Sugar Pie De Santo at Academy of Da Corner

Blues Living Legend Sugar Pie De Santo at Academy of Da Corner



Jermaine, Attorney Walter Riley, Sugar Pie De Santo,
Plato Negro (Marvin X)







Attorney Walter Riley, Gregory Fields, Sugar Pie De Santo, Plato Negro (Marvin X)



Plato Negro's Academy of Da Corner was honored with the presence of blues living legend Sugar Pie De Santo recently. She agreed to a photo op.

Sugar Pie DeSanto (born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton, October 16, 1935, Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American rhythm and blues singer of the 1950s and 1960s.

Biography

She was born to an African American mother and Filipino father. She spent most of her early life in San Francisco, California, where she moved with her family at a young age.

In 1955, DeSanto did some touring with The Johnny Otis Revue. From 1959 to 1960, she toured with The James Brown Revue.

In 1960, DeSanto rose to national prominence when her single "I Want to Know" reached number four on Billboard's Hot R&B chart. DeSanto continued to release popular songs throughout the 1960s, including some collaborations with her cousin Etta James. Though it had often been said that her stage performances far surpassed her studio recordings, a full length live recording, Classic Sugar Pie, was not released until 1997.

DeSanto was given a Bay Area Music Award in 1999 for best female blues singer. In October 2006, her husband, Jesse Davis, died attempting to extinguish a fire that destroyed their apartment in Oakland, California. DeSanto received a lifetime achievement award from the Goldie Awards in November 2009.

Popular singles

• "I Want to Know" (with the Pee Wee Kingsley Band) (1960) #4 U.S. R&B
• "Slip-In Mules (No High Heel Sneakers)" (1964) # U.S. 48
• "Soulful Dress" (1964)
• "Use What You Got" (1964)
• "Do I Make Myself Clear" (with Etta James) (1965) U.S. #96.
• "In the Basement - Part 1" (with Etta James) (1966) U.S. #37, U.S. R&B #97