ABSTRACT
American soprano, born in Boston. She made her opera debut in London in 1895, and sang at Carnegie Hall in 1896, acclaimed for her remarkable range, from G below middle C to the highest F on the piano. Yaw sang Lucia in Rome in 1907 and at the Metropolitan Opera in the 1907-1908 season. Her first records were made in 1900 for the Gramophone Co.: the Queen of the Night aria (#3095) and seven others. She recorded four published sides for Victor (1907) and made one Edison Diamond Disc, “Annie Laurie” (#82049; 1913). Yaw also worked for Keen-O-Phone, whose 1914 catalog included her Mignon Polonaise (#50001), “Annie Laurie” (#50003) and a song of her own, “Skylark” (#50002). The “Annie Laurie” also appeared as Rex #1054, and on the Rishell label. In the Victor 1917 catalog, Yaw was represented on Red Seal by two of the 1907 recordings: the Bell Song from Lakme (#74090) and the “Nightingale’s Song” from Noces de Jeannette (#74092). She was not in the 1927 catalog. She made some private recordings in 1937 for HMV and in 1941 for Co-Art. IRCC #3082 has “Skylark” and the Mignon aria from the Keen-O-Phone material. Yaw died in West Covina, California. [Altamirano 1955.]
SEE PERLS, NICK
The daughter of a small-town banker father and schoolteacher mother, Yearwood was born in Monticello, Georgia. She came to Nashville in 1984 to pursue a music/business degree at Belmont College. She interned at the publicity department at MTM Records, and began doing demo and studio work, where she met another young unknown, Garth Brooks. She was signed to a solo deal in 1991, producing the megahit “She’s in Love with the Boy,” an uptempo ballad. Pop music agent Ken Kragen, who had overseen Kenny Roger’s career, took Yearwood under his professional wing in 1992. Kragen signed her up to a high-visibility contract with Revlon to promote her own perfume, and oversaw the making of her second album. Surprisingly, although the album was well received critically, Yearwood did not achieve the same chart success she had originally, and was in danger of becoming a one-hit wonder. However, despite this slight career detour, Yearwood proved her staying power as a country hitmaker through the 1990s.
