Martha Davis, R&B/Jazz pianist & vocalist 1946-1951, 1957-58

[RWC]

Nicknamed "Queen of the Ivories"

"Jerry Lee Lewis was influenced by her and Moon Mullican"

(this post includes YT links to 40+ audio and to 5 1950s Live
performances)

Supported by a small combo, Martha Davis was popular with
sophisticated supper clubbers from coast to coast.

Bio [Quote, with added info]:
Martha Davis (Dec 14, 1917 - April 6, 1960) was an African American
singer and pianist whose musical comedy act, "Martha Davis & Spouse",
was popular in the late 1940s and 1950s.

Davis was born in Wichita, Kansas, and raised in Chicago, Illinois. By
the mid 1930s she had met and been influenced by Fats Waller, and
performed regularly as a singer and pianist in Chicago clubs.

In 1939, at jam sessions with Fats Waller, Martha met upright bass
player Calvin Ponder {aka 'Spouse'} (Oct 17, 1917 - Dec 26, 1970),
who went on to play in Earl Hines' band. They married in 1949 and
had two children.

In 1946, Martha Davis started her recording career in New York, with 8
sides for the tiny label Urban, with a trio that did not include
Calvin Ponder.

In 1947, Davis and Ponder moved to California, and Davis started her
West Coast recording career on Jewel Records in Hollywood with the
trio of Calvin Ponder (bass), Ralph Williams (guitar) and Lee Young
(drums). Their cover of Dick Haymes' pop hit "Little White Lies"
reached # 11 on the Billboard R&B chart, followed by a duet with Louis
Jordan, "Daddy-O", from the movie A Song Is Born, which reached #7
on the Billboard R&B chart later that year.

From December 1947 thru to December 1951, Martha Davis recorded
for *Decca/Coral*, 12 sides in Los Angeles and 4 sides [May 1951] in
New York.

Davis and Ponder also began performing together on stage, developing a
music and comedy routine as "Martha Davis & Spouse" which played on
their physical characteristics (she was large, he was smaller). The
act became hugely popular, touring and having a residency at the Blue
Angel in New York (at 152 E. 55th St.)

They enjoyed a substantial movie role in the Monogram Films
featurette, Smart Politics, alongside Gene Krupa's Orchestra.
Several of their live performances were filmed by Snader
Telescriptions for video jukeboxes and were later used, during
1955-56, for the variety films Rhythm & Blues Revue, Rock 'n' Roll
Revue and Basin Street Revue. They also broadcast on network TV,
particularly The Garry Moore Show on CBS (incl. 13 weeks in 1954).

In 1957, after a break of several years, they resumed recording for
the new ABC Paramount label, with whom they cut two LPs.

Martha Davis died from cancer in New York in 1960, aged only 42, and
Ponder died ten years later in Los Angeles, aged only 53.
[End Quote]

Billboard R&B #11 in 1948
Martha Davis - "Little White Lies" [Jewel ON-2002;;Hollywood]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZ49vpe6rsQ

flip "Bread and Gravy" {Hoagy Carmichael 30s classic}
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxAx5otBoWk
about being rich?

Billboard R&B #7 in 1948
Louis Jordan And His Tympany Five And Martha Davis - "Daddy-O" [Decca
24502]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36mDeiJEShU

flip "You're On The Right Track Baby"
(But You're Goin' The Wrong Way)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjW4mt6pRbI

The Chronological Recordings for Martha Davis (1946-1951):
all 27 tracks, available on a Classics R&B Series album, are on this
playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks_9GiTYLGE&list=OLAK5uy_kh_hMEFXZzXiHh-VZ3EWYyOq9NYNhiBs8&index=13

1946
New York:
Martha Davis and her Torrid Trio
01. Martha Boogie [Urban 120]
02. Why Am I [Urban 120]
03. The Be-Bop Bounce [Urban 121]
04. I'm Fer It [Urban 121]

Martha Davis with The Esquires, incl. Leo Blevins-gtr
05. Can't Be Bothered [Urban 126]
06. Lovin' Blues [Urban 126]
07. It's Time For The Postman's Rings [Urban 127]
08. The Same Old Boogie [Urban 127]

1947
Los Angeles (thru 1951):
Martha Davis (thru 1951)
09. Bread And Gravy [Jewel ON 2002]
{flip "Little White Lies"}
10. When I Say Goodbye [Jewel ON 2003]
11. Sarah, Sarah [Jewel ON 2003] {hot piano breaks}
https://bit.ly/3jSvh85 left-click solid arrow, and wait
the above two Jewel records were reissued in 1950 by Herman Lubinsky

12. Cincinnati [Decca 24335]^
13. Ooh-Wee [Decca 24383]#
14. Honey, Honey, Honey [Decca 24335]^
15. Kitchen Blues [Decca 48174]*
16. Trouble Is A Man [Decca 24383]#
17. I Ain't Gettin' Any Younger [Decca 48174]*
note the pre-50s younger photo of Martha
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goq2cSRtPDc

1951
18. Would I Love You [Decca 65048]
19. Get Out Those Old Records [Decca 65048]

with jazz notables John Collins-gtr, Art Blakey-drums
20. Experience [Coral 60541]
21. How Could Anything So Good, Be Bad [Coral 60541]
22. You're The Doctor [Coral 60506]
23. Player Piano Boogie [Coral 60506]

24. Marshmallow Moon [Coral 60631] 1952
25. What Good Am I Without You [Coral 60631] 1952
26. No Deposit No Return [Coral 60890] Nov 1952
27. What's Become Of You [Coral 60890] Nov 1952

1953 Re-Issue of her 1946 Urban label record:
The Be-Bop Bounce / I'm Fer It - Martha Davis and Her Torrid Trio
[United Artist 161]
https://archive.org/details/78_the-be-bop-bounce_martha-davis-and-her-torrid-trio-horne_gbia0004667b
/
https://archive.org/details/78_im-fer-it_martha-davis-and-her-torrid-trio-davis_gbia0004667a

In 1957 Martha Davis returned to recording and made 2 LPs and a single
with ABC-Paramount:

The first of the two LPs, 'Martha Davis And Spouse' - 1957
can be heard here (the first 12 tracks of the link):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOgTlOns39c&list=OLAK5uy_kh_hMEFXZzXiHh-VZ3EWYyOq9NYNhiBs8
and here:
https://archive.org/details/lp_martha-davis-and-spouse_martha-davis-and-spouse

Martha Davis & Spouse - You Are Not My First Love / You'd Better Think
Again [ABC-Paramount 9875] - Nov, 1957
* not on YouTube *

The second LP, 'A Tribute To Fats Waller' - 1958
can be heard here (all 12 tracks):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d31vBvqTglU&list=PL8ejNe6272ZvvNu--_NPMAteFgByAZLl4
and here:
https://archive.org/details/lp_a-tribute-to-fats-waller_martha-davis-and-spouse

LIVE PERFORMANCES available on YouTube

"Martha's Boogie", super fast piano, note and meter perfect apparently
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6DKaSoxJ43A

Martha Davis & Spouse "Goodbye" - 1951
recorded at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, NYC
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzkWzuPOVss

Martha Davis & Spouse "Vipity-Vop" - 1955
mostly spoken rap
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09ZBoHSNj28

the pair on the Steve Allen show with
"Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TD_9WG1ISg

the same song in 1956,
with Perry Como singing and Martha Davis rapping,
and with a 'break' from Calvin Ponder's thumping upright bass
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4nGESQGTfY