Sara Bolling Mason Hutchins was an American sultry jazz singer from the 1950’s-60’s. Born April 27, 1934, in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. Married to pianist René DeKnight (1963) and after their divorce she was romantically linked to actor Warren Beatty in the late 1970s.
She was the daughter of Sarah (Pat) Mason and pro golfer Carlos Hutchins. She attended Douglass High School and began performing at 16 in 1950. Accompanied by her mother, she used the stage name Sally Blair (also spelled Sallie), while performing at local clubs such as Gamby’s, the Casino, and Eddie Leonard’s Spa. She performed in clubs in Chicago and Los Angeles before replacing an ailing act at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria. After graduation, she toured with Johnny Otis and then Duke Ellington. In 1953, tired of one-nighters, she left the band business in Los Angeles to pursue a solo career.
Her solo career developed pursuant to her winning sequential prizes on “The Chance Of A Lifetime” program on ABC-TV hosted by Dennis James which landed her a booking at the Vanity Fair club in Miami. She sang “Cry Me A River” and “It’s Alright With Me,” winning the top prize of $1,000 and a one-week engagement at the Versailles nightclub in Miami. Blair’s electrifying performances captivated her audiences especially during her closing number of “That Old Black Magic” when she would kick off her shoes. Celebrities who attended her shows included syndicated columnist Walter Winchell and jazz bandleader Cab Calloway. Calloway hired her to become the featured female vocalist in his Miami Beach Cotton Club Revue. Blair received rave reviews, but despite offers of a raise, she left the revue while they were in Las Vegas because she “found the treatment of coloured artists too objectionable to stay.”
Described by Miles Davis as the “brown Marilyn Monroe”, Blair’s barefoot dancing and whispered songs interspersed with screaming notes made for a dramatic stage presence. She sang the role of Serena in the jazz version of George Gershwin’s opera Porgy and Bess, released by Bethlehem Records in 1956. In October 1956, she headlined at the Boulevard nightclub in Queens, New York before relocating to California. In Hollywood, she made her debut at the Mocambo in November 1956.
After leaving Calloway’s revue she performed extensively in South American clubs and also gained some acclaim, performing in the Middle East, and Europe. She possibly became more known for her voluptuous figure and her sexy stage appearance than her music. Her natural hair color was auburn, but she dyed it different colors such as platinum blonde, silver, red, green, black, and white. Early in her career, the press referred to her as the “blonde bombshell,” but by 1963 she was sporting dark brown hair and her stage persona had become more sophisticated.
She was probably another victim of the rock n roll tsunami and her lack of chart success led to her eventual withdrawal from the industry. She was undoubtedly a popular artist in her prime and was featured in magazines such as Life, Esquire, Ebony, and Jet. She also appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, the Johnny Carson Show, the Danny Kaye Show, and The Rosey Grier Show.
Blair released her debut album Squeeze Me on Bethlehem in 1957. In 1958, Blair headlined Donn Arden’s production at New York’s Latin Quarter. Her second album, Hello, Tiger!, arranged and conducted by Neal Hefti, was released on MGM Records later in 1958. The album was chosen as one of Billboard’s spotlight winners of the week (November 3, 1958): “A striking cover (featuring the sultry thrush on a tiger-skin rug) gives this package sock display value; while the canary’s sexy, intimate vocalizing makes the LP’s sure-fire Jockey programming. Gal shines on a group of standards and show tunes, including the infectious ‘Daddy,’ ‘Fever’ and ‘Witchcraft.'”
After suffering from an illness and undergoing corrective surgery, Blair returned to Baltimore to be with her mother in 1990. Blair spent three weeks in the intensive care unit shortly before returning to her mother’s apartment where she died at the age of 57 on February 17, 1992.
Appetizers
