Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

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CARLISLE, Una Mae

(b 26 December 1918, Xenia OH; d 7 November 1956, NYC) Singer, pianist, songwriter. A very beautiful girl, she had Native American and African American ancestry. She studied piano as a child, then shared a vocal with Billy Banks on 'Mean Old Bed Bug Blues' recorded mid-'32 with Fats Waller and joined Waller's programme on WLW Cincinnati at Christmas, left high school to work and tour with him '33-4 and then went solo. Best known as a singer, she was a very good pianist, and touched all the bases; in a later decade she would have made an impact on pop and R&B charts. As it was she was the first black woman to be credited by Billboard as composer of a song. She joined the Blackbirds revue late '30s, toured Europe, also did solo dates and film work there. She famously recorded 'I Can't Give You Anything But Love' with Waller '39, singing a straight chorus to his wisecracks. She wrote for stars such as Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee; her own records on Bluebird with an all-star back-up band included Lester Young, Benny Carter, etc; 'Walkin' By The River', 'I See A Million People' were two of several hundred songs she wrote. She had her own radio and TV series late '40s, retired in ill health '54.