Fontella bass twice-screwed one-shot wonder

[jobeterob]

Saturday, December 29, 2012

FONTELLA BASS TWICE-SCREWED ONE-SHOT WONDER

It's a good thing Fontella Bass was a fan of gospel music. Her faith helped her endure some bad breaks [[courtesy of her record label and a pair of TV commercials that misused her music). She also had a strong connection to her family, which is why, after so many singles and albums failing to garner her much attention, she still had plenty of fulfillment in life via touring in Europe, local gigs in St. Louis, and in being a mom to her four children.
She died, age 72, the day after Christmas, having been in ill health for the past six years due to a series of strokes. A heart attack on December 2nd left her in critical condition and it was only a matter of time after that. Ironically, her beginning in show business was in singing at a local funeral home. She was only five when she was in demand for singing religious and spiritual songs. Her mother Martha Bass Peaston was a gospel singer. Martha, who died in 1998, was also the mother of David Peaston, who was a St. Louis teacher before finally scoring a hit with a 1989 solo album that featured "Can I?" and "Two Wrongs Don't Make it Right." He, Martha and Fontella Bass recorded an album together called 'Promises: A Family Portrait of Faith." He needed it: after being diagnosed with diabetes, he ended up a double amputee, and died in February of 2012 at the young age of 54.

Fontella graduated from high school in 1958, married her high school sweetheart, and got her big break as a piano player in a blues band featuring Little Milton and Oliver Sain. As Fontella put it, "one night Milton got a little too full of scotch to sing, and Oliver asked me. And I just never stopped." Her one-shot wonder hit, "Rescue Me," was recorded on January 4, 1965. Legend has it that she got so carried away during the session that she ignored some of the lyrics, adding more traditional gospel shouts. Originally released for the R&B market, Bass's song was a crossover sensation, hitting the Top 10 and becoming the first million seller for Chess Records since Chuck Berry a decade earlier.

Unfortunately, Fontella's name was not on the credits for songwriting. It was common in those days for record labels and artist managers to play those kinds of games, with fine print on the contracts, careless [[deliberate) mistakes in bookkeeping and royalties, and even a quick shuffle on writing credits with perhaps a cash buy-out. A classic example a few years after "Rescue Me" was Matthew Fisher getting no co-write credit on "A Whiter Shade of Pale," an omission that was shrugged off by some insisting that there would be many more #1 hits and he'd get due credit the next time. In Bass's case, she naturally felt race had something to do with it: "The recording companies had been taking advantage of black musicians for a long time, and I decided to take a stand against it, but I was standing alone. I was a black female, so I automatically had two strikes against me in that white world.”

She was furious at the paltry royalty check that Chess Records finally handed her, and within two years, she was off the label and, she felt, blacklisted [[maybe that's white-listed) by similar record labels. She claimed that others resisted signing her because of rumors that she was "too difficult." But it's also possible that she was, even with the fantastic performance on "Rescue Me," considered just another gospel R&B singer of which there were many. And many of the best [[Ettta James was also on Chess) weren't exactly in competition with Martha Reeves or Diana Ross for Top 10 singles. Chess, incidentally, may have specialized in black artists, but it was run by Leonard Chess, born in Poland, real name: Lejzor Czyz.

Bass not only failed to establish herself against all the competition in the R&B world, she lost out in singing a revised version of her hit, "Deliver Me," for the Pizza Hut chain. Aretha Franklin got that gig. “I feel screwed,” she complained to a local reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I’m sorry, but there’s no other word to use. I feel screwed all over again.” But there was a limit to how much screwing she'd allow, and when "Rescue Me" was also used in an American Express commercial, she took legal action and won a settlement. It was probably for more money than she made on any of her various gospel albums released over the years. Her last was "Travellin'" in 2001, though she still traveled for live shows, either ones involving singing her greatest hit, gospel concerts, or programs featuring herself and her brother David.

Most mainstream music fans only know Bass for "Rescue Me," and frankly, it's because the song was even better than she was. Same applies to "Band of Gold" from Freda Payne. Be honest. Either woman could've had a hit with either song. That's why so many very talented artists end up "one shot wonders." They couldn't find another smash hit song to showcase themselves, and their voices, faces and figures weren't quite enough. But for those who want to catch up with the hardcore soul fans, the white gays who love black R&B women [[the ones who'd refer to Bass, Payne or Diana Ross as "divas") , down below is not just "Rescue Me," but also appropriate titles "I Can't Rest" and "Leave It In the Hands of Love," fond tributes to Fontella.

Three Songs from FONTELLA BASS

[R. Mark Desjardins]

jobeterob
Many thanks for your sleuthing regarding the background of Fontella Bass. Totally sad on how she was shortchanged, but as you sadly outline, this was a common occurrence for women in a business dominated by men. As Mae West stated in cases such as this, "That's story so old, it shoulda been set to music a long time ago!" May the soul of Fontella Bass finally rest at peace.

[stephanie]

I hate to read stories like these after all of the work that is put into the career of an artist. I am so glad that her passing got a lot of national attention and many many comments on youtube. I was amazed at the number of people who knew her fame and singing outside of Rescue Me so I felt a little better. RIP Fontella.

[reese]

The Today Show gave a nice mention of her passing a few days ago.

[marv2]

The Today Show gave a nice mention of her passing a few days ago.

CTV out of Canada also gave a nice video tribute to her last night.

[pghmusiclover]

This is a wonderful later video and song from the amazing Fontella Bass:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv2R...layer_embedded

[Kamasu_Jr]

I noticed during the past few days that some people were buying more of Fontella's discs than before. Some of her albums are sold out on some sites. There was fierce competition on Ebay for a Fontella Bass CD that is not a rarity. She won't see a dime but would probably be pleased that she's remembered. Too bad an artist has to die to sell a few records.

Fontella Bass wasn't the only one who felt got screwed by Chess Records. Jackie Ross felt Chess neglected her career after it had a hit with Fontella's Rescue Me. Jackie says Chess turned all of its attention to Fontella and forgot about her.

[marv2]

I noticed during the past few days that some people were buying more of Fontella's discs. Some of her albums are sold out on some sites. There was fierce competition on Ebay for a Fontella Bass CD that is not a rarity. She won't see a dime but would probably be pleased that she's remembered. Too bad an artist has to die to sell some records.

Fontella Bass wasn't the only one who felt got screwed by Chess Records. Jackie Ross felt Chess neglected her career after it had a hit with Fontella's Rescue Me. Jackie says Chess turned all of its attention to Fontella and forgot about her.

Come to think of it, I don't ever recall seeing Jackie Ross on television in those days.

[motony]

Well, its not like Chess got behind Fontella Bass in a big way, the follow up "Recovery" made it to #36 but I don't think she had a Top 40 hit after that. I remember Fontella being on a few TV shows but I don't know if Chess Records had anything to do with ther career other then recording. I NEVER saw Jackie Ross on TV and "Selfish One" was HUGE, in fact I don't remember even seeing a photo of Jackie Ross until a long time after Selfish One had been a hit.

[Kamasu_Jr]

Well, its not like Chess got behind Fontella Bass in a big way, the follow up "Recovery" made it to #36 but I don't think she had a Top 40 hit after that. I remember Fontella being on a few TV shows but I don't know if Chess Records had anything to do with ther career other then recording. I NEVER saw Jackie Ross on TV and "Selfish One" was HUGE, in fact I don't remember even seeing a photo of Jackie Ross until a long time after Selfish One had been a hit.

Jackie Ross says Chess focused its attention on Fontella Bass as soon as Rescue Me began to climb the charts. Perhaps Chess backed away from promoting Fontella's follow-up records because she had raised hell about what she was paid for Rescue Me?

[phil]

Come to think of it, I don't ever recall seeing Jackie Ross on television in those days.

Her only appearance that I've seen is from Shindig in 1965 :

[treborij]

Fontella Bass had a very productive career after her tenure with Chess. She was married to trumpeter Lester Bowie of the Art Ensemble Of Chicago which is considered a very innovative avant-garde jazz quintet. They decamped to Paris in 1969, discouraged by their [[lack of) receiption here in the US. Once they moved there, they got numerous record and concert gigs. Fontella sang with them from time to time and is on several of their albums. The most notable track was from 1970, Theme De Yoyo from the album Les Stances A Sophie. It's one of the first notable mergers of soul and avant--garde jazz. Great stuff.

Fontella had some well-received gospel recordings. One of the best was done with her mother Martha and is from the mid 80s, called From The Root To The Source and it was put out by the Italian Soul Note label and she's backed by Chicago musicians.

I also recall seeing her in the late 80s/early 90s on the NBC show Night Music [[host: Dave Sanborn) where she sang Rescue Me [[of course) and then did Don't Mess Up A Good Thing as a duet with Lyle Lovett. The blended surprisingly well.

I hate seeing her referred to as a one hit wonder. Sure all everyone remembers these days is Rescue Me. But Good Thing was a top 30 hit [[IIRC) and I bought the single of Recovery. She had a lot more depth than people realize. It's just that they had to look a little deeper and off the beaten track.