Oh how great it was to stumble upon a rare beauty such as this! What a voice! What a set of lungs this woman has! With virtually nothing out there about this extraordinary singer, I was lucky enough to find a Billboard magazine article dated from September 1960 which has allowed me to unearth a brief outline of who Hannah Dean was!!
The write-up seems to be one of the first reviews out there about this soul sensation and states how: “Hannah Dean is a new name on the scene via the release of her first Columbia Record, ‘So Little Time/Itty Bitty Love’. Until two months ago she was a Los Angeles housewife whose only singing outlet was the L.A Baptist church. She was heard at the church by a talent scout who encouraged her to make a demonstration record that found its way to Columbia Records and resulted in a contract. Irving Townsend, Executive producer for Columbia in Hollywood, describes Miss Dean’s style as a “mixture of rhythm and blues and rock’n’roll sung with the feeling and unbuttoned phrasing of a gospel singer'”
From housewife to superstar in a blink of an eye, this was a remarkable transition for Dean, but is it any wonder? I mean, if you were confronted with a gift like this and had the chance to share this find with the world, you wouldn’t hesitate would you!? … Tracking down her singles it looks like she recorded with Columbia Records for at least three years, but what happened after that I cant tell you? If anyone can, do let me know?
Released in January 1961, “Strange Man” is big, bold and beautifully delivered with Dean’s mighty voice adoringly revering the strange qualities of her love as she passionately declares “Strange man/Strange in every way/ Please. please, please love me as strange as you can….” It’s quite a beauty..check it out above.
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Thank you very much for this link, much appreciated!
This is such a beautiful track and its so cool to know you are loving it as much!
Thank you for linking my page to yours x
Ruth – The Listening Post Blog
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Hannah Dean is my Biological mother if you want more info about her please call me my name is Bruce Kinney.
My mothers married name is Mary E Kinney. My phone # is 762-778-0089
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Hi Bruce, great to hear from you! Thank you for reaching out and getting in touch! I’d love to discover more about your mother, what a great opportunity this is! So good to meet you. I am not in the US, however, I am based in the UK.
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Great to hear from you also. I always new that her life would make a great screen play Movie like the Biography Of The American Unsung ??. Growing up with my mother was awesome and majestic there was never a dull moment. I am heavily influenced by my mom. Im also a musician and singer as well. She told me that Mahalia Jackson Gave her the Stage Name Hannah Dean as they were both on the same Columbia Record Agency. Also HB Barnum was always my mothers favorite piano player. Ok so it was either Mahalia or Cicely Tyson??? That gave her the name. Contact me anytime I would love to collaborate and write this story I have three brothers and sisters that have lots of great stories too?? Her life was full of character, drive and excitement but most of all Love💗
On Sun, Feb 6, 2022, 6:05 PM thelisteningpostblog.wordpress.com wrote:
> The Listening Post Blog commented: “Hi Bruce, great to hear from you! > Thank you for reaching out and getting in touch! I’d love to discover more > about your mother, what a great opportunity this is! So good to meet you. I > am not in the US, however, I am based in the UK. ” >
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Hello Bruce
Indeed!! Your Mother’s life would make for a very interesting screenplay! There are so many artists out there just waiting to be discovered and there is never enough coverage. We never want their music or their lives to fade into obscurity! It’s also great to discover how she was given her name!! You are so lucky to have grown up in such a musical world and I am so glad to hear you are also a musician – do you have any recorded music? It would be great to bring some of her career to life, to be able to add more detail to allow others to learn about this great woman!
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