Vanita Smythe

Artist

Vanita Smythe

 Favorite

About

American jazz singer and actress, born January 13, 1925 in Detroit Michigan, died January 1994 in the same city. She was married to Clarence Paul.
The third of seven children, her parents were Grady and Gertrude McCray Smith, and she was named after her maternal grandmother, Lou Vannie Donaldson.
In a professional capacity she was first mentioned in the Indianapolis Recorder in August 1945, named as Vannie Smith and being the star of Billy Williams' Creole Follies, a week-long show at the 440 Club. However, the following month she appeared billed as Vanita Smythe at the Cotton Club in Buffalo, New York. She came to the attention of the fledgling film director, William Forest Crouch, who produced and directed soundies through Filmcraft Productions in New York. Between January and May 1946, Smythe was filmed in eight of them. Several of the soundies also featured the pianist and songwriter Dan Burley or fellow songwriter Claude Demetrius. Smythe's roles varied, incorporating some acting and singing, and several of the songs within the soundies were written by notables such as Louis Jordan, Hot Lips Page, Burley and Demetrius. The following year, Smythe's filmed rendition of "They Raided the Joint" was integrated into Ebony Parade, an Astor Pictures film that opened in New York in early July. The film was a collection of old soundies, each introduced by the "fortune teller", Mantan Moreland. Through these connections, Smythe was cast as "Rusty", in Louis Jordan's 1947 Astor Pictures film, Reet, Petite, and Gone, which was also produced and directed by Crouch.
In April 1947, Smythe performed at Henry Armstrong's Melody Room in Harlem on the same bill as the 5 Kings. In June she trod the boards again at Smalls Paradise in Harlem, in a one-night show put on by Dan Burley. In October, she appeared as part of the annual benefit dance put on by the Good Hearts Welfare Association at Harlem's Renaissance Ballroom. Smythe's career went into a hiatus before signing in March 1950 to Regal Records. She recorded four tracks for the label; "Lonesome For You", "I Want My Baby Back", "Until I Fell For You" (written by Howard Biggs), and "You Got Me Crying Again". "Lonesome For You" / "I Want My Baby Back" was issued as a single early in 1950, whilst "Until I Fell For You" / "You Got Me Crying Again" was released later the same year. Neither record was a commercial success. The sum total of her stage performances did not run into double figures, and all of them took place around New York City. Smythe married in 1951 and her professional career came to a close.
Vanita Smythe Pauling died in Detroit on January 18, 1994, aged 69.

Data provided by Discogs

Top Tracks

Most popular songs on Last.fm · click ▶ to preview on Spotify

1

Back Door Man

Vanita Smythe

2

Until I Fell For You

Vanita Smythe

3

You Got Me Crying AGain

Vanita Smythe

4

They Raided the Joint 1946

Vanita Smythe

5

Does You Do or Does You Don't

Vanita Smythe

Releases

No releases found yet · refresh to fetch from Discogs

Setlists

No setlists found yet · refresh to fetch from Setlist.fm

All · 0

Setlist data provided by Setlist.fm

No setlists found.

Missing a show? Setlists sync automatically every 7 days.

Community Feed

Posts from fans about this artist

🎟️ Upcoming Shows

No upcoming shows. Follow to get notified when new dates are announced.

Concert Tickets available at StubHub!

People Also Ask

Vanita Smythe's most-played tracks include Back Door Man, Until I Fell For You, You Got Me Crying AGain, They Raided the Joint 1946, Does You Do or Does You Don't. Listen to these songs and explore more from their catalog on this page.

American jazz singer and actress, born January 13, 1925 in Detroit Michigan, died January 1994 in the same city. She was married to Clarence Paul.The third of seven children, her parents were Grady and Gertrude McCray Smith, and she was named after... Read the full biography on this page.

You can find Vanita Smythe vinyl records, CDs and collectibles on eBay. Browse the selection of new and used releases available for purchase.

Join the community

Follow Vanita Smythe

Get notified about new tour dates, releases, and updates. Join thousands of fans tracking their favorite bands.

Free forever · No credit card required

Follow Vanita Smythe