Editing Hadda Brooks

{{Short description|American pianist, vocalist and composer (1916–2002)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=October 2015}}
{{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject_Musicians -->
| name                = Hadda Brooks
| image               = In a Lonely Place - trailer - 04.png
| caption             = Brooks as the singer of "[[I Hadn't Anyone Till You]]" in the film ''[[In a Lonely Place]]'' (1950)
| background          = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name          = Hattie L. Hapgood
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1916|10|29|mf=y}}
| birth_place         =  [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| death_date          = {{death date and age|2002|11|21|1916|10|29}}
| death_place         = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| instrument          = Piano, vocals
| genre               = [[blues music|Blues]], [[boogie-woogie (music)|boogie woogie]], [[jazz]], [[Rhythm and blues|R&B]]
| occupation          = Musician, composer
| years_active        = 1940s–2000s
| label               = [[Modern Records|Modern]], [[Crown Records|Crown]], [[Virgin Records|Virgin]], [[Point Blank Records|Point Blank]], [[Oldie Blues]]
}}

'''Hadda Brooks''' (October 29, 1916 – November 21, 2002) was an American pianist, vocalist and composer, who occasionally appeared playing the piano in film.  Billed as "Queen of the Boogie",<ref>Larkin, Colin. ''The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Guinness Limited, page 563, (1995); {{ISBN|1-56159-176-9}}</ref> she was Inducted in the [[Rhythm and Blues Foundation]] Hall of Fame in 1993.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-02-04 |title=Obituary: Hadda Brooks |url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/feb/04/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref>

==Career==
Brooks became a singer during the mid-1940s.<ref>Vladimir, Bogdanov. ''All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues'', Backbeat Books, page 68 (2003); {{ISBN|0-87930-736-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mchie |first=Benjamin |title=Hadda Brooks, Pianist, and Singer born |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/an-entertainment-pioneer-hadda-brooks/ |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=African American Registry |language=en}}</ref>

In the 1970s, she commuted to Europe for performances in nightclubs and festivals. She performed rarely in the United States, and moved to Australia. ''Queen of the Boogie'', a compilation of recordings from the 1940s, was released in 1984. Two years later her manager [[Alan Eichler]] brought her out of a 16-year retirement before she went on tour.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/26/arts/with-boogie-woogie-hadda-brooks-is-back.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm |work=The New York Times |first=Peter |last=Watrous |title=With Boogie-Woogie, Hadda Brooks Is Back |date=July 26, 1989}}</ref> She sang at Hawaii's statehood ceremony in 1959, and was once asked for a private audience by [[Pope Pius XII]].<ref>[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/11/23/BA224984.DTL Hadda Brooks, the 'Queen of Boogie' dies], sfgate.com; accessed November 9, 2014.</ref>

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''.<ref>[http://www.enotes.com/contemporary-musicians/brooks-hadda-biography E-notes: Hadda Brooks Biography]; accessed November 9, 2014.</ref> 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'' (Virgin, 1996) included [[Al Viola]] (guitar), [[Eugene Wright]] (bass) and [[Richard Dodd]] (cello), and she wrote two of its songs: "You Go Your Way and I'll Go Crazy" and "Mama's Blues". Concerts were held at Michael's Pub in New York City, and the Vine St. Bar and Grill.

In 2007, a 72-minute documentary on Brooks's life, ''Queen of the Boogie'', directed by [[Austin Young]] and Barry Pett, was presented at the Los Angeles Silver Lake Film Festival.<ref>[http://audience.silverlakefilmfestival.org/?festID=&schedule_id=251&filter-section=&filter-country=&filter-letter=M+-+Q&group=6 "Queen of the Boogie"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724160210/http://audience.silverlakefilmfestival.org/?festID=&schedule_id=251&filter-section=&filter-country=&filter-letter=M+-+Q&group=6|date=July 24, 2011}}, audience.silverlakefilmfestival.org; accessed November 9, 2014.</ref>

==Personal==
[[Jules Bihari]] gave her the recording name "Hadda Brooks".<ref>Cohassey, John F. ''Toast of the Town: The Life and Times of Sunnie Wilson'', Wayne State University Press, page 156, (1998); {{ISBN|0-8143-2696-X}}</ref>

In 1940, Brooks married Earl "Shug" Morrison, of the [[Harlem Globetrotters]], but was widowed within a year and never re-married.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2003-02-04 |title=Obituary: Hadda Brooks |url=http://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/feb/04/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries |access-date=2022-07-18 |website=the Guardian |language=en}}</ref> 

Brooks died at the age of 86 at [[White Memorial Medical Center]] in Los Angeles after open-heart surgery.<ref name="Morris">{{cite magazine |last1=Morris |first1=Chris |title=Billboard Bits: Cher, El Mocambo, Hadda Brooks |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/73319/billboard-bits-cher-el-mocambo-hadda-brooks |magazine=Billboard |accessdate=19 July 2018 |date=26 November 2002}}</ref>

==Discography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Genre
! Label
|-
| 1957
| ''Femme Fatale''
| Jazz, blues
| Crown
|-
| 1958
| ''Swings the Boogie''
| Jazz, blues
| Crown
|-
| 1963
| ''Sings and Swings''
| Jazz, blues
| Crown
|-
| 1971
| ''Hadda''
| Jazz, blues
| Rob Ray
|-
| 1984
| ''Queen of the Boogie''
| Jazz, blues
| [[Oldie Blues]]
|-
| 1988
| ''Romance in the Dark''
| Jazz, blues
| Jukebox Lil
|-
| 1993
| ''Romance in the Dark (The Modern Recordings)''
| Jazz, blues
| [[Ace Records (UK)|Ace]]
|-
| 1994
| ''Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere''
| Jazz, blues
| DRG
|-
| 1994
| ''That's My Desire (The Modern Recordings)''
| Jazz, blues
| Virgin/Flair
|-
| 1995
| ''Even Santa Gets the Blues''
| Jazz, blues
| Pointblank/Virgin
|-
| 1996
| ''Time Was When''
| Jazz, blues
| Pointblank/Virgin
|-
| 1997
| ''Jump Back Honey: The Complete OKeh Sessions''
| Jazz, blues
| Columbia/Legacy
|-
| 1999
| ''I've Got News for You'' [2-CD]
| Jazz, blues
| Pointblank/Virgin
|-
| 2003
| ''Swingin' the Boogie''
| Jazz, blues
| Ace
|-
| 2005
| ''That's Where I Came In''
| Jazz, blues
| Ace
|}

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1947|| ''[[Out of the Blue (1947 film)|Out of the Blue]]'' || Herself ||
|-
|1948|| ''Boogie Woogie Blues'' || Herself ||
|-
|1949|| ''[[The Joint is Jumpin' (film)|The Joint is Jumpin']]'' || Herself ||
|-
|1950|| ''[[In a Lonely Place]]'' || Herself ||
|-
|1952|| ''[[The Bad and the Beautiful]]'' || Piano Player || Uncredited
|-
|1995|| ''[[The Crossing Guard]]'' || Piano Player ||
|-
|1999|| ''[[The Thirteenth Floor]]'' || Lounge Piano Player ||
|-
|2000|| ''John John in the Sky'' || Mrs. Kendricks || (final film role)
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://oralhistory.library.ucla.edu/viewItem.do?ark=21198/zz0008zsmm&title=Brooks,%20Hadda Interview of Hadda Brooks] Center for Oral History Research, UCLA Library Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Hadda}}
[[Category:1916 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American women pianists]]
[[Category:20th-century American pianists]]
[[Category:20th-century American women singers]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American women singers]]
[[Category:African-American pianists]]
[[Category:American blues pianists]]
[[Category:Boogie-woogie pianists]]
[[Category:Ace Records (United States) artists]]
[[Category:Arwin Records artists]]
[[Category:Kent Records artists]]
[[Category:Modern Records artists]]
[[Category:Okeh Records artists]]
[[Category:Oldie Blues artists]]
[[Category:Musicians from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Musicians from Greater Los Angeles]]
[[Category:American women jazz pianists]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American women]]