Pha Elmer Terrell (May 25, 1910 in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

- October 14, 1945 in

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) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer. Terrell was working in

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s locally in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

in the early 1930s as a singer, dancer, and emcee when he was discovered by Andy Kirk, who hired him to be the vocalist for his group the Twelve Clouds of Joy. Terrell sang with Kirk for eight years, from 1933 to 1941, and recorded with him extensively for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, singing hits such as 1936's "

Until the Real Thing Comes Along "(It Will Have to Do) Until the Real Thing Comes Along" is a popular song first published in 1936. Background In 1931, Alberta Nichols wrote the music and Mann Holiner wrote the words for a song titled "Till the Real Thing Comes Along" which was ...

" and 1938's "I Won't Tell a Soul (I Love You)". After 1941 Terrell moved to

Indianapolis Indianapolis ( ), colloquially known as Indy, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Indiana, most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana, Marion ...

to play with Clarence Love's territory band, then moved to Los Angeles, where he worked as a soloist. Terrell died of

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

in 1945.

References

*"Pha Terrell". In Kernfeld, Barry. '' The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd edition''. Oxford, 2001. * Chadbourne, Eugene
Pha Terrell biography

Allmusic.com AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the data ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Terrell, Pha 1910 births 1945 deaths American jazz singers Singers from Missouri Deaths from kidney failure in California 20th-century American singers Jazz musicians from Missouri