Search - Christine Kittrell :: Call Her Name: The Complete Recordings 1951-1965

Christine Kittrell made some of the best R&B of the 1950s and '60s without ever becoming a household name. She was the leading nightclub vocalist on the rocking Nashville scene in the late 1940s and '50s. A marvelous singer - far more versatile than most of her contemporaries - Christine worked with Joe Turner, Fats Domino, Memphis Slim, Little Walter, Johnny Otis and even Count Basie. Her relatively few recordings, mainly on unfashionable labels, possessed rare expressiveness that could elevate a mundane song into something exceptional. She sang late night mood songs like Heartache Blues and Don't Do It, and pounding rockers like Call His Name and Lord Have Mercy - where she is backed by Little Richard on piano and vocals. Her rerecording of Call His Name in the 60s, became a northern soul classic. She also recorded the original version of the anthemic I'm A Woman. Her biggest hit, Sittin' Here Drinking, featured one of her trademark spoken intros.Nashville-born Kittrell settled in Columbus, Ohio where she became a matriarch of her local blues scene. She suffered a number of falls and illnesses, starting with mortar bomb injuries received on a singing tour during the war in Vietnam - she liked to say that she was the only blues singer wounded in action! She died in 2001. This 31-track CD collects together all 29 different songs Christine recorded in the 1950s and 1960s for the Tennessee, Republic, Champion, Vee-Jay, Hit/Spar and Federal labels.