Vera Hall

Born Adel Hall, near Livingston, Alabama, USA, 1902 (date unconfirmed); died January 29, 1964 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

A cook and washerwoman all her life, who also sang folk songs, country blues, and old-time spirituals of the 19th century. She was born Adel Hall, but adopted her nickname, Vera Hall, at an early age. Furthermore, she was married and separated a number of times, changing her name on each occasion. Names she is known by are: Adel Hall, Vera Ward Hall, Vera Hall-John, Vera Ward, and Adel Ward.

She was recorded by [a=John Lomax], the renouned ethnomusicologist, for the Library of Congress 1937-1940, and by his son [a=Alan Lomax] in 1959. More recently, her rendition of the early spiritual [i]Troubled So Hard[/i] was sampled by [a=Moby] on his 1999 hit album [i]Play[/i] in the song [i]Natural Blues[/i].

Cousin of [a1161564] and [a2599856].