Mitty Collier
Encyclopedia
Mitty Lene Collier is an American
church pastor
, gospel
singer and former rhythm and blues
singer. She had a number of successful records in the 1960s, of which probably the best known is "I Had A Talk With My Man".
, the seventh child of Rufus and Gertrude Collier, and attended Western-Olin High School
, Alabama A & M College
and Miles College
where she majored in English. She began singing in church as a teenager, and toured with gospel groups, the Hayes Ensemble and the Lloyd Reese Singers, before starting to sing rhythm and blues in local clubs to help subsidise her college education. In 1959, while visiting Chicago
, she entered DJ Al Benson's talent show at the Regal Theater, winning for six straight weeks and gaining her a slot on a bill with B. B. King
and Etta James
as a prize. This brought her to the attention of Ralph Bass
of Chess Records
, who offered her a recording contract.
She recorded for the Chess label from 1961 to 1968, releasing 15 singles and one album, mostly produced by Billy Davis. Her first record was "Gotta Get Away From It All", which was not a hit. Her first real success came in 1963 with "I'm Your Part Time Love", an answer record to Little Johnny Taylor
's "Part Time Love
". It reached # 20 on the Billboard
R&B chart, and was followed up with "I Had A Talk With My Man", a secularised version of James Cleveland
's gospel song "I Had A Talk With God Last Night". The orchestrated ballad reached # 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 3 on the Cash Box R&B chart, and became her best known song, later being covered by Dusty Springfield
and Shirley Brown
among others. Her next record, "No Faith, No Love", was also a reworking of a James Cleveland song, and reached # 29 on the Billboard R&B chart and # 91 on the pop chart. She released an album, Shades Of A Genius, in 1965. Her last hit, in 1966, was "Sharing You" (# 10 on the R&B chart, # 97 pop). She left Chess in 1968 after recording a single, a new version of "Gotta Get Away From It All" recorded at FAME Studios
in Muscle Shoals
with producer Rick Hall
. She then recorded five further singles and an album with William Bell
's Peachtree label in Atlanta, Georgia
. However, in 1971 she developed polyps
on her vocal cords, losing her singing voice, and gave up her secular music career.
beliefs. After recovering her voice she recorded several albums of gospel music, of which the first, The Warning in 1972, featured "I Had A Talk With God Last Night". Later albums included Hold The Light (1977) and I Am Love (1987). She also established a Bible Study Telephone Prayer Line and a community outreach program, "Feed-A-Neighbor" (FAN), for which she received the key to the city of Birmingham in 1987. She became a preacher, and was ordained in 1989, later being appointed pastor of the More Like Christ (MLC) Christian Fellowship Ministries in Chicago. She has also worked at the University of Chicago
, as well as writing plays and continuing to sing gospel music. She has received a number of other humanitarian and other awards, including the National Council of Negro Women
(NCNW) Woman of Wonder Award 2000.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
church pastor
Pastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
singer and former rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer. She had a number of successful records in the 1960s, of which probably the best known is "I Had A Talk With My Man".
Early life and career
Mitty Collier was born in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, the seventh child of Rufus and Gertrude Collier, and attended Western-Olin High School
P.D. Jackson-Olin High School
P. D. Jackson-Olin High School, founded in 1952 as Western Olin High School, renamed after principal Pierre Denson Jackson. Affectionately known as J.O., it is the largest high school in the Birmingham City Schools System, serving over 1,700 students from the Ensley area. The school is located at...
, Alabama A & M College
Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University
Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University, also known as Alabama A&M University or AAMU, is a public, historically black university, Land-grant university located in Normal, Madison County, Alabama....
and Miles College
Miles College
Miles College is a historically black college founded in 1898. It is located in Fairfield, Alabama, which is six miles west of Birmingham, Alabama. It is a private liberal arts institution of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church...
where she majored in English. She began singing in church as a teenager, and toured with gospel groups, the Hayes Ensemble and the Lloyd Reese Singers, before starting to sing rhythm and blues in local clubs to help subsidise her college education. In 1959, while visiting Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, she entered DJ Al Benson's talent show at the Regal Theater, winning for six straight weeks and gaining her a slot on a bill with B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
and Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
as a prize. This brought her to the attention of Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass
Ralph Bass , born in The Bronx, New York of an Italian-American-Catholic father, and a German-American-Jewish mother, was an influential rhythm and blues record producer and talent scout for several independent labels and was responsible for many hit records. He was a pioneer in bringing black...
of Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
, who offered her a recording contract.
She recorded for the Chess label from 1961 to 1968, releasing 15 singles and one album, mostly produced by Billy Davis. Her first record was "Gotta Get Away From It All", which was not a hit. Her first real success came in 1963 with "I'm Your Part Time Love", an answer record to Little Johnny Taylor
Little Johnny Taylor
Little Johnny Taylor was an American blues and soul singer, who made recordings throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and continued public performances through the 1980s and 1990s....
's "Part Time Love
Part Time Love
Part Time Love is a 1963 R&B single by blues singer/songwriter, Little Johnny Taylor. The second release for Little Johnny Taylor was his most successful on the R&B chart. "Part Time Love" was number one on the R&B chart for one week and was also Taylor's one and only top 40 entry.-Chart positions:...
". It reached # 20 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B chart, and was followed up with "I Had A Talk With My Man", a secularised version of James Cleveland
James Cleveland
The Reverend Dr. James Cleveland was a gospel singer, arranger, composer and, most significantly, the driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound, bringing the stylistic daring of hard gospel and jazz and pop music influences to arrangements for mass choirs...
's gospel song "I Had A Talk With God Last Night". The orchestrated ballad reached # 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and # 3 on the Cash Box R&B chart, and became her best known song, later being covered by Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
and Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown is an American soul singer, best known for her million-selling single "Woman to Woman" which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.-Woman to Woman:...
among others. Her next record, "No Faith, No Love", was also a reworking of a James Cleveland song, and reached # 29 on the Billboard R&B chart and # 91 on the pop chart. She released an album, Shades Of A Genius, in 1965. Her last hit, in 1966, was "Sharing You" (# 10 on the R&B chart, # 97 pop). She left Chess in 1968 after recording a single, a new version of "Gotta Get Away From It All" recorded at FAME Studios
FAME Studios
FAME Studios are located at 603 East Avalon in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They have been an integral part of American popular music from the late 1950s to the present...
in Muscle Shoals
Muscle Shoals, Alabama
Muscle Shoals is a city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. As of 2007, the United States Census Bureau estimated the population of the city to be 12,846. The city is included in The Shoals MSA. It is famous for its contributions to American popular music.-Geography:Muscle Shoals is located...
with producer Rick Hall
Rick Hall
Roe Erister "Rick" Hall is an American record producer, songwriter, music publisher and musician who is best known as the owner and proprietor of the FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama.-Life and career:...
. She then recorded five further singles and an album with William Bell
William Bell (singer)
William Bell is an American soul singer and songwriter, and one of the architects of the Stax-Volt sound. As a performer, he is probably best known for 1961's "You Don't Miss Your Water" ; 1968's "Private Number" ; and 1976's "Tryin' To Love Two", Bell's only US top 40 hit, which also hit #1 on the...
's Peachtree label in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. However, in 1971 she developed polyps
Polyp (medicine)
A polyp is an abnormal growth of tissue projecting from a mucous membrane. If it is attached to the surface by a narrow elongated stalk, it is said to be pedunculated. If no stalk is present, it is said to be sessile. Polyps are commonly found in the colon, stomach, nose, sinus, urinary bladder...
on her vocal cords, losing her singing voice, and gave up her secular music career.
Later career
She then began to devote her life to her ChristianChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
beliefs. After recovering her voice she recorded several albums of gospel music, of which the first, The Warning in 1972, featured "I Had A Talk With God Last Night". Later albums included Hold The Light (1977) and I Am Love (1987). She also established a Bible Study Telephone Prayer Line and a community outreach program, "Feed-A-Neighbor" (FAN), for which she received the key to the city of Birmingham in 1987. She became a preacher, and was ordained in 1989, later being appointed pastor of the More Like Christ (MLC) Christian Fellowship Ministries in Chicago. She has also worked at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
, as well as writing plays and continuing to sing gospel music. She has received a number of other humanitarian and other awards, including the National Council of Negro Women
National Council of Negro Women
The National Council of Negro Women is a non-profit organization with the mission to advance the opportunities and the quality of life for African American women, their families and communities. NCNW fulfills this mission through research, advocacy, national and community based services and...
(NCNW) Woman of Wonder Award 2000.
Singles (chart hits only)
| Year | Title | Label & Cat. No. | U.S. Pop Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
U.S. R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | "I'm Your Part Time Love" | Chess 1871 | |
|
| 1964 | "I Had A Talk With My Man" | Chess 1907 | |
|
| 1965 | "No Faith, No Love" | Chess 1918 | |
|
| 1966 | "Sharing You" | Chess 1953 | |
|
Albums
- Shades of a Genius (Chess, 1965)
- The Warning (2 A.M., 1972)
- Hold The Light (Gospel Roots, 1977)
- I Am Love (New Sound, 1987)