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A.B. Spellman: Music seems to be in your DNA. Your family were all entertainers,
all vaudevillians. Annie Ross: I was born after a matinee.
We were on tour. That's why I was born in London. Because we were so working class
and poor, my father said to her right after I was born, "Do you think you'll be able to
do the night show?" And my mother reportedly threw an iron at him.
A.B. Spellman: In '52 you had this wonderful hit, Twisted. Can you tell me about how
that came to be? Annie Ross: Well I met Bob Weinstock who
had Prestige and he said, "Can you write lyrics?" I said, "Sure." I mean if he'd have said
can you fly, I would have said yes. He said, "Well, here's a pile of records. Write some
words to a song and call me." So I called him the next morning and I said, "I've got
words to Twisted." I went, I sang for him and he arranged a record date. I was one
of the first women. I think, who ever wrote lyrics. I was visiting a friend of mine
and he said, "Do you know Dave Lambert? He's with a guy called John Hendricks. They
have an idea to record Basie things with words. Why don't you stick around? They're coming
over and you'll meet them." And I said, "Okay." They sang a Basie thing and it was
intriguing. About two days later, I got a phone call and it was Dave Lambert and he
said, "Annie, we've hired session singers and they're incredible. They hit every note,
but they don't swing." And Dave said, "I have an idea. We'll multi-track." When
the voices were added and it was layer upon layer and that was one of the great moments
of my life was standing in front of those loudspeakers and hearing the assembly of
Every Day, you know? It was like a fantastic gift. A.B. Spellman: What advice would you have
for young singers coming into music now? Annie Ross: Listen. Listen. Listen to
all musicians. That's what I tell my band. Listen to each other. That's the most important
thing. And listen to music. It cures all ills.
Music is forever.