Hadda Brooks


Hadda Brooks was an American pianist, vocalist and composer. Her first single, "Swingin' the Boogie", which she composed, was issued in 1945. She was billed as "Queen of the Boogie". She sang at Hawaii's statehood ceremony in 1959 and was asked for a private audience by Pope Pius XII.

Life and career

Brooks preferred ballads to boogie-woogie, but worked on her style by listening to Albert Ammons, Pete Johnson, and Meade Lux Lewis records. Her first recording, "Swingin' the Boogie", for Modern Records, was a regional hit in 1945. Another R&B Top Ten hit, "Out of the Blue," was her most famous song. Jules Bihari 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, living for many years in Australia. Queen of the Boogie, a compilation of recordings from the 1940s, was released in 1984. Two years later manager Alan Eichler brought her out of a 16-year retirement to open a jazz room at Perino's in Los Angeles, after which she continued to perform in nightclubs in Hollywood, San Francisco, and New York City.
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 included Al Viola, Eugene Wright and Richard Dodd, and she wrote two of its songs: "You Go Your Way and I'll Go Crazy" and "Mama's Blues". She began playing at Johnny Depp's Viper Room, the Algonquin Hotel's Oak Room, and Michael's Pub in New York City, and such Hollywood clubs as Goldfinger's, the Vine St. Bar and Grill, and the Hollywood Roosevelt Cinegrill. She celebrated her 80th birthday in 1996 by performing two full shows at Depp's Viper Room.

Death

Hadda Brooks died at the age of 86 at White Memorial Medical Center in Los Angeles after open-heart surgery.
In 2007, a 72-minute documentary, Queen of the Boogie, directed by Austin Young and Barry Pett, was presented at the Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival.

Discography

Filmography