Fontella Bass RIP

It seems one weekend in August 1965, there was a jam session at the Chess Studios in Chicago. Present were 19-year-old blind pianist Raynard Miner and his songwriting partner Carl Smith, Chess producer Roquel "Billy" Davis - and Fontella Bass, 25. Other musicians included session men Maurice White (drums) and Louis Satterfield (on bass) - both were in Chicago group The Jazzmen, later The Pharoahs. Gene Barge was on tenor saxophone. Among the backing singers was Minnie Riperton (who worked with Raynard in The Gems).

The songwriting credit for their effort - "Rescue Me" - went to Miner and Smith. But by 1990, Fontella had got her cut. “When we were recording that, I forgot some of the words,” she told The New York Times in 1989. “Back then, you didn’t stop while the tape was running, and I remembered from the church what to do if you forget the words. I sang, ‘Ummm, ummm, ummm,’ and it worked out just fine.”

Raynard went on to write "Higher and Higher", made into a hit for Jackie Wilson.
Billy Davis went on to write several Coke jingles, including "I'd Like To Buy The World A Coke" with Roger Cook.
Maurice White moved on via The Ramsey Lewis Trio to form Earth Wind and Fire.
Louis "Lui Lui" Satterfield joined him, as a trombonist.
Minnie Riperton's group The Gems morphed into Girls Three and The Starlets, Then she recorded with Rotary Connection, and under the names Andrea Davis, before her solo career under her own name.
Gene Barge seems still to playing in Chicago, with The Chicago Rhythm and Blues Kings, aged 86.