Edna McGriff (December 16, 1935 – March 25, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues singer and pianist. She recorded mainly in the 1950s, and secured one
hit single
A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...
on the US ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''
R&B chart
A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...
with "Heavenly Father" in 1952.
The record sold over 500,000 copies.
Life and career
Edna McGriff was born in
Tampa
Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...
,
Hillsborough County, Florida
Hillsborough County is located in the west-central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. In the 2020 census, the population was 1,459,762, making it the fourth-most populous county in Florida and the most populous county outside the Miami metro ...
, United States. She was educated at
Washington Irving High School in New York.
She released her first single, "Note Droppin' Papa" / "Come Back", on
Jubilee Records
Jubilee Records was an American independent record label, specializing in rhythm and blues and novelty records. It was founded in New York City in 1946 by Herb Abramson. His partner was Jerry Blaine. Blaine bought Abramson's half of the company ...
in September 1951 with
Bennie Green
Bennie Green (April 16, 1923 – March 23, 1977) was an American jazz trombonist.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Green worked in the orchestras of Earl Hines and Charlie Ventura, and recorded as bandleader through the 1950s and ...
's band. Her second
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, re ...
took place late that same year, when she sang with Buddy Lucas and His Band of Tomorrow on "Heavenly Father" / "I Love You". She was aged 16 at the time. The single was released in early 1952, and sales started to soar. The track entered the US R&B chart in April 1952, peaking at No. 4 in a 13-week stay.
Various
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of "Heavenly Father" appeared, recorded by
Fran Warren
Frances Wolff (March 4, 1926 – March 4, 2013), known professionally as Fran Warren, was an American singer.The Four Lads
The Four Lads were a Irish male singing quartet that earned many gold singles and albums in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Their million-selling signature tunes include " Moments to Remember"; " Standing on the Corner"; " No, Not Much"; " Who Ne ...
, and also
Evelyn Knight
Evelyn Dawn Knight (born 5 November 1942) is an English woman known for her involvement in the Abscam sting operation of the 1970s, with her then-husband Mel Weinberg. A character inspired by her was portrayed on film by Amy Adams in '' America ...
.
McGriff appeared on stage at the Earle Theater in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
. Various shows followed, where she was placed on the bill with
Alan Freed
Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
. Separately in June 1952, McGriff recorded six
duets
A duet is a musical composition or piece for two performers.
Duets or The Duets may also refer to:
Films and television
* ''Duets'' (film), a 2000 film, starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Giamatti and Huey Lewis
* "Duets" (''Glee''), a 2010 episod ...
with
Sonny Til
Earlington Carl Tilghman, known as Sonny Til (August 18, 1928 – December 9, 1981),
- accessed May 2010 was an American singer. He ...
of
The Orioles
The Orioles were an American R&B group in the late 1940s and early 1950s. One of the first vocal groups in R&B, they were early pioneers of the doo-wop sound.
Dubbing themselves after Maryland's state bird, the Orioles started the trend of b ...
, including "
I Only Have Eyes for You
"I Only Have Eyes for You" is a song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin. The song was written for the 1934 film ''Dames (film), Dames'', in which it was performed by Dick Powell. Several other successful recordings of the song were m ...
", "
Once in a While", "Picadilly" and "Good".
Her next solo release was "Pray For A Better World" / "In A Chapel by the Side of The Road", followed by "Edna's Blues" / "Why Oh Why" (1953). Several other releases flopped and she moved to
Josie Records
Josie Records was a subsidiary of Jubilee Records in New York City that was active from 1954 to 1971.
The label's best selling bands were The Cadillacs (" Speedoo"), Bobby Freeman and the Meters.
Other hits for Josie Records included the ...
, who issued "
I'll Be Around" / "Ooh, Little Daddy" (1954), and then onto Favorite Records, but without any further chart activity.
Bell Records
Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...
took up her contract, and issued "
The Fool" / "
Born to Be with You" (1956), and these were followed by many other cover versions, including
Laurie London
Laurie London (born 19 January 1944) is an English singer, who achieved fame as a boy singer of the 1950s, for both his gospel and novelty songs recording in both English and German. He is best known for his hit single of the spiritual song " He' ...
's "
He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and
Huey "Piano" Smith
Huey Pierce "Piano" Smith (January 26, 1934 – February 13, 2023) was an American R&B pianist and session musician whose sound was influential in the development of rock and roll.
His piano playing incorporated the boogie-woogie styles of P ...
's "Don't You Just Know It", however she had stopped recording with Bell by the time she was 22 years old. In 1958, she recorded a one-off single for Felsted, followed by another one-off for Savoy, this time duetting with longtime friend Buddy Lucas on "No Change" / "Ah-Ah-Ah". Thereafter her career gradually wound down, with a small sprinkle of recordings spread over two record companies – Willow Records in 1961 (a remake of "Heavenly Father"), and Capitol during 1964–1965.
The Connecticut Marriage Index 1959–2001, reveals that at age 23 she married Leroy Minors in
Stamford,
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a County (United States), county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is the List of counties in Connecticut, most populous county in the state and was also its fastest-growing from 2010 to 2020. ...
, on March 7, 1959. The Social Security Death Index records that Edna Minors (née McGriff) died in
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
, New York, on March 25, 1980, aged 44 years. An obituary was printed in the ''
New York Amsterdam News
The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by s ...
'', and it is thought that her death was due to
lymphoma
Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). The name typically refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlarged lymph node ...
.
In August 2012, a
compilation album
A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...
of her recordings was issued by
Bear Family Records
Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging primarily in country music but varying in everything from 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks.
History
T ...
.
Discography
Compilation album
See also
*
List of R&B musicians
References
External links
Discogs.com discography*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mcgriff, Edna
1935 births
1980 deaths
American rhythm and blues singers
African-American pianists
Singers from New York (state)
Musicians from Manhattan
People from Harlem
Musicians from Tampa, Florida
Date of death missing
20th-century American women pianists
20th-century American pianists
20th-century African-American women singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American singers