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.

Career

Brooks became a singer during the mid-1940s. Jules Bihari of

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Hadda Brooks, Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turn ...

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 Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

. She resumed her recording career with the 1994 album ''Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere'' for DRG.

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

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 Alfred Viola (June 16, 1919 – February 21, 2007) was an American jazz guitarist who worked with Frank Sinatra for 25 years. He played the mandolin on the soundtrack of the film ''The Godfather''. Biography Viola grew up in an Italian famil ...

(guitar),

Eugene Wright Eugene Joseph Wright (May 29, 1923 – December 30, 2020) was an American jazz bassist who was a member of the Dave Brubeck Quartet. Career Wright was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was a cornetist at high school and led the 16-piece band D ...

(bass) and

Richard Dodd Richard Dodd (born April 25, 1965) is an English cellist, recording artist and musician. He has appeared on numerous records beginning from The Three O'Clock's Album Sixteen Tambourines, and spanning different musical genres in Pop, with acts ...

(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-minute documentary on Brooks's life, ''Queen of the Boogie'', directed by

Austin Young Austin Young (born April 12, 1966) is an American photographer, film maker and new media artist based in Los Angeles, known for both celebrity portraits and documentation of sub and trans culture. Young is co-founder of Fallen Fruit, an art c ...

and Barry Pett, was presented at the Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival.

Personal

In 1940, Brooks married Earl "Shug" Morrison, of the

Harlem Globetrotters The Harlem Globetrotters is an American Exhibition game, exhibition basketball team. They combine athleticism, theater, entertainment, and comedy in their style of play. Over the years, they have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 124 ...

, but was widowed within a year and never re-married. Brooks died at the age of 86 at

White Memorial Medical Center Adventist Health is a Seventh-day Adventist nonprofit organization headquartered in Roseville, California, that operates facilities in 3 states across the Western United States. History In the 1960s, the General Conference transferred owner ...

in Los Angeles after open-heart surgery.

Discography

Filmography

References

External links

Interview of Hadda Brooks
Center for Oral History Research, UCLA Library Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Hadda 1916 births 2002 deaths 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women singers 20th-century African-American women singers African-American pianists American blues pianists Boogie-woogie pianists Ace Records (United States) artists Arwin Records artists Kent Records artists Modern Records artists Okeh Records artists Oldie Blues artists Musicians from Los Angeles Musicians from Greater Los Angeles American women jazz pianists 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century African-American women