Born in Memphis, she left home while still in her early teens and settled in Chicago, Illinois. There, she peeled potatoes by day and hounded club owners by night, determined to land a singing job. Her persistence paid off, and Hunter began a climb through some of the city's lowest dives to a headlining job at its most prestigious venue for black entertainers, the Dreamland ballroom. She had a five-year association with the Dreamland, beginning in 1917, and her salary rose to $35 a week.
She first toured Europe in 1917, performing in Paris and London. The Europeans treated her as an artist, showing her respect and even reverence, which made a great impression on her.
Her career as singer and songwriter flourished in the 1920s and 1930s, and she appeared in clubs and on stage in musicals in both New York and London. The songs she wrote include the critically acclaimed "Downhearted Blues" (1922). She recorded several records with Perry Bradford from 1922 to 1927.
Hunter recorded prolifically during the 1920s, starting with sessions for Black Swan in 1921, Paramount in 1922–1924, Gennett in 1924, OKeh in 1925–1926, Victor in 1927 and Columbia in 1929.
Hunter wrote "Downhearted Blues" while recording for Ink Williams at Paramount Records, but she received only $368 in royalties. Williams secretly sold the recording rights to Columbia Records, in a deal giving the royalties to Williams. The song became a big hit for Columbia, with Bessie Smith as the vocalist. Hunter learned what Williams had done and stopped recording for him.
In 1928, Hunter played "Queenie" opposite Paul Robeson in the first London production of Show Boat at Drury Lane. She subsequently performed in nightclubs throughout Europe and appeared for the 1934 winter season with Jack Jackson's society orchestra at London's Dorchester Hotel. One of her recordings with Jackson is Miss Otis Regrets (she is unable to Lunch Today). While at the Dorchester, she made several HMV recordings with the orchestra and appeared in Radio Parade of 1935 (1934), the first British theatrical film to feature the short-lived Dufaycolor, but only Hunter's segment was in color. She spent the late 1930s fulfilling engagements on both sides of the Atlantic and the early 1940s performing at home. In 1944, she took a U.S.O. troupe to Casablanca and continued entertaining troops in both theatres of war for the duration of World War II and into the early postwar period. In the 1950s, she led U.S.O. troupes in Korea, but her mother's death in 1954 led her to her seek a radical career change. She prudently reduced her age, "invented" a high school diploma, and enrolled in nursing school, embarking on what was apparently a fulfilling career in healthcare.
Hunter was working at New York's Goldwater Memorial Hospital in 1961 when record producer Chris Albertson asked her to break an 11-year absence from the recording studio. The result was her participation (four songs) on a Prestige Bluesville Records album, entitled Songs We Taught Your Mother. The following month, Albertson recorded her again, this time for the Riverside Records label, reuniting her with Lil Armstrong and Lovie Austin, both of whom she had performed with in the 1920s. Hunter enjoyed these outings, but had no plans to return to singing. She was prepared to devote the rest of her life to nursing, but the hospital retired her in 1977, when they believed her to have reached retirement age (she was aged over 80).
Bored by inactivity, Hunter decided to resume her singing career, because she "never felt better." In 1978, at the suggestion of Charles Bourgeois, restaurateur Barney Josephson offered Hunter a limited engagement at his Greenwich Village club, The Cookery. She accepted and a two-week gig proved a smash when the comeback garnered generous media attention and people started flocking into The Cookery.
Impressed with the attention paid her by the press, John Hammond signed Hunter to Columbia Records. He had not previously shown interest in Hunter, but he had been a close associate of Barney Josephson decades earlier, when the latter ran the Café Society Uptown and Downtown clubs. Her Columbia albums, The Glory of Alberta Hunter, Amtrak Blues, (where she sang the jazz classic "The Darktown Strutters' Ball"), and Look For the Silver Lining, did not do as well as expected, but sales were nevertheless healthy. There were also numerous television appearances, including on To Tell The Truth (in which panelist Kitty Carlisle had to recuse herself, the two having known each other in Hunter's heyday). There was also a walk-on role in Remember My Name, a film produced by film director Robert Altman, for which he commissioned her to write and to perform the soundtrack music. As capacity audiences continued to fill The Cookery nightly, concert offers came from Brazil to Berlin, and there was an invitation for her to sing at the White House. At first, she turned it down, because, she explained, "they wanted me there on my day off," but the White House amended its schedule to suit the veteran artist. During that time, there was also a visit from former First Lady turned book editor Jackie Onassis, who wanted to sign her up for an autobiography but was unhappy with the co-author assigned to the project. The book was eventually done for another publisher, with the help of writer Frank Taylor.
The comeback lasted six years, and Hunter toured in Europe and South America, made more television appearances, and enjoyed her renewed recording career as well as the fact that record catalogs now once again contained her old recordings, going back to her 1921 debut on the Black Swan label.
Hunter's life was documented in Alberta Hunter: My Castle's Rockin' (1998), a documentary written by Chris Albertson and narrated by pianist Billy Taylor, and in Cookin' at the Cookery, a biographical musical by Marion J. Caffey that has toured the United States in recent years with Ernestine Jackson as Hunter.
Hunter came from a difficult background. Her father left when she was a child and to support the family Hunter’s mother worked as a servant to a whorehouse in Memphis. Although she married again in 1906, Hunter was not happy with her new family. Hunter left for Chicago around the age of eleven, in the hopes of becoming a paid singer; she had heard that it paid ten dollars an hour. Instead of finding a job as a singer she had to earn money by working at a boardinghouse that paid six dollars a week as well as room and board. Hunter's mother left Memphis and moved in with her soon afterwards.
Hunter was a lesbian, though she kept her sexuality relatively private. Her 1919 marriage to Willard Saxby Townsend was short-lived. In August of 1927, she sailed for France, accompanied by Lottie Tyler, a New York lady whom she had met in Chicago a few years earlier. Their relationship lasted until Ms. Tyler's death, many years later.
Hunter eventually moved to New York City. She performed with Bricktop and recorded with Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet. She continued to perform on both sides of the Atlantic, and as the head of the USO's first black show, until her mother's death, 1954. That year, she gave up show business and became a registered nurse. When Roosevelt Island's Goldwater Memorial Hospital retired her, believing her to have reached that age, Alberts (who was actually several years older) decided to return to singing. She had already made a brief return by appearing on two record albums, but now she too had a regular engagement at a Greenwich Village club, becoming a huge attraction there until her death in October 1984. She is buried in the Ferncliff Cemetery and Mausoleum, Hartsdale, Westchester County, New York (Elmwood section; plot 1411).
Hunter was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011, while her album Amtrak Blues had been previously honored in 2009.
Old Fashioned Love
Alberta Hunter Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Should give place to things that are new
But somehow I hold, to things that are old
Perhaps it's an old fashioned view
I love my old books, the corners and nooks
Of my old home and the old friends
Old memories too, one love that is true
I've got that old fashioned love in my heart
Oh, play it for me, yes
And there it will always remain
My love is like an ivy vine
Clingin' a little closer all the time
Through the years, joy and tears
Just the same
I've got that old fashioned faith in my heart, oh yes
No changes can't tear it apart
If the dry land changed to sea
That would never make any change in me
'Cause I've got that old, old fashioned love in my heart
Yes I've got that old, old fashioned faith in my heart
No changes can tear it apart
If the dry land changed to sea
That would never make any change in me
'Cause I've got that old, old fashioned love in my heart
Yes, I've got that old, old fashioned love in my heart
Alberta Hunter's song "Old Fashioned Love" reflects on the way society today values new things over old, and how that contrasts with the singer's own old fashioned values. The lyrics describe a love for old things - old books, old homes, and old friends - and memories that have stayed with them through the years. Hunter's singing of "I've got that old fashioned love in my heart" is distinctive, with a soulful tone that conveys a sense of deep connection to the past. This connection is further emphasized when she sings about her faith, which is also old fashioned, and is something that no amount of change can affect.
The lyrics of the song speak to a yearning for simpler times, a sense of nostalgia that many people feel at some point in their lives. They also highlight how important old fashioned values can be - despite the world changing so much around us, the things that matter most, like love and faith, remain the same. By expressing this sentiment, Hunter offers a reminder that the world needn't always be about seeking out something new, and that there is value in holding onto what worked in the past.
Line by Line Meaning
Most folks now days say old fashioned ways
Many people in today's society believe that traditional or old-fashioned ways should be replaced with modern alternatives
Should give place to things that are new
They think that new inventions or innovations should take over the traditional methods.
But somehow I hold, to things that are old
However, I still cling to and cherish the old-fashioned values that have stood the test of time.
Perhaps it's an old fashioned view
Maybe my mindset is considered antiquated compared to the current trends.
I love my old books, the corners and nooks
I value the worn out, original copies of literature and appreciate the unique details that have aged over time.
Of my old home and the old friends
I treasure the memories created with the people who have been a part of my life and the physical space I have inhabited for many years.
Old memories too, one love that is true
I cherish the past moments shared with family and friends, and the enduring love that has lasted a lifetime.
Lasting all through life until it ends
These precious memories and relationships will remain with me until my last breath.
I've got that old fashioned love in my heart
I hold onto the traditional idea of love, that is unchanging and endures for a lifetime.
Oh, play it for me, yes
It is something I long to hear and experience in my everyday life.
And there it will always remain
This love is something that will never change or fade away.
My love is like an ivy vine
The love I have is like the tenacious and enduring qualities of an ivy vine that clings even stronger over time.
Clingin' a little closer all the time
It grows stronger and intertwined as time goes on.
Through the years, joy and tears
It continues to persist through all the struggles and happy moments in life.
Just the same
It remains steady and consistent through all of life's ups and downs.
I've got that old fashioned faith in my heart, oh yes
I have a strong sense of traditional belief and trust in the people, values, and ideas I hold dear to my heart.
No changes can't tear it apart
Nothing can shake or weaken my faith and beliefs.
If the dry land changed to sea
Even if the most unimaginable or unlikely events were to occur.
That would never make any change in me
It would not sway or alter the way I feel or think.
'Cause I've got that old, old fashioned love in my heart
Because of my firm holding onto traditional values and beliefs.
Lyrics © TuneCore Inc., Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JAMES P. JOHNSON, CECIL MACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind