ABSTRACT
American blues singer, born in Memphis, Tennessee. She began her career at age 11 in Chicago nightclubs; at one of these, the Dreamland Cafe, she sang with the house orchestra (which included Fletcher Henderson) and made her first records: “He’s a Darned Good Man” (Black Swan 2019; 1921), and “How Long, Sweet Daddy, How Long” (Black Swan 2008; 1921), the second being listed with Henderson’s Novelty Orchestra, “probably the same group” (Rust). Hunter made a group of blues records for Paramount in 1922, with a pickup group, and sang with Eubie Blake accompanying on three Paramount discs. She became famous in the 1920s, singing and recording with many groups in New York, Chicago, and London. Her labels included Gennett in 1924, Okeh in 1925-1926, Victor in 1927, and Columbia in 1929. In 1939 she worked for Decca, and in 1940 for Bluebird. She wrote the song “Down-hearted Blues,” a bestselling record of Bessie Smith (1923), and recorded it herself for Decca in 1939 (#7727).
