Annie Laurie was an R&B, blues and sophisticated jazz singer who came to prominence in 1947 with her debut hit Since I Fell For You. Over the next 15 years she continued to record and release material which brought her several successes in both pop and R&B charts.

Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1924, she started by vocalising for two local  bands led by Dallas Bartley and Snookum Russell, on the Chitlin’ Circuit. In 1945, she recorded a version of Saint Louis Blues with the Bartley led band for Cosmo Records before relocating in New Orleans where she sung with, and was engaged to,  bandleader and songwriter Paul Gayten. Recording for both the Regal and De Luxe labels between 1947 and 1950, Laurie was backed by Gayten’s orchestra.

She followed Since I Fell For You with Cuttin’ Out (1949), You Ought To Know (1950), I Need Your Love (1950), Now That You’re Gone (1950) and I’ll Never Be Free (1950).

This 51-track 2-CD set comprises most of the A- and B-sides of her releases on the Cosmo, De Luxe, Regal, Okeh,  Savoy and Ritz labels and includes performances with the bands of Gayten and Danny Kessler.

She was a highly versatile vocal stylist, equally at home with upbeat jump blues material, grooving R&B songs, and smoothly polished jazz-flavoured pop, and this collection provides a varied and entertaining showcase for her distinctive talent. She rode the waves of the upheavals in the market occasioned by the advent of rock ‘n’ roll to take her hit-making career into the 1960s.

Switching her affiliation to Ritz Records in 1962, she recorded several sides for them, before leaving the music industry. She died in Titusville, Florida, in 2006, aged 82.

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