Search - Little Esther :: Proper Introduction to Little Esther: I Paid My

Esther Mae Jones became known as Little Esther, the youngest of the blues shouting R&B mamas to enjoy a number one hit on the R&B charts at the tender age of 14. Little Esther was easily the most disarming R&B star of the early 1950s, yet in her all-too short life she had more than the normal share of rocks in her bed. The "godfather of R&B" Johnny Otis was bowled over by the young singer and signed her up for recordings and live dates in 1949, this continued until 1952. We include many of the tracks she recorded with Otis from this period as well as recordings up until 1953 with other combos. After battles with heroin she re-emerged in 1961 as Esther Phillips and was later to have huge international hits for Atlantic, Kudu, Columbia and Mercury.