Denise LaSalle
Denise LaSalle
Ora Denise Allen (born July 16, 1934 – January 8, 2018, Belzoni, Mississippi) known by the stage name Denise LaSalle, was an American blues and R&B/soul singer, songwriter, and record producer. LaSalle, who maintains an enormous following in the Deep South, was recognized as a Queen of the Blues.
Born near Sidon, Mississippi, and raised in Belzoni, she sang in church choirs before moving to Chicago in the early 1960s. She sat in with R&B musicians and wrote songs, influenced by country music as well as the blues, before winning a recording contract with Chess Records in 1967. Her first single, "A Love Reputation" was a modest regional hit.
She established an independent production company, Crajon, with her then-husband Bill Jones. Her song "Trapped By A Thing Called Love" (1971) was released on Detroit-based Westbound Records. This reached #1 on the national R&B chart and #13 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song ranked at #85 on the 1971 year-end chart. The RIAA gold disc award was made on 30 November 1971 for a million sales.
She also wrote successful follow-ups, "Now Run And Tell That" and "Man-Sized Job" which made #3 and #4 in the R&B Top Ten and also charted in the Hot 100. She continued to have hits on Westbound and then on ABC Records through the mid-1970s, including "Love Me Right" (#10 R&B, #80 pop
In the early 1980s, she signed as a singer and songwriter with Malaco Records, for whom she released a string of critically acclaimed albums over more than 20 years, starting with Lady in the Street (1983) and Right Place, Right Time(1984). Both albums became major successes among blues, R&B, and soul fans and on urban radio stations. In 1985, she enjoyed her only recognition in the UK Singles Chart, when her cover version of Rockin' Sidney's, "My Toot Toot", reached #6.
After more than a decade away from recording, she returned to Malaco for her 2010 outing called "24 Hour Woman".
She continued to work as a live performer, particularly at festivals and branched out into the gospel genre. In 2011, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
LaSalle lived with her husband, James E. Wolfe, in Jackson, Tennessee, where she opened a restaurant called Blues Legend Cafe.
In 2013, LaSalle was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the 'Soul Blues Female Artist' category.
After suffering from heart problems, and complications from a fall having resulted in her right leg being amputated in October 2017, LaSalle died surrounded by her family, at the age of 83, on January 8, 2018.
(Denise LaSalle at he 3rd Annual Poconos Blues Festival 1994)