Ottilie Patterson
Encyclopedia
Ottilie Patterson was a Northern Irish blues singer best known for her performances and recordings with the Chris Barber
Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
, County Down
, Northern Ireland
, on 31 January 1932. She was the youngest child of four. Her father, Joseph Patterson, was from Northern Ireland
, and her mother, Jūlija Jēgers, was from Latvia
. Both sides of the family were musical, and Ottilie trained as a classical pianist from the age of eleven, but never received any formal training as a singer.
In 1949 Ottilie went to study art at Belfast College of Technology, where a fellow student introduced her to the music of Bessie Smith
, Jelly Roll Morton
, and Meade Lux Lewis
.
In 1951 she began singing with Jimmy Compton's Jazz Band, and in August 1952 she formed the Muskrat Ramblers with Al Watt and Derek Martin.
In the summer of 1954 while holidaying in London Ottilie met Beryl Bryden
, who introduced her to the Chris Barber
Jazz Band.
She joined the Barber band full-time on January 1, 1955, and her first public appearance was at the Royal Festival Hall
on January 9, 1955.
Between 1955 and 1962 Ottilie toured extensively with the Chris Barber
Jazz Band and issued many recordings: those featuring her on every track
include the EP
s Blues (1955), That Patterson Girl (1955), That Patterson Girl Volume 2 (1956), Ottilie (1959), and the LP
Chris Barber's Blues Book (1961); she also appeared on numerous Chris Barber
records.
From 1963 or so she began to suffer throat problems and ceased to appear and record regularly with Chris Barber
, officially retiring from the band in 1973.
During this period she recorded some non-jazz/blues material such as settings of Shakespeare (with Chris Barber
) and in 1969 issued a solo LP
3000 years with Ottilie which is now much sought by collectors.
In early 1983 Ottilie and Chris Barber
gave a series of concerts around London,
which were recorded for the LP
Madame Blues and Doctor Jazz (1984).
This is her most recently issued recording.
Deleted CDs have the catalogue numberstruck through.
The principal source for this discography is Bielderman and Purser's Chris Barber discography.
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
Jazz Band in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Biography
Anna Ottilie Patterson was born in ComberComber
Comber is a small town in County Down, Northern Ireland. It lies 5 miles south of Newtownards, at the northern end of Strangford Lough. It had a population of 8,933 people in the 2001 Census. Comber is part of the Borough of Ards...
, County Down
County Down
-Cities:*Belfast *Newry -Large towns:*Dundonald*Newtownards*Bangor-Medium towns:...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, on 31 January 1932. She was the youngest child of four. Her father, Joseph Patterson, was from Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, and her mother, Jūlija Jēgers, was from Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
. Both sides of the family were musical, and Ottilie trained as a classical pianist from the age of eleven, but never received any formal training as a singer.
In 1949 Ottilie went to study art at Belfast College of Technology, where a fellow student introduced her to the music of Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
, Jelly Roll Morton
Jelly Roll Morton
Ferdinand Joseph LaMothe , known professionally as Jelly Roll Morton, was an American ragtime and early jazz pianist, bandleader and composer....
, and Meade Lux Lewis
Meade Lux Lewis
Meade Lux Lewis was a American pianist and composer, noted for his work in the boogie-woogie style. His best known work, "Honky Tonk Train Blues", has been recorded in various contexts, often in a big band arrangement...
.
In 1951 she began singing with Jimmy Compton's Jazz Band, and in August 1952 she formed the Muskrat Ramblers with Al Watt and Derek Martin.
In the summer of 1954 while holidaying in London Ottilie met Beryl Bryden
Beryl Bryden
Beryl Audley Bryden was an English jazz singer, who played with Chris Barber and Lonnie Donegan. Ella Fitzgerald once said of Bryden that she was "Britain's queen of the blues".-Life and career:...
, who introduced her to the Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
Jazz Band.
She joined the Barber band full-time on January 1, 1955, and her first public appearance was at the Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
on January 9, 1955.
Between 1955 and 1962 Ottilie toured extensively with the Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
Jazz Band and issued many recordings: those featuring her on every track
include the EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
s Blues (1955), That Patterson Girl (1955), That Patterson Girl Volume 2 (1956), Ottilie (1959), and the LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
Chris Barber's Blues Book (1961); she also appeared on numerous Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
records.
From 1963 or so she began to suffer throat problems and ceased to appear and record regularly with Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
, officially retiring from the band in 1973.
During this period she recorded some non-jazz/blues material such as settings of Shakespeare (with Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
) and in 1969 issued a solo LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
3000 years with Ottilie which is now much sought by collectors.
In early 1983 Ottilie and Chris Barber
Chris Barber
Donald Christopher 'Chris' Barber is best known as a jazz trombonist. As well as scoring a UK top twenty trad jazz hit he helped the careers of many musicians, notably the blues singer Ottilie Patterson, who was at one time his wife, and vocalist/banjoist Lonnie Donegan, whose appearances with...
gave a series of concerts around London,
which were recorded for the LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
Madame Blues and Doctor Jazz (1984).
This is her most recently issued recording.
Discography
Dates below are issue dates - if the recording date is very different it is noted.Deleted CDs have the catalogue number
The principal source for this discography is Bielderman and Purser's Chris Barber discography.
Singles
- St Louis Blues / The World Is Waiting For The Sunrise (Decca FJ 10724) (1955) (OP on first side only)
- I Hate A Man Like You / Reckless Blues (Decca F 10472) (1955)
- Weeping Willow Blues / Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out (Decca F 10621) (1955)
- Kay-Cee Rider / I Love My Baby (Pye 7N 15109) (1957)
- Jailhouse Blues / Beale Street Blues (Pye 7NJ 2015) (1958)
- Trombone Cholly / Lawdy, Lawdy Blues (Pye 7NJ 2025) (1958)
- There'll Be A Hot Time In The Old Town Tonight / Lonesome (Si Tu Vois Ma Mere) (Columbia DB 4333) (1959) (OP on first side only)
- The Mountains Of Mourne / Real Old Mountain Dew (Columbia DB 4531) (1960)
- Blueberry Hill / I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby (Columbia DB 4760) (1961)
- Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean / Swipsy Cakewalk (Columbia SCD 2156) (1962) (OP on first side only)
- Down By The Riverside / When The Saints Go Marching In (Columbia DB 4817) (1962)
- I Hate Myself / Come On Baby (Columbia DB 4834) (1962)
- Jealous Heart / Won't Be Long (Columbia DB 7140) (1963)
- Baby Please Don't Go / I Feel So Good (Columbia DB 7208) (1964) (with Sonny Boy Williamson IISonny Boy Williamson IIWillie "Sonny Boy" Williamson was an American blues harmonica player, singer and songwriter, from Mississippi. He is acknowledged as one of the most charismatic and influential blues musicians, with considerable prowess on the harmonica and highly creative songwriting skills...
) - Hello Dolly / I Shall Not Be Moved (Columbia DB 7297) (1964) (OP on first side only)
- Tell Me Where Is Fancy Bred / Oh Me What Eyes Hath Love Put In My Head (Columbia DB 7332) (1964)
- Spring Song / Sound Of The Door As It Closes (Marmalade 598 016) (1969)
- Bitterness Of Death / Spring Song (Marmalade 598 020) (1969)
- Careless Love / The Georgia Grind (Fat Hen FM 001) (1982)
EPs
- That Patterson Girl (Jazz Today JTE 102) (1955)
- Blues (Decca DFE 6303) (1956)
- That Patterson Girl Volume 2 (Pye Jazz Today NJE 1023) (1956)
- Ottilie (Columbia SEG 7915) (1960)
- Ottilie Swings The Irish (Columbia SEG 7998) (1960)
Solo LPs
- Ottilie's Irish Night (Pye NPL 18028) (1959)
- 3000 years with Ottilie (Marmalade 608 011) (1969)
- Spring Song (Polydor 2384 031) (1969)
- Back In The Old Days (Timeless CBJBLP 4001) (1988) (recorded 1959-1962)
LPs with Chris Barber
- Chris Barber Plays (Jazz Today JTL 3) (1955) (OP on 2 tracks)
- Echoes Of Harlem (Pye Nixa NJL 1) (1955) (OP on 2 tracks)
- Chris Barber In Concert (Pye Nixa NJL 6) (1957) (OP on 3 tracks)
- Chris Barber Plays Volume Four (Pye Nixa NJT 508) (1957) (OP on 2 tracks)
- Chris Barber In Concert Volume Two (Pye Nixa NJL 15) (1958) (OP on 2 tracks)
- Chris Barber In Concert Volume Three (Pye Nixa NJL 17) (1958) (OP on 4 tracks)
- Chris Barber Band Box Volume One (Columbia 33SX1158) (1959) (OP on 2 tracks)
- Barber in Berlin (Columbia 33SX1189) (1960) (OP on 1 track)
- Chris Barber's Blues Book Volume One (Columbia 33SX1333) (1961) (OP on all 12 tracks)
- Chris Barber at the London Palladium (Columbia 33SX1346) (1961) (OP on 2 tracks)
- Best Yet! Chris Barber Band Box - Volume Three (Columbia 33SX1401) (1962) (OP on 3 tracks)
- Chris Barber Jazz Band (Qualiton LPX 7195) (1962) (OP on 3 tracks)
- Chris Barber's Jazz Band In Prague (Supraphon ST 65101) (1963) (OP on 4 tracks)
- Folk Barber Style (Decca LK 4742) (1965) (OP on 3 tracks)
- Good Mornin' Blues (Columbia 33SX1657) (1965) (OP on 5 tracks)
- Chris Barber V Praze (Panton 01 0273) (1971) (OP on 6 tracks)
- The Chris Barber Jubilee Album 1 (Black Lion BLP 12124/5) (1975) (OP on 1 track, recorded 1958)
- The Chris Barber Jubilee Album 2 (Black Lion BLP 12126/7) (1975) (OP on 4 tracks, recorded 1958-1964)
- The Chris Barber Jubilee Album 3 (Black Lion BLP 12128/9) (1975) (OP on 4 tracks, recorded 1970)
- Madame Blues & Doctor Jazz (Black Lion BLM 51101) (1984) (OP on all 9 tracks)
Other LPs featuring Ottilie Patterson
- 12th International Jazz Festival Ljubljana 71 (Suzy LP 303) (1971) (OP on 1 track)
- Muddy Waters In Concert 1958 (Krazy Kat KK 7405) (1982) (with Muddy WatersMuddy WatersMcKinley Morganfield , known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues musician, generally considered the "father of modern Chicago blues"...
, OP on 1 track, recorded 1958)
CDs
- Ottilie Patterson with Chris Barber's Jazzband 1955-1958 (
Lake LACD30) (1993) (OP on all 18 tracks, recorded 1955-1958) - Madame Blues & Doctor Jazz (
Black Lion BLCD760506) (1994) (OP on all 9 tracks, recorded 1983) - 40 Years Jubilee (Timeless CD TTD 586) (1994) (OP on 9 tracks, recorded 1955-1956)
- The Chris Barber Concerts (
Lake LACD55/56) (1995) (OP on 9 tracks, recorded 1956-1958) - Chris Barber's Blues Book Volume One / Good Mornin' Blues (BGO BGOCD380) (1997) (OP on 17 tracks, 12 recorded 1960, 5 recorded 1964)
- Echoes of Harlem / Sonny, Brownie and Chris (
Lake LACD87) (1997) (OP on 2 tracks, recorded 1955) - Back In The Old Days (
Timeless CBJBCD 4001 or CBJCCD 4001) (1999) (OP on all 18 tracks, recorded 1959-1962) - Ottilie Patterson with Chris Barber (Jazz Colours 874742-2) (2000) (OP on all 12 tracks, 9 recorded 1983, 1 recorded 1958, 1 recorded 1964, 1 recorded 1970)
- Chris Barber at the BBC (Upbeat URCD158) (2000) (OP on 4 tracks, recorded 1963)
- Chris Barber's Jazz Band With Special Guest Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Lake LACD130) (2000) (with Sister Rosetta TharpeSister Rosetta TharpeSister Rosetta Tharpe was an Amercian pioneering gospel singer, songwriter and recording artist who attained great popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and early rock and roll accompaniment...
, OP on 1 track, recorded 1957) - Irish Favourites (Pulse PLS CD 166) (2001) (OP on 8 tracks, recorded 1958)
- The Best Of Chris Barber's Jazz Band (EMI 7243 5 40181 2 1) (2002) (OP on 5 tracks, recorded 1964)
- In Barber's Chair (Lake LACD185) (2003) (OP on 3 tracks, recorded 1960-1962)
- Bandbox No. 1 (Lake LACD194) (2004) (OP on 5 tracks, recorded 1959-1960)
- The Nixa Jazz Today Albums (Sanctuary CMBXBX 981) (2004) (OP on 15 tracks, recorded 1955-1958)
- International Concerts: Berlin, Copenhagen, London (Lake LACD210D) (2005) (OP on 3 tracks, recorded 1959-1961)
- Best Yet! (Lake LACD219) (2005) (OP on 7 tracks, recorded 1961-1962)
- The Complete Decca Sessions 1954/55 (Lake LACD141D) (2006) (OP on 5 tracks, recorded 1955)
- Chris Barber 1955 (Lake LACB235) (2006) (OP on 2 tracks, recorded 1955)
- Folk Barber Style (Vocalion CDLF 8118) (2006) (OP on 3 tracks, recorded 1964)
- That Patterson Girl (Lake LACD244) (2007) (OP on all 23 tracks, recorded 1955-1963)
- Chris Barber 1956 (Lake LACD246) (2007) (OP on 3 tracks, recorded 1956)
External links
- Obituary in The Guardian
- Obituary in The Independent
- Ottilie Patterson performing 'Steamboat Bill' on the Six-Five SpecialSix-Five SpecialThe Six-Five Special is a British television programme launched in February 1957 when both television and rock and roll were in their infancy in Britain.-Description:...
, BBC TV 1958. Accessed October 2008 - Ottilie Patterson compilation YouTube. Accessed October 2008