracks "You Can't Lie to a Liar" and a cover of Woody Guthrie
's "This Land Is Your Land
" - both of which were issued as singles which scraped into the bottom of the Hot 100 - and was nominated for a Grammy
in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
category. Lester continued to record for Era with little success until 1964, when she signed for RCA
. She released several unsuccessful singles for that label, and two albums, The Soul of Me and Where Is Love?, in a more R&B-oriented style which has been compared to Dinah Washington
and Nancy Wilson. Some of her earlier recordings also featured on one side of an album shared with previously-released tracks by Betty Everett
. Also in 1964, she won a Theatre World Award
for her performance in the off-Broadway
show Cabin in the Sky. She then moved to the Tower
label, issuing a single and album, When A Woman Loves A Man, an answer record to Percy Sledge
's "When a Man Loves a Woman
". However, these releases, and later records for the Pete label including a 1968 album, Ketty Lester, met with little commercial success.
She then gave up singing commercially, and turned to acting. She was reportedly offered the role eventually taken by Diahann Carroll in the 1968 TV series Julia
, and appeared in a variety of movies including Up Tight!
(1968), Blacula
(1972), and Uptown Saturday Night
(1974). She established herself as a television actress in the 1970s and 1980s, playing the roles of 'Helen Grant' in the soap opera
, Days of our Lives
from 1975 to 1977, and 'Hester-Sue Terhune' on the NBC
television series Little House on the Prairie
from 1978 to 1983, as well as making short appearances in many other series. She recorded a Christian
album, I Saw Him, in 1984, and, in 1994, played the role of Aunt Lucy in the film
,
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and actress, who is best known for her 1962 hit single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, "Love Letters
Love Letters (song)
"Love Letters" is a 1945 popular song with music by Victor Young and lyrics by Edward Heyman. The song appeared, without lyrics, in the movie of the same name, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for 1945....
", which reached the Top 5 of the charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in both the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Life and career
The daughter of a farmer, she was born in HopeHope, Arkansas
Hope is a small city in Hempstead County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2008 United States Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 10,378...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
, one of a family of 15 children, and first sang in her church and school choirs. She won a scholarship to study music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
at San Francisco State College, and in the early 1950s began performing under the name Ketty Lester in the city's Purple Onion club. She later appeared as a contestant on the game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life
You Bet Your Life is an American quiz show that aired on both radio and television. The original and best-known version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio in October 1947, then moved to CBS Radio in September...
, and toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
as a singer with Cab Calloway
Cab Calloway
Cabell "Cab" Calloway III was an American jazz singer and bandleader. He was strongly associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, New York City where he was a regular performer....
's orchestra.
Returning to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, she recorded her first single, "Queen For A Day", for the Everest
Everest Records
Everest Records was a stereophonic record label based in Bayside, Long Island started by Harry D. Belock and Bert Whyte in May 1958. It was devoted mainly to classical music.-History:...
label. She was introduced by the singer and comedienne Dorothy Shay
Dorothy Shay
Dorothy Shay was an American popular comedic recording artist in the late 1940s and early 1950s, who later became a character actress. She was known as the "Park Avenue Hillbillie."-Early life:...
to record producers and songwriters Ed Cobb
Ed Cobb
Ed Cobb was a musician, songwriter and record producer, most notably during the 1950s and 1960s.-Career:...
and Lincoln Mayorga
Lincoln Mayorga
Lincoln Mayorga is an American pianist, arranger, conductor and composer who has worked in rock and roll, pop, jazz and classical music.-Pop music in the 1950s and 60s:...
, of The Four Preps
The Four Preps
The Four Preps are an American popular music male quartet. In the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the group amassed eight gold singles and three gold albums...
and The Piltdown Men
The Piltdown Men
The Piltdown Men were a rock and roll instrumental studio group from Hollywood, California, featuring two lead saxophones.They were the brainchild of Ed Cobb and pianist Lincoln Mayorga of the Four Preps, and their records were issued on the Capitol label. Their name was inspired by the Piltdown...
, who won her a contract with Era Records
Era Records
Era Records was an independent American record label located in Hollywood, California. It was founded by Herb Newman and Lou Bedell in 1955 as a pop, country and western and jazz label. Era had a #1 hit in 1956 with Gogi Grant's "The Wayward Wind", written by Newman. In 1959 Bedell sold his...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1961 they released her single, "I'm a Fool to Want You" b/w "Love Letters". Radio listeners and disc jockeys preferred the B-side, a reworking of a 1945 hit by Dick Haymes
Dick Haymes
Richard Benjamin "Dick" Haymes was an Argentine actor and one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, who was an actor, television host, and songwriter....
, and Lester's recording of "Love Letters", which featured Lincoln Mayorga's sparse piano arrangement and Earl Palmer
Earl Palmer
Earl Cyril Palmer was an American rock & roll and rhythm and blues drummer, and member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame....
on drums, rose to # 5 in the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Hot 100 early in 1962. The record also reached # 2 on the R&B chart
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
, and # 4 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, selling over one million copies in all, and in 1991 was ranked 176th in the R.I.A.A.
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
compiled list of Songs of the Century
Songs of the Century
The "Songs of the Century" list is part of an education project by the Recording Industry Association of America , the National Endowment for the Arts, and Scholastic Inc. that aims to "promote a better understanding of America’s musical and cultural heritage" in American schools...
. In 1962 she toured the UK as support act on the Everly Brothers tour.
The follow-up, a version of George
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
and Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
's "But Not for Me
But Not for Me (song)
"But Not for Me" is a popular song, composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.It was written for their musical Girl Crazy and introduced in the original production by Ginger Rogers. It is also in the 1992 musical based on Girl Crazy, Crazy for You...
" from the musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Girl Crazy
Girl Crazy
Girl Crazy is a 1930 musical with music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and book by Guy Bolton and John McGowan. Ethel Merman made her stage debut in this musical production....
, reached # 41 in the US pop charts and # 45 in the UK. She released an album, Love Letters, which contained the tracks "You Can't Lie to a Liar" and a cover of Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie
Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie is best known as an American singer-songwriter and folk musician, whose musical legacy includes hundreds of political, traditional and children's songs, ballads and improvised works. He frequently performed with the slogan This Machine Kills Fascists displayed on his...
's "This Land Is Your Land
This Land Is Your Land
"This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on...
" - both of which were issued as singles which scraped into the bottom of the Hot 100 - and was nominated for a Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance is the latest in a series of awards recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. The award goes to the artist...
category. Lester continued to record for Era with little success until 1964, when she signed for RCA
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
. She released several unsuccessful singles for that label, and two albums, The Soul of Me and Where Is Love?, in a more R&B-oriented style which has been compared to Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington
Dinah Washington, born Ruth Lee Jones , was an American blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues"...
and Nancy Wilson. Some of her earlier recordings also featured on one side of an album shared with previously-released tracks by Betty Everett
Betty Everett
Betty Everett was an African-American soul singer and pianist, best known for her biggest hit single, the million-selling "The Shoop Shoop Song ".-Early career:...
. Also in 1964, she won a Theatre World Award
Theatre World Award
The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:...
for her performance in the off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
show Cabin in the Sky. She then moved to the Tower
Tower Records
Tower Records was a retail music chain that was based in Sacramento, California. It currently exists as an international franchise and an online music store....
label, issuing a single and album, When A Woman Loves A Man, an answer record to Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
's "When a Man Loves a Woman
When a Man Loves a Woman (song)
"When a Man Loves a Woman" is a song recorded by Percy Sledge in 1966 at Norala Sound Studio in Sheffield, Alabama. It made number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and R&B singles charts. It was listed 54th in the List of Rolling Stone magazine's 500 greatest songs of all time...
". However, these releases, and later records for the Pete label including a 1968 album, Ketty Lester, met with little commercial success.
She then gave up singing commercially, and turned to acting. She was reportedly offered the role eventually taken by Diahann Carroll in the 1968 TV series Julia
Julia (TV series)
Julia is an American sitcom notable for being one of the first weekly series to depict an African American woman in a non-stereotypical role. Previous television series featured African American lead characters, but the characters were usually servants. The show starred actress and singer Diahann...
, and appeared in a variety of movies including Up Tight!
Up Tight!
Up Tight! is a 1968 American drama film directed by Jules Dassin. It was intended as an updated version of John Ford's 1935 film, The Informer, but the setting was transposed from Dublin, Ireland to Cleveland, Ohio, USA. The soundtrack was performed by Booker T...
(1968), Blacula
Blacula
Blacula is a 1972 American horror film produced for American International Pictures. It was directed by William Crain and stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is both turned into a vampire and locked inside a coffin by Count Dracula...
(1972), and Uptown Saturday Night
Uptown Saturday Night
Uptown Saturday Night is a 1974 comedy film written by Richard Wesley, and directed by Sidney Poitier. Poitier also stars in this film, along with Bill Cosby and Harry Belafonte. Cosby and Poitier teamed up again for Let's Do It Again and A Piece of the Action...
(1974). She established herself as a television actress in the 1970s and 1980s, playing the roles of 'Helen Grant' in the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
, Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
from 1975 to 1977, and 'Hester-Sue Terhune' on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series Little House on the Prairie
Little House on the Prairie (TV series)
Little House on the Prairie is an American Western drama television series, starring Michael Landon and Melissa Gilbert, about a family living on a farm in Walnut Grove, Minnesota, in the 1870s and 1880s. The show was an adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder's best-selling series of Little House books...
from 1978 to 1983, as well as making short appearances in many other series. She recorded a Christian
Christian music
Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence, and lament, and its forms vary widely across the world....
album, I Saw Him, in 1984, and, in 1994, played the role of Aunt Lucy in the film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
,
Singles
| Year | Title | U.S. R&B Singles Chart Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | "Queen For A Day" | |
|
|
| 1962 | "Love Letters Love Letters (song) "Love Letters" is a 1945 popular song with music by Victor Young and lyrics by Edward Heyman. The song appeared, without lyrics, in the movie of the same name, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song for 1945.... " / "I'm A Fool To Want You" |
|
|
|
| 1962 | "But Not for Me But Not for Me (song) "But Not for Me" is a popular song, composed by George Gershwin, with lyrics by Ira Gershwin.It was written for their musical Girl Crazy and introduced in the original production by Ginger Rogers. It is also in the 1992 musical based on Girl Crazy, Crazy for You... " |
|
|
|
| 1962 | "You Can't Lie To A Liar" | |
|
|
| 1962 | "This Land Is Your Land This Land Is Your Land "This Land Is Your Land" is one of the United States' most famous folk songs. Its lyrics were written by Woody Guthrie in 1940 based on an existing melody, in response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America", which Guthrie considered unrealistic and complacent. Tired of hearing Kate Smith sing it on... " |
|
|
|
| 1963 | "Fallen Angel" | |
|
|
| 1964 | "Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid" | |
|
|
| 1964 | "Please Don't Cry Anymore" | |
|
|
| 1964 | "I Trust You Baby" | |
|
|
| 1964 | "You Go Your Way (And I'll Go Crazy)" | |
|
|
| 1965 | "(Looking For A) Better World" | |
|
|
| 1965 | "I'll Be Looking Back" | |
|
|
| 1966 | "Secret Love" | |
|
|
| 1966 | "When A Woman Loves A Man" | |
|
|
| 1968 | "I Will Lead You" | |
|
|
| 1968 | "Measure Of A Man" | |
|
|
| 1969 | "Show Me" | |
|
|
| 1984 | "One Day At A Time" | |
|
|
| 1984 | "Have You Heard?" | |
|
|
Albums
- Love Letters - 1962
- Betty Everett & Ketty Lester - 1964 (one side each)
- The Soul Of Me - 1964
- Where Is Love? - 1965
- When A Woman Loves A Man - 1966
- Ketty Lester - 1969
- Ketty Lester In Concert - 1977
- A Collection Of Her Best - 1982