(Hattie L. Hapgood)
DISCOGRAPHY 1945-2024 (24CD)
BIOGRAPHY
Hadda Brooks (born Hattie L. Hapgood October 29, 1916 – November 21,
2002) was an American pianist, vocalist and composer, who occasionally
appeared playing the piano in film. Billed as "Queen of the Boogie", she
was Inducted in the Rhythm and Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1993.
Brooks became a singer during the mid-1940s. Jules Bihari of Modern
Records gave her the recording name "Hadda Brooks".
In the 1970s, she commuted to Europe for performances in nightclubs and
festivals. She performed rarely in the United States, and moved to
Australia. Queen of the Boogie, a compilation of recordings from the
1940s, was released in 1984. Two years later her manager Alan Eichler
brought her out of a 16-year retirement before she went on tour. She sang
at Hawaii's statehood ceremony in 1959, and was once invited to a private
audience with Pope Pius XII.
She resumed her recording career with the 1994 album Anytime, Anyplace,
Anywhere for DRG. Virgin Records acquired the old Modern catalogue and,
thanks to Brooks' new-found success, issued a compilation of her 1940s
and 1950s recordings entitled That's My Desire.
The label signed her to record three songs for the Christmas album Even
Santa Gets the Blues, made more unusual by the fact she had releases on
the same label 50 years apart. Time Was When (Virgin, 1996) included Al
Viola (guitar), Eugene Wright (bass) and Richard Dodd (cello), and she
wrote two of its songs: "You Go Your Way and I'll Go Crazy" and "Mama's
Blues". Concerts were held at Michael's Pub in New York City, and the
Vine St. Bar and Grill.
In 2007, a 72-mn documentary on Brooks's life, Queen of the Boogie,
directed by A.Young & B.Pett, was presented at the Los Angeles
Silver Lake Film Festival....(Wikipedia)