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Holle Thee Maxwell (born October 17, 1945) is an American vocalist and songwriter who performs in opera, jazz, soul, blues, R&B, pop, and country. She has performed with soul and blues artist Ike Turner, and jazz organist Jimmy Smith. She wrote a song for Bobby Bland's 1978 album, ''Come Fly with Me''. Her seven decade career includes opera training in childhood, being a soul balladeer in the 1960s, European tours, and performances in the Chicago Blues Festival. The Cannes Musical Festival named her "Queen of Entertaining Entertainers". ==Life and career== Maxwell first sang professionally at the age of five. She studied classical voice and piano from age nine to seventeen. At age twelve, she was featured at the Chicago Civic Opera House. Maxwell holds two degrees in music from the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University and The Juilliard School. Even though her mother had her attend modeling and finishing school and classical musical training, Maxwell discovered soul late in high school. She said, "Around the age of seventeen, I started sneaking around off to the nightclubs and looking at Harold Burrage, Otis Clay, Little Johnny Williams. I used to watch these artists because they had so much soul, so much whatever."〔 She briefly sang with a girl group called the Tourjourettes while attending Parker High School in Chicago.〔 Bunky Sheppard discovered Maxwell in early 1965 and produced her first singles for Constellation Records, starting with "One Thin Dime" that had good play in Chicago. In the summer of 1965, Maxwell was featured in Beatrice Watson's column in the ''Chicago Defender''.〔 Chicago Soul historian Robert Pruter wrote the following about Watson's report: ...Holly's mother, Eula Maxwell, took pains to assure the ''Defender'' reporter that her daughter was still progressing toward becoming an opera singer. Holly herself pointed out that she had been singing jazz for two and a half years and was singing r&b as a step up.〔 Star Records produced Maxwell's single "Philly Barracuda" in 1966 complete with instructions on how to perform the "Philly Dog" dance. Star promoted the record with an appearance of deejay Herb Kent at the Crane High School with Maxwell getting up on the table to sing the song while demonstrating how to do the dance.〔 Maxwell reached a crossroads in her career when she made the mistake in 1967 of singing the pop song, "Misty", while performing at a former R&B Chicago nightclub called Peyton Place on the same bill as Hi-Fi White, a blues vocalist and transvestite comedian known for lewd jokes.〔 When she ran crying to dressing room after the audience threw oranges and beer bottles at her for her performance, Hi Fi White told her, "Honey, you ain't got no soul." She was determined "to get this soul". She listened to Gladys Knight and Aretha Franklin and practiced singing for four months until she taught herself to sing soul at the age of twenty-two.〔 She returned to the Peyton Place and bedazzled the audience with a "devastating" rendition of "Respect".〔 Maxwell had solo gigs in Chicago clubs and occasionally sang as backup for Barbara Acklin. Maxwell recorded singles for the record labels Curtom Records, Smit Whit Records, and Star Records in the 1960s and 1970s. She had regional hits across the United States with the songs "Only When Your Lonely", "One Thin Dime", "Never Love Again", "Suffer", and "Philly Barracuda". Her singles are popular with collectors worldwide, especially Northern Soul enthusiasts in Europe.〔 Clemente placed her single "Only When Your Lonely" in the his "500 Most Collectable Girl Group 45s" list in 2013. Maxwell moved to California for most of the 1970s and early 1980s. During this time Maxwell owned a nightclub and sang for two years with jazz organist Jimmy Smith.〔 Maxwell replaced Tina Turner in Ike Turner's band〔 from 1977 to 1985 mostly in Europe. She performed with Ike Turner again for eight months in 1992. Despite the controversy surrounding Tina Turner's separation from Ike Turner, Maxwell reported a positive working partnership with him.〔 Maxwell returned to Chicago in 1985.〔 French club owner Gérard Vacher saw Maxwell perform at the Kingston Mines in 1996 and booked her at his club, Quai du Blues or the Maxwell Café Supper Club.〔 Maxwell became co-owner of this club known in France as "the home of real American blues." In 2005 she remained a hit in France. She was a regular performer at Maxwell Café in Paris and nightclubs in London and Europe.〔 She was named "Queen of Entertaining Entertainers" by the Cannes Musical Festival. Maxwell joined Chicago Women in Blues at Reggie's Rock Club in Chicago in 2011 in response to the Chicago Blues Festival lineup of almost all male performers. She hosted an all-female performance at the 2011 Chicago Blues Festival that featured Liz Mandeville, Demetria Taylor, Peaches Staten, and Ramblin' Rose. In January 2014, the Great Black Music Project of the Northeastern Illinois University honored Maxwell by adding her to their artist registry and podcasting their interview of her about her music career. Maxwell has never stopped working〔 in her seven decade career〔 that spans opera training in childhood, being a soul balladeer in the 1960s, and extensive European tours to currently performing in Chicago clubs, the Chicago Blues Festival, hosting a musical/historical tour of Chicago's soul and blues with Jimmy Burns. Her music continues to air to global audiences on KJAZZ Radio UK. On June 8, 2014, Maxwell was inducted into the Chicago Blues Hall of Fame at Buddy Guy's Legends. WICU-TV headlined Maxwell as a "true queen of () Chicago blues scene" in George Blaise's December 30, 2014 interview on his ''23 N Halsted'' show. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by Chicago Music Awards on March 15, 2015. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Holle Thee Maxwell」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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