Alberta Adams
Detroit's Legendary Blues Singer

Dee Dee McNeil - 

DETROIT'S LEGENDARY BLUES SINGER,

ALBERTA ADAMS

By Dee Dee McNeil

Although she was born in Indianapolis , Indiana in the 1920's, Alberta Adams calls Detroit home. She arrived in Motown as a child and planted strong roots in the Motor City . Fascinated by the bright lights of show business, Alberta got her start in the 1940's as a dancer during Detroit 's Paradise Valley days. Back in those days, Hastings street reigned supreme. When it came to quality African-American entertainment, Hastings Street was where the night spots were packed with some of the best performers in the world; especially featuring the Blues. Detroit clubs embraced such internationally respected blues talent as their own John Lee Hooker, Big Maceo, Eddie Burns and Eddie Kirkland. Alberta was right there, in the middle of the scene, taking it all in and enjoying every moment.

One unexpected night, when the regular vocalist didn't show up at the club where Alberta was dancing, she picked up the microphone and added a new dimension to her act. It was on Detroit 's historic Hastings Street that Phil and Leonard Chess first heard Alberta sing her blues. This led to a contract with their now famous Chess label in Chicago . She recorded a number of tunes with the Red Saunders' band. Several of these recordings have become legendary, and in later years, Alberta 's music was reissued on the Savoy Jazz label.

Ms. Adams has continued to "wow" audiences and pull the deep-down emotions out of the blues for the past fifty years. She recorded for Savoy with the T. J.Fowler Band, releasing "Say Baby Say", a jumpin' swing blues that is still in her repertoire today. For a while, Alberta Adams was part of a vocal group called the Bluesettes with her partner, Chubby Newsome. The Bluesettes toured as part of Tiny Bradshaw's Big Band. On her own, Alberta Adams has toured extensively with such historic company as Louis Jordan, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, T-Bone Walker, James Moody and even Duke Ellington. Alberta took part in the Cannonball Record label's "Blues Across America" series. She laid down four gritty urban blues tracks with Johnnie Bassett's band, that featured Bill Heid on piano. The success of these recordings landed Alberta another record contract. She recorded "Born With the Blues" for the Cannonball label, which received rave reviews and was listed in Living Blues magazine as one of their top 25 album picks for 1999.

Although Alberta is constantly playing blues festivals all across the United States and Canada , she is never too busy to donate her time and talent to support a worthwhile cause. Most recently, Alberta Adams participated as part of the Detroit Diva's and Don Juan's of Song and Poetry Blues Review in Detroit to assist the Detroit Links and Linkage Abstinence Program.

When she isn't performing or supporting worthy causes, Alberta can be found writing her own songs. She draws from a deep resource of experiences taken from her full and colorful lifetime. Ms. Adam's blues are full of wisdom, wit and down-home truth as only she can express it. Like the blues itself, Alberta Adams is a treasured and legendary piece of Detroit 's important history!

 
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