Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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ANDERSON, Ivie

(b 10 July 1905, Gilroy CA; d 28 December 1949, Los Angeles) Singer. Also sometimes 'Ivy'. She danced and sang at the Cotton Club in 1925; toured in review Shuffle Along; worked with Paul Howard, Anson Weeks; toured Australia '28; with Earl Hines '30, then from '31 with Duke Ellington. She was one of the best female singers of the era, with a warm, distinctive vocal colour, excellent pitch and diction, great respect for lyrics and rapport with audiences. She was a sensation at the London Palladium with 'Stormy Weather', '33; sang 'All God's Chillun Got Rhythm' in the Marx Brothers film A Day At The Races '37. Among dozens of fine records with Ellington: 'It Don't Mean A Thing', '32; 'I'm Satisfied', '33; 'Rose Of The Rio Grande' and 'A Lonely Coed', both '38; 'Rocks In My Bed', '41; 'I Don't Mind', '42. Asthma forced her retirement from full-time music to operate a restaurant in Los Angeles. She made her last recordings '46 with 'all-stars' including Charles Mingus and Willie Smith.