Faye Adams (born Fanny Tuell, May 22, 1923) is an American singer who recorded and performed rhythm and blues and gospel from the late 1940s until the early 1960s. She had several chart hits in the early 1950s, before retiring from the music business.[1]
Adams was born in Newark, New Jersey. Her father was David Tuell, a gospel singer and a key figure in the Church of God in Christ (COGIC).[1] At the age of five she joined her sisters to sing spirituals, regularly performing on Newark radio shows.
Musical career
Under her married name, Faye Scruggs, she became a regular performer in New Yorknightclubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s. While performing in Atlanta, Georgia, she was discovered by the singer Ruth Brown, who won her an audition with the bandleader Joe Morris of Atlantic Records. Having changed Scruggs's name to Faye Adams, Morris recruited her as a singer in 1952, and signed her to Herald Records. Her first release was Morris's song "Shake a Hand", which topped the US BillboardR&Bchart for ten weeks in 1953 and reached number 22 on the US pop chart.[1] It sold one million copies and was awarded a gold disc.[2]
According to the Acoustic Music organization, the "first clear evidence of soul music shows up with The "5" Royales, an ex-gospel group that turned to R&B and in Faye Adams, whose "Shake A Hand" becomes an R&B standard".[3]
In 1954, Adams had two more R&B chart toppers with "I'll Be True" (later covered by Bill Haley in 1954 and by a young Jackie DeShannon in 1957) and "It Hurts Me to My Heart".[4] During this period, she left the Morris band and was billed as "Atomic Adams". She appeared in the 1955 film Rhythm & Blues Revue. In 1957 she moved to Imperial Records, but her commercial success diminished. By the late 1950s she was seen as an older recording artist whose time had come and gone, although she continued to record for various small labels until the early 1960s. Alan Freed called Adams the "little gal with the big voice" and she toured the Rhythm and Blues Show Tours , which also featured The Drifters, The Counts and The Spaniels.[1]
Later life
By 1963 she had retired from the music industry. She remarried in 1968 and, as Fannie Jones,[5] returned to her gospel roots and family life in New Jersey.[4] In the 1970s, she was credited as co-writer, with her husband Clarence E. Jones, of several gospel and secular songs, and released a single, "Sinner Man", on Savoy Records.[6]
In February 1998, she received an award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation, and at the time was reported to be living in England.[6]
According to music historian and writer Marv Goldberg, it is possible that she may have died on November 2, 2016, but this is unconfirmed.[6]
^Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. pp. 264–265. ISBN978-0313344237.
^ abcdMarv Goldberg, "Faye Adams", 2018. Retrieved March 9, 2021
^ abWhitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995. Record Research. p. 4.
External links
The big voice of Faye Adams at Home.earthlink.net December 25, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
Adams biography at Rockabilly.nl
January 15, 2023
faye, adams, this, biography, living, person, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, adding, reliable, sources, contentious, material, about, living, persons, that, unsourced, poorly, sourced, must, removed, immediately, especially, potentia. This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification Please help by adding reliable sources Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately especially if potentially libelous or harmful Find sources Faye Adams news newspapers books scholar JSTOR May 2010 Learn how and when to remove this template message Faye Adams born Fanny Tuell May 22 1923 is an American singer who recorded and performed rhythm and blues and gospel from the late 1940s until the early 1960s She had several chart hits in the early 1950s before retiring from the music business 1 Faye AdamsBirth nameFanny TuellAlso known asFaye Scruggs Atomic Adams Fannie JonesBorn 1923 05 22 May 22 1923Newark New Jersey U S OriginNew York City U S GenresGospel rhythm and bluesOccupation s SingerYears activelate 1940s early 1960sLabelsAtlantic Herald Imperial Contents 1 Biography 1 1 Early years 1 2 Musical career 1 3 Later life 2 Discography 2 1 Singles 3 Award 4 References 5 External linksBiography EditEarly years Edit Adams was born in Newark New Jersey Her father was David Tuell a gospel singer and a key figure in the Church of God in Christ COGIC 1 At the age of five she joined her sisters to sing spirituals regularly performing on Newark radio shows Musical career Edit Under her married name Faye Scruggs she became a regular performer in New York nightclubs in the late 1940s and early 1950s While performing in Atlanta Georgia she was discovered by the singer Ruth Brown who won her an audition with the bandleader Joe Morris of Atlantic Records Having changed Scruggs s name to Faye Adams Morris recruited her as a singer in 1952 and signed her to Herald Records Her first release was Morris s song Shake a Hand which topped the US Billboard R amp B chart for ten weeks in 1953 and reached number 22 on the US pop chart 1 It sold one million copies and was awarded a gold disc 2 According to the Acoustic Music organization the first clear evidence of soul music shows up with The 5 Royales an ex gospel group that turned to R amp B and in Faye Adams whose Shake A Hand becomes an R amp B standard 3 In 1954 Adams had two more R amp B chart toppers with I ll Be True later covered by Bill Haley in 1954 and by a young Jackie DeShannon in 1957 and It Hurts Me to My Heart 4 During this period she left the Morris band and was billed as Atomic Adams She appeared in the 1955 film Rhythm amp Blues Revue In 1957 she moved to Imperial Records but her commercial success diminished By the late 1950s she was seen as an older recording artist whose time had come and gone although she continued to record for various small labels until the early 1960s Alan Freed called Adams the little gal with the big voice and she toured the Rhythm and Blues Show Tours which also featured The Drifters The Counts and The Spaniels 1 Later life Edit By 1963 she had retired from the music industry She remarried in 1968 and as Fannie Jones 5 returned to her gospel roots and family life in New Jersey 4 In the 1970s she was credited as co writer with her husband Clarence E Jones of several gospel and secular songs and released a single Sinner Man on Savoy Records 6 In February 1998 she received an award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation and at the time was reported to be living in England 6 According to music historian and writer Marv Goldberg it is possible that she may have died on November 2 2016 but this is unconfirmed 6 Discography EditSingles Edit Year Label A side B side Chart PositionsUS Pop 7 USR amp B 7 1953 Atlantic 1007 Sweet Talk Watch Out I Told You Herald 416 Shake a Hand I ve Gotta Leave You 22 1Herald 419 I ll Be True Happiness to My Soul 11954 Herald 423 Every Day Say a Prayer Herald 429 Somebody Somewhere Someday Crazy Mixed Up World Herald 434 It Hurts Me to My Heart Ain t Gonna Tell 1Herald 439 Ain t Nothin to Play With I Owe My Heart to You 1955 Herald 444 Anything for a Friend Your Love Has My Heart Burning Herald 450 You Ain t Been True My Greatest Desire Herald 462 No Way Out Same Old Me 1956 Herald 470 Teen Age Heart Witness to the Crime Herald 480 Takin You Back Don t Forget to Smile Herald 489 Anytime Any Place Anywhere The Hammer Keeps Knockin 1957 Imperial 5443 Keeper of My Heart So Much 13Imperial 5456 Johnny Lee You re Crazy Imperial 5471 I Have a Twinkle in My Eye Someone Like You 1958 Imperial 5525 When We Kiss Everything Herald 512 Shake a Hand I ll Be True Award Edityear Association Award Results1998 Rhythm and Blues Foundation Pioneer Award Won 6 References Edit a b c d Ankeny Jason Biography Faye Adams Allmusic Retrieved May 25 2010 Murrells Joseph 1978 The Book of Golden Discs 2nd ed London Barrie and Jenkins p 63 ISBN 0 214 20512 6 Timeline of Musical Styles amp Guitar History Acoustic Music Retrieved March 4 2021 a b Colin Larkin ed 1995 The Guinness Who s Who of Blues Second ed Guinness Publishing p 11 ISBN 0 85112 673 1 Eagle Bob LeBlanc Eric S 2013 Blues A Regional Experience Santa Barbara California Praeger pp 264 265 ISBN 978 0313344237 a b c d Marv Goldberg Faye Adams 2018 Retrieved March 9 2021 a b Whitburn Joel 1996 Top R amp B Hip Hop Singles 1942 1995 Record Research p 4 External links EditThe big voice of Faye Adams at Home earthlink net Archived December 25 2005 at the Wayback Machine Adams biography at Rockabilly nl Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Faye Adams amp oldid 1122835278, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
