Born Esther Mae Jones in Galveston, Texas, when she was an adolescent, her parents divorced, and she was forced to divide her time between her father in Houston and her mother in the Watts area of Los Angeles. Because she was brought up singing in church, she was hesitant to enter a talent contest at a local blues club, but her sister insisted and she complied. A mature singer at age fourteen, she won the amateur talent contest in 1949 at the Barrelhouse Club owned by Johnny Otis. Otis was so impressed that he recorded her for Modern Records and added her to his traveling revue, the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, billed as 'Little Esther Phillips' (she reportedly took the surname from a gas station sign).
Her first hit record was Double Crossing Blues, recorded in 1950 for Savoy Records. After several hit records with Savoy, including her duet with Mel Walker on Mistrusting Blues, which went to number one that year, as did "Cupid Boogie". Other Phillips records that made it onto the U.S. Billboard R&B chart in 1950 include "Misery" (number 9), "Deceivin' Blues" (number 4), "Wedding Boogie" (number 6), and "Faraway Blues" (number 6). Few female artists, R&B or otherwise, had ever enjoyed such success in their debut year. Phillips left Otis and the Savoy label at the end of 1950 and signed with Federal Records.
But just as quickly as the hits had started, they stopped. Although she recorded more than thirty sides for Federal, only one, Ring-a-Ding-Doo, charted; the song made it to number 8 in 1952. Not working with Otis was part of her problem; the other part was her drug usage. By the middle of the decade Phillips was chronically addicted to drugs.
In 1954, she returned to Houston to live with her father to recuperate. Short on money, she worked in small nightclubs around the South, punctuated by periodic hospital stays in Lexington, Kentucky, stemming from her addiction. In 1962, Kenny Rogers re-discovered her while singing at a Houston club and got her signed to his brother Lelan’s Lenox label.
Phillips ultimately got well enough to launch a comeback in 1962. Now billed as Esther Phillips instead of Little Esther, she recorded a country tune, Release Me, with producer Bob Gans. This went to number 1 R&B and number 8 on the pop listings. After several other minor R&B hits on Lenox, she was signed by Atlantic Records. Her cover of The Beatles' song And I Love Him nearly made the R&B Top Ten in 1965 and the Beatles flew her to the UK for her first overseas performances.
She had other hits in the 1960s on the label, but no more chart toppers, and she waged a battle with heroin dependency. With her addiction worsening, Phillips checked into a rehab facility. While undergoing treatment, she cut some sides for Roulette in 1969, mostly produced by Lelan Rogers. On her release, she moved back to Los Angeles and re-signed with the Atlantic label. A late 1969 gig at Freddie Jett's Pied Piper club produced the album Burnin'. She performed with the Johnny Otis Show at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1970.
One of her biggest post-1950s triumphs was in 1972 with her first album for Kudu Records. The song penned by Gil Scott-Heron, Home Is Where the Hatred Is, - an account of drug use — was lead track on From a Whisper to a Scream which went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award. When Phillips lost to Aretha Franklin, the latter presented the trophy to Phillips, saying she should have won it instead.
Taylor continued to cut albums with her until in 1975, she scored her biggest hit single since "Release Me" with a disco-style update of Dinah Washington's What a Diff'rence a Day Makes. It reached a high of a Top 20 chart appearance in the U.S., and Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. On November 8, 1975 she performed the song on an episode of NBC's Saturday Night hosted by Candice Bergen. The accompanying album of the same name became her biggest seller yet, with arranger Joe Beck on guitar, Michael Brecker on tenor sax, David Sanborn on alto sax, and Randy Brecker on trumpet to Steve Khan on guitar and Don Grolnick on keyboards.
She continued to record and perform throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, completing a total of seven albums on Kudu and four with Mercury Records, for whom she signed in 1977. In 1983, she charted for the final time on a tiny independent label, Winning with Turn Me Out, which reached #85 R&B. She completed recording her final album a few months before her death, but it was not until 1986 that the label (Muse) released the record.
Phillips died at UCLA Medical Center in Carson, California in 1984, at the age of 48 from liver and kidney failure due to drug use. Her funeral services were conducted by Johnny Otis, and she was buried in the Morning Light section, at Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles. The bronze marker recognizes her career achievements, as well as quoting a Bible passage, "In My Father's House Are Many Mansions" - St. John 14:2
Hello Walls
Esther Phillips Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How'd things go for you today
Don't you miss her
Since she up and walked a way
And I'll bet you dread to spend
Another lonely night with me
Lonely walls
I'll keep you company.
Hello, window - (hello) (hello)
Well I see that you're still here
Aren't you lonely
Since our darlin' disappeared
Well, look here, is that a teardrop
In the corner of your pane
Now, don't you try
To tell me that it's rain.
She went away and left us all alone
The way she planned
Guess we'll have to learn to get along
Without her if we can;
Hello, ceiling - (hello) (hello)
I'm gonna stare at you awhile
You know I can't sleep
So won't you bear with me awhile
We must all stick together or else
I'll lose my mind
I've got a feelin'
She'll be gone a long, long time.
Esther Phillips's song Hello Walls is a heart-breaking love ballad about the aftermath of a break-up. The singer has been left alone in a house or apartment, and the lyrics address various objects in the abandoned space like the walls, windows, and ceiling. The chorus starts with "Hello walls" suggesting that the character is reaching out to them as if they were sentient beings. The singer asks if the walls miss the departed lover and if they dread another lonely night with the character. The conversation moves to the window, and the character imagines that it must be lonely now that their shared love has gone. By the end of the song, the singer is speaking with the ceiling, hoping that if it bears with them, they won't go mad.
This song conveys the grief and sorrow that often come with a break-up. The walls and windows symbolize the absence of the significant other and the loneliness that ensues. The agony is so profound that the singer is making an effort to interact with inanimate things, suggesting the intangible nature of companionship.
Line by Line Meaning
Hello, walls - (hello) (hello)
Acknowledging the presence of the walls and greeting them as there is no one else around.
How'd things go for you today
Asking the walls how their day went as if they were a person with feelings.
Don't you miss her
Assuming that the walls must have also grown attached to the person who left and may miss her.
Since she up and walked a way
Referring to the person who left as having left quickly and unexpectedly.
And I'll bet you dread to spend
Speculating that the walls must be tired of keeping the singer company.
Another lonely night with me
Acknowledging how lonely it must be for both the singer and the walls.
Lonely walls
Describing the walls as being lonely since there is no one around.
I'll keep you company.
Offering to keep the walls company to make them feel less lonely.
Hello, window - (hello) (hello)
Acknowledging the window's presence and greeting it as if it were a person.
Well I see that you're still here
Noticing that the window has not left like the person who left.
Aren't you lonely
Speculating if the window might also be lonely since there is no one around.
Since our darlin' disappeared
Referring to the person who left as the 'darlin' and acknowledging that it affected both the singer and the window.
Well, look here, is that a teardrop
Noticing what appears to be a teardrop on the window and speculating that it might have been caused by the person who left.
In the corner of your pane
Describing the location of the teardrop on the window.
Now, don't you try
Addressing the window as if it were capable of intentionally misleading the singer.
To tell me that it's rain.
Suggesting that the window cannot deny the possibility of the teardrop having been caused by the person who left.
She went away and left us all alone
Acknowledging that the person who left not only left the singer but also the walls and the window behind.
The way she planned
Speculating that the person who left had planned to leave all three of them behind.
Guess we'll have to learn to get along
Acknowledging that they will have to figure out a way to cope without the person who left.
Without her if we can;
Suggesting that getting along without the person who left might be challenging.
Hello, ceiling - (hello) (hello)
Greeting the ceiling as if it were a person.
I'm gonna stare at you awhile
Announcing the singer's intention to stare at the ceiling for a while, probably due to being unable to sleep.
You know I can't sleep
Acknowledging that the singer is having trouble sleeping.
So won't you bear with me awhile
Asking the ceiling to be patient and put up with the singer's inability to sleep.
We must all stick together or else
Suggesting that they all need to stick together to cope with the absence of the person who left.
I'll lose my mind
Admitting that the singer might lose their mind if they were left alone.
I've got a feelin'
Admitting an intuition that the person who left might not come back.
She'll be gone a long, long time.
Speculating that the person who left could be away for a long time or might never come back.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Willie Nelson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Michael Friedman
Lovely musical performance !
greg lassiter
I think even Faron Young would love this. Great rendition of a megahit country song.
aaaaahh
Oh man this version is 👌🏼👌🏼👌🏼 10/10
KNG E
Nice
James Pollock
Dee Dee Warwick & Co get in the final hello walls.
mikeymopp
Classic hurter.