Louisiana Cultural Vistas - Spring 2009 - (Page 51) “My brother had taken him some records, some little homemade records we made, but they didn’t come out too well of course, but what do you expect from a homemade record! But he [Joe] was trying to help me But anyway, he took these records out to Mr. Dexter, some of the things we had done at home on our little recorder.” Following the March of Dimes broadcast, Nellie’s career blossomed. Able to select her own musicians, Nellie, with Ulysses Livingston on guitar, Billy Hadnott on bass, and Lee Young on drums, recorded four songs in one day: “The One I Love Belongs to Someone Else,” “The Lady’s in Love with You,” “Hurry On Down,” and “You Better Watch Yourself, Bub.” Between recordings for Capitol, Nellie sang in clubs in New York, Chicago, and Las Vegas, managing her own bookings. With the flood of requests from promoters across the country, Dexter suggested that Nellie sign with agent Carlos Gastel. Since Gastel had a reputation of dealing with his clients honestly and fairly, Nellie signed with him. Gastel booked Nellie into bigger clubs like Manhattan’s Cafe Society Downtown, above: Nellie Lutcher poses with her trio (from left) Joe Louis, Doogy Williams and George Williams. below: Nellie Lutcher performed aboard the Ile de France cruise ship, 1950. Spring 2009/LOUISIANA CULTURAL VISTAS 51
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