Della Reese

Artist: Della Reese

LP: Della Della Cha Cha Cha

Song: "Always True to You In My Fashion"

[ listen ]

Born to an African-American father and a Native-American (Cherokee) mother in Detroit in 1931, Deloreese Patricia Early was hired to sing with Mahalia Jackson's Gospel group when she was just 13 years old. She moved to New York City in 1953, where she recorded for Jubilee Records and was named 1957's "Most Promising Singer" by Billboard, Variety and Cashbox magazines. After a string of both major and minor hits through the 1960s, in 1970 Della Reese was the first black woman to guest-host "The Tonight Show." This led to other work in television, including a guest appearance on Match Game and a lengthy stint as Tess, the "angelic supervisor" on the hit show "Touched By An Angel" from 1994 to 2003. You can read more about the life and career of Della Reese on Wikipedia here and on her official website here. "Della Della Cha Cha Cha" was produced by a pair of cousins named Hugo & Luigi; the album was recorded in 1960 and released on RCA in 1961. I picked up this copy at an antique store in Rapid City, South Dakota last summer; it has some water damage on the cover, but I love it just the same.

  

  

 

[ Della Reese ]