Abbey Lincoln’s Birthday

A few words on jazz singer, activist, and occasional actress Abbey Lincoln (Anna Marie Wooldridge,1930-2010).

First, what a crazy-good stage name, right? I just like the sound of it, period. But more than, it seems a kind of irreverent, sassy homage to The Great Emancipator, very much in the spirit of that song “Abie Baby” in Hair. A Chicago native, Lincoln was of the be bop generation, and one of the principal singers who picked up the torch of Billie Holiday. Her long and prolific recording career began in 1956, with a repertoire that ranged from standards to Lincoln’s own compositions (a rarity among jazz vocalists, if you think about it).

Lincoln was collaborating with drummer Max Roach as early as her second album That’s Him (1958), and intensified the relationship on his records Moon Faced and Starry Eyed (1959), Love for Sale (1960), We Insist! Freedom Now Suite (1960), Percussion Bitter Sweet (1961), and It’s Time (1962). The pair were married between 1962 and 1970.

Her earliest television appearances were on The Steve Allen Plymouth Show, and she also sang on The Hollywood Palace and Flip (Flip Wilson’s variety show), while occasionally appearing on talk shows like those of Mike Douglas and David Frost. She performed in the movie The Girl Can’t Help It (1956). She dabbled a little in acting with appearances in the films Nothing But a Man (1964), For the Love of Ivy (1968), the tv movie Short Walk to Daylight (1972) and Spike Lee’sMo’ Better Blues (1990), and on episodes of the tv programs Mission: Impossible,Marcus Welby M.D., and All in the Family.

Lincoln was also notable getting in on the ground floor of the Black is Beautiful movement, backing the “Naturally 62” Fashion Show starring the Grandassa Models, which helped popularize the “Afro” hairstyle, which of course isn’t a style at all, but more like allowing your hair to grow out naturally and taking pride in the result. For about a decade the style was closely identified with the Black Power movement, during which time Lincoln looked more like this:

She continued to turn out albums through the 1980s, ’90s, and into the next century. A notable one was You Gotta Pay the Band (1991), which she made with Stan Getz, and was accompanied by an eponymous TV documentary which featured admirers and colleagues like Roach, Spike Lee (who had just worked with her on Mo’ Better Blues, and surely knew her through his jazz playing father), Tony Bennett, and Ruth Brown.

Later in life her style was more like this:

Heart problems forced Abbey Lincoln’s retirement in 2007. She passed away three years later.

For more on show biz historyconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, and stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.