Blues, Boogie and Torch Ballads 1945-1958

A powerful, versatile pianist with a smoky, sultry voice, perfectly suited to torch ballads, Hadda Brooks' boogie-woogie styled 78s were massive sellers on the US West Coast in the immediate post-WWII jukebox era, earning her the title "The Queen Of The Boogie". A classically-trained pianist, she'd previously worked with legendary tap-dance choreographer Willie Covan, rehearsing stars like Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Shirley Temple and Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

This compilation presents Hadda at the very peak of her recording career, for Modern, London, OKeh and Crown, between 1945-58. It features her R&B hits That's My Desire, Out Of The Blue, What Have I Done, Romance In The Dark and also I Hadn't Anyone Till You, which she famously sang in the Humphrey Bogart film noir classic, In A Lonely Place. An overview of her recorded output, encompassing piano boogies and vocals, this anthology includes all her hits and signature songs, the first time that this body of work has been thus assembled.