Annette Hanshaw - Say It Isn't So (1932)

Annette Hanshaw (October 18, 1901 - March 13, 1985) was one of the first great female jazz singers. In the late 1920s she ranked alongside Ethel Waters, Bessie Smith and the Boswell Sisters.

Her singing style was relaxed and suited the new jazz-influenced pop music of the late 1920s. Although she had a low opinion of her own singing, she continues to have fans because of how she combined the voice of an ingenue with the spirit of a flapper.

Annette Hanshaw - Say It Isn't So (1932)

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Annette
• Hanshaw
• 1932
• 20's
• 30's

[chem100]

Great recording. I agree with Squarerig. What we call music today, is anything but. THIS recording is REAL music.

[fatsfan70]

Never heard this awful story - she must have been terrified - wonder if Ruth knew. I suppose it was too late for Annette to resume her career after 1937 when Snyder and Etting divorced and he went to jail in 1938.

[Aemni1]

O: did she really end up like that? thats sad, she was such a good singer :l

[doctorkazoo]

@fatsfan70 Thanks! Now I wish I hadn't asked you though. That is just awful and 70 some odd years later I'm pi**ed off about it! I wish I could confirm this information somewhere. I don't always trust Wikipedia though...but they don't even mention this anyway. I'll have to dig around. I didn't see it in the comment history here. I don't think my computer loads them all. OK, thanks again!

[fatsfan70]

@doctorkazoo When Hanshaw records started outselling Ruth Etting's, Ruth's husband Martin 'Moe The Gimp' Snyder, a Chicago mobster, threatened Hanshaw's life. She retired at once and thereafter led an entirely domesticated life with her husband. See earlier comments.

[doctorkazoo]

@fatsfan70 What story? I never heard it either and I'm a HUGE Hanshaw fan!

[candiikillz]

Nice, she doesn't do that 20's -30's shrill voice

[1casey234]

What a great artist. I could listen to her all day long. No one like her. I wonder what one person could have found what not to like in a voice such as hers.

[goatface1000]

@thehificlub Annette had far more swing and jazz feeling than Ruth Etting. Her recordings particularly the up tempo songs still found fresh in a way that Etting's records now sound. A example of Hanshaw's swing is Who's that knocking at my door which can be heard on youtube. Like Bing Crosby Hanshaw was a white singer who could swing. Etting sang in an older style.

[thehificlub]

I must say she sounds ok here, but she does sing off key in many recordings. She hasn't got the same character as Ruth Etting either. Sorry, but that's my opinion.

I agree with her sounding like a Martian in this transfer (not her fault). I love the scratches and surface noise. It's a sin to over EQ just cos one has got the nobs to tweek.

[earjams1]

@steve89z Really? Annette is a billion times better than Ruth.