Nancy Wilson - Biography

Last Editor: dmrhoad				Nancy Wilson Biography -   Name : Nancy Wilson Birth Date : February 20, 1937 Birth Place : Chillicothe, Ohio Education : N/A Nationality : USA Profession : Jazz Singer

Nancy Wilson Trivia -

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Nancy Wilson Detailed Biography -

Nancy Wilson blurs the line between jazz singer and pop singer, preferring to be called a "song stylist." Born on February 20, 1937, she is younger than Elvis, Little Richard and Esther Phillips and only a year older than Etta James and Tina Turner. Yet, she is worlds away from these rhythm rocking contemporaries, stylistically speaking. Nancy is more like an earlier generation of vocalists, i.e. Nat Cole, Sarah Vaughan or Billy Eckstine. Yet, she is more modern. At 15 she won a talent show in Columbus, Ohio. The prize was her own twice-a-week television show, Skyline Melodies. A member of Rusty Bryant's band at the Carolyn Club, she also sat in with any band that would let her at other local clubs. One night it was Cannonball Adderley, who was so impressed that he told her to look him up if she ever came to New York. In 1959, the ambitious young singer did just that, which then led to her meeting her long-time manager John Levy who got her signed to Capitol Records. "What I heard that night," recalled Capitol A&R man Dave Cavanaugh, "was the nasal quality of Dinah [Washington] and the tear of Billie [Holiday]. I signed her immediately." An early single, 1961's "Guess Who I Saw Today," a marvel of sophistication given the teen tenor of the times, became a staple on jazz radio and in black juke box locations throughout urban America. An album with her discoverer, NANCY WILSON/CANNONBALL ADDERLEY, further raised her jazz profile in 1962 and provided her with a second juke box hit, an edited-for-45 version of Buddy Johnson's "Save Your Love For Me." She has also paid tribute to her idol, Little Jimmy Scott, with a much-loved version of "When Did You Leave Heaven." Nancy's highest charting Capitol singles, the GrammyŌ-winning "(You Don't Know) How Glad I Am" (#11 Pop, 1964) and "You're As Right As Rain" (#10 R&B, 1974), are highlights in the total of 20 Pop and/or R&B-charting singles for Capitol.