Artist:Ketty LesterSong:Love Letters
Album:The Golden Age Of American Rock 'n' Roll Volume 3
As a singer, Ketty Lester is known for the 1962 top five hit Love Letters. But when music wasn't working out for her, she turned to acting and has had a long career mostly on TV. She was born Revoyda Frierson Aug. 16, 1934 in Hope, AR. She was one of 15 children growing up on her dad's farm and also sang in church. She moved to California in 1955 to study nursing at San Francisco State and sang in clubs as Ketty Lester. She appeared on the TV game show You Bet Your Life and toured Europe with Cab Calloway. In 1962, she recorded her first single Queen For A Day for Everest Records. Comedienne Dorothy Shay then introduced Ketty to producers Ed Cobb and Lincoln Mayorga. Cobb was a member of The Four Preps and Mayorga was a studio musician who worked with Cobb on the 1960 hit Brontosaurus Stomp by The Piltdown Men. They got Ketty a contract with Herb Newman's Era Records. I'm A Fool To Want You was the first single. Love Letters was on the B side. But DJs liked Love Letters better and turned it over and the record reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100. Love Letters was the theme of the 1945 film starring Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten. It was written by veteran film composer Victor Young. Lyricist Edward Heyman added words and Dick Haymes scored a top twenty hit in 1945. And Elvis Presley had a top 20 hit with the song in 1966. But Ketty Lester's version was the biggest hit. She also charted with her cover of the Gershwin song But Not For Me. She moved to RCA in 1964. When she wasn't having much success as a singer, she turned to acting and won a Theater World Award for her performance off Broadway in Cabin In The Sky. Supposedly she was offered the lead in the groundbreaking 1968 sitcom Julia. Of course the role went to Diahann Carroll. She is best known for playing Hester Sue Terhune in Little House On The Prairie and was also a regular on the daytime soaps Days Of Our Lives and Rituals. Her last acting role was as Viveca A. Fox's grandmother on the 1998 sitcom Getting Personal. You can get Love Letters on this great various artists comp from Ace Records. Here's Ketty Lester performing Love Letters on Shindig 1964.
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