TRANSCRIPT:
I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Mabel King was born in Charleston but raised in the Bronx. From the age of two months, King began her career singing gospel with the Sincere Four. She made her mark in the 1950s and ’60s, recording for Rama and Amy Records. In 1956, she shared stages with legends like Fats Domino, lighting up venues from Harlem to the Apollo and Brooklyn’s Alan Freed shows.
Though known early on as a standout blues singer—called “a great one” by scholar James A. McGowan—King’s talents didn’t stop there. Her star rose even higher in theater and film, becoming iconic as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wiz, a chorus member on the recording of the all-black production of Hello, Dolly!, and appearing in The Jerk as Steve Martin’s mom.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, co-produced by ColaJazz and SC Public Radio, made possible by The ETV Endowment of South Carolina.