Annisteen Allen, born Ernestine Letitia Allen (November 11, 1920, Champaign, Illinois

Champaign, Illinois

Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...

 - August 10, 1992, Harlem

Harlem

Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...

, New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

) was an American blues

Blues

Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...

 singer.

Allen's first recordings were made in 1945, and included "Miss Annie's Blues" and "Love for Sale

Love For Sale

Love for Sale may refer to:* "Love for Sale" , a song by Cole Porter initially from the 1930 musical The New Yorkers* Love for Sale Love for Sale may refer to:* "Love for Sale" (song), a song by Cole Porter initially from the 1930 musical The New Yorkers* Love for Sale Love for Sale may refer to:*...

". She sang with Big John Greer

Big John Greer

Big John Greer was an American blues tenor saxophonist and vocalist, best known for his recordings from 1949 to 1955, which included "Got You On My Mind" and "Bottle It Up And Go."...

, Wynonie Harris

Wynonie Harris

Wynonie Harris , born in Omaha, Nebraska, was an American blues shouter and rhythm and blues singer of upbeat songs, featuring humorous, often ribald lyrics. With fifteen Top 10 hits between 1946 and 1952, Harris is generally considered one of rock and roll's forerunners, influencing Elvis Presley...

, and Lucky Millinder

Lucky Millinder

Lucius Venable "Lucky" Millinder was an American rhythm and blues and swing bandleader. Although he could not read or write music, did not play an instrument and rarely sang, his showmanship and musical taste made his bands successful...

, and in 1951, Federal Records

Federal Records

Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to Rhythm & Blues releases. But also hillbilly and rockabilly recordings were released,...

 signed her to sing with Millinder's orchestra. She scored other hits with Millinder such as "I'll Never Be Free", "Let It Roll", "Moanin' the Blues", and "More, More, More". Federal's parent company, King Records

King Records (USA)

King Records is an American record label, started in 1943 by Syd Nathan and originally headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.-History:At first it specialized in country music, at the time still known as "hillbilly music." King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly -- If it's a Hillbilly, it's a...

, acquired her in 1953, but after releasing "Baby I'm Doing It", Apollo Records

Apollo Records

Apollo Records may refer to:* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - US based company* Apollo Records - Belgian-based company* Apollo Records - US based company...

 sued King for copyright infringement

Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works under copyright, infringing the copyright holder's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works.- "Piracy" :...

, and as a result King dropped her from its roster. She then signed with Capitol Records

Capitol Records

Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...

 and did tours with Joe Morris

Joe Morris

Joe Morris is the name of:* Joe Morris , British film writer, producer and director. * Joe Morris , American jazz guitarist * Joe Morris , American studio drummer...

 and The Orioles

The Orioles

The Orioles were a successful and influential American R&B group of the late 1940s and early 1950s, one of the earliest such vocal bands who established the basic pattern for the doo-wop sound....

. In 1955 she scored a hit in the U.S. with "Fujiyama Mama". She became a solo artist in the 1960s.