Nellie Lutcher, a good pianist, had a few vocal hits in the late '40s that gave a permanent momentum to her career. She started playing in public early on. When Lutcher was 14, she played piano behind Ma Rainey at a local booking and the following year she toured with Clarence Hart's band in Louisiana and Texas; her father was on bass. Lutcher worked as a single in obscurity from 1935-47, moving to Los Angeles when she was 23. Her young son told her about a benefit radio program to be broadcast from Hollywood High and at the last second she was able to get booked to close the show. She performed "The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else," it was heard by A&R scout Dave Dexter and she was quickly signed to Capitol Records. Her first two sessions (from 1947) resulted in her two biggest hits: "Hurry on Down" and "He's a Real Gone Guy," both of which have remained signature tunes for Lutcher through the decades.
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