'Chatty Hattie' of WGIV Radio (Charlotte) was one of the few black women to find a spot in broadcasting in the 1950s. She broke through local convention in North Carolina to be a trendsetter both as a woman and as an African American.  

'Chatty Hattie' Leeper’s interest in radio began at an early age. By the time she was fifteen, she was hanging out at radio station WGIV acting as a 'gofor' for the DJ's there. One day, one of the DJ's showed up drunk, crashing his car as he arrived at the station's studio. She had to stand in for him and so began her career playing records on the air. Initially she was too scared to speak much between the records but she soon got over that and became known as 'Chatty Hattie'. After she finished High School she was officially appointed to a DJ's post at the station, making her the first black female DJ at WGIV. She quickly established herself and became a favorite with listeners to her midday slot show.

Working at WGIV led to numerous interesting incidents. She got to go out to Otis Redding’s house and spend time with him there. She championed various artists, helping to build up their careers by spinning their records on the air and assisting them on local live shows. Many times when they were booked to play in the Charlotte area, acts would call her to let her know the details. When they arrived locally, she would go to pick them up and take them back to her mother's  house (where she was still living). Her mother would cook for them and many were even invited to stay at the house till the show was over and they moved on to their next gig.

'Chatty Hattie' and her fellow DJs also got heavily involved with local community affairs. They would organise shows & make 'pledging appeals' on air to raise funds and get donations of clothes, shoes, etc to hand out to needy black kids. 

WGIV had been the first local radio station to target black listeners. By the early 60's, lots of white kids in the area were also tuning in to listen to the DJ's there; 'Genial Gene' Potts, 'Joy Boy' Sanders with “Hot Scott” Hubbs (they had the first integrated morning radio show in the South and were the hottest show in town) 'Rockin Ray' Gooding and 'Chatty Hattie' herself. She was the best known and top rated DJ at the station for a period of some years. It was 'Chatty Hattie' that drew up the station's singles chart on many occasions. One such chart she compiled was in August 1964. The Supremes, Jerry Butler, Gene Chandler, Bobby Bland, Solomon Burke, Otis Redding, Garnett Mimms, the Beatles, Marvin Gaye and the Impressions topped it. In addition to their Top 40 chart, the station also selected ten hit picks to play on rotation (calling them their 'Heavy concentration Spins'). In August 1964 one of those singles was Kenny Hamber's “Show Me Your Monkey”. So his track got heavy exposure in North Carolina for a few weeks that summer. WGIV continued to be a cutting edge concern through to 1967. Unfortunately, the owner died that year, the station was sold and the DJ's quit. 'Chatty Hattie' moved on to work at two other local stations but eventually quit the radio business and moved on with her life.

 

But while she was involved with records and artists, she got around to managing a few local acts, writing songs and even running her own record label. Among the acts she helped career wise were the Tempests (Smash Records), Mike Williams (Atlantic Records -- the Tempests backed him up on a few of his tracks) and the Appreciations.   

The Appreciations even had a 45 released in 1966 on her Aware label which was based out of Charlotte. The group went on to have releases on Jubilee and Sport.

The Tempests were a white outfit who featured African American Hazel Martin on lead vocals on many of their tracks.

 

https://www.wsoctv.com/videos/news/chatty-hattie-becomes-americas-first-black-female/vDhJ9/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_rimuehIPc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9EM48Cv6nI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDkLsAGC5Ak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0zGocXJ0qRI

Anyone know which studio she used to cut 'her acts' in ? ...... OR ......... anything more about her recording activities ? 

Edited July 23, 201311 yr by Roburt

Info on the Tempests .............

https://www.heybabydays.com/Tempests.pdf

Members of The Appreciations and The Tempests are both interviewed in detail in my book "Its Better to Cry" (see link below).

 

Members from both bands had a lot of respect for Hattie. She was a 'name' for all young R&B acts (beach or otherwise) in the 60s in NC and indeed elsewhere. Whilst she did just about everything in her life, these days she is an extremely private person. I spent about 6 months trying to track her down, for the book. I eventually managed to have a short conversation with her on the phone, in the middle of a thunderstorm whilst she was trying to control her grandchildren / great grandchildren so not the most productive of encounters! I did however have her autobiography to fill in the gaps, and the bands gave me the rest.

 

Arthur Smith Studios (in Charlotte) were used for some of her bands as it was a respected local studio, and just about every beach band in the 60s in North Carolina who recorded anything, recorded something there. Arthur Smith by the way was the guy who wrote the Duelling Banjos originally, before it was re-recorded (and claimed as their own for a while) by others for the movie Deliverance. Studios were sold by his family in the 80s I think. They are still there now called Studio East or similar. The In-Men Ltd. (Little girl etc) on Pyramid, (not the Bob Kuban lot) recorded a reunion CD there 2005, which has just been released this year.

 

Mike Williams' "Lonely Soldier" was probably one of her bigger success stories. Superb record. The 'Tempest Band' that played on this and had an earlier self-release on Atlantic were an earlier line up to the Smash profile, only containing a couple of the later Tempests (the Branch brothers etc). The Tempests had switched management by the Smash period.

 

The Appreciations had a lot to do with her throughout their recording career. Chronologically speaking the Jubilee release launched their career. But hey, buy my book for their full story, probably the first time their history has been documented. More than a few surprises relating to all their recordings including the Sport ones. Part recorded in Nashville, Memphis and Detroit! Very sad story too; one of the members who was taking his schoolkids to Santa Barbara on a flying trip they won with National Geographic, was killed along with the children in the 9/11 Pentagon terrorist attack.

 

Mark

Edited July 23, 201311 yr by Windlesoul

John, i presume from the above you have bought a copy of her book?

 

I tracked down a copy after reading Mark's book.

Edited July 23, 201311 yr by Steve G

John, i presume from the above you have bought a copy of her book?

 

I tracked down a copy after reading Mark's book.

No, I didn't manage to locate a 'for sale' copy on the net, I've been looking though but without success so far.

 

A copy of a WGIV chart that carries her name ..............

To be honest there's not too much in it of interest.....It's quite interesting without being a rivetting read. Still love the name "Chatty Hattiethough

To be honest there's not too much in it of interest.....It's quite interesting without being a rivetting read. Still love the name "Chatty Hattiethough

In that case, I'll stop lookin. Many thanx.

I kind of agree with Steve, her autobiography is good enough general reference stuff but given the very interesting events of her life a good ghost writer could've made the best job of it. Buy my book instead!

....... Buy my book instead!

Seems I will have to as I also need to understand how Branch became associated with Sansu (down in New Orleans), how the Backyard Heavies fit into the 'Tempests' picture in the early 70's and some background info on Reflection Sound Studios in Charlotte.

on a visit about 15 years ago,i was privileged to meet chattie at her studio in charlotte,we had a great conversation and remember her says one of her pals was coming over,yeah none other than johnny honeycutt himself,so cameras were out and i remember johnny could not remember doing i,m comin over.memories ,memories.

I really focussed on the NC side of things geographically and the Tempests 60s output. However I think Mike Branch (now deceased) was the link in the Scepter release of the BH. Of course in the late seventies Mike and General Johnson revived the beach scene with Surfside Recs. Roger Branch still works / owns a recording studio in New Orleans. Van Coble was the main contributor to my book regards the Tempests. He's been ill recently but on the mend again and now editing stuff in his studio along with his mate Nat Speir founder of (Bob Meyer and the) Rivieras. They were both incredibly supportive of the project. I was lucky enough to meet both in person this year and consider them good friends.

Edited July 23, 201311 yr by Windlesoul

yes that's right Mark. Allen Toussaint and Marshall Seahorn were using Reflection Sound and Backyard heavies were the house band there with the two Branch brothers. Toussaint and Seahorn's new studio wasn't finished. It was Toussaint and Seahorn that got the BH to Scepter, remembering Toussaint's album also came out on Scepter at the same time after Tiffany Recordfs had mishandled it.

I really focussed on the NC side of things geographically and the Tempests 60s output. However I think Mike Branch (now deceased) was the link in the Scepter release of the BH. Of course in the late seventies Mike and General Johnson revived the beach scene with Surfside Recs. Roger Branch still works / owns a recording studio in New Orleans. Van Coble was the main contributor to my book regards the Tempests. He's been ill recently but on the mend again and now editing stuff in his studio along with his mate Nat Speir founder of (Bob Meyer and the) Rivieras. They were both incredibly supportive of the project. I was lucky enough to meet both in person this year and consider them good friends.

 

Actually one of the most interesting things for me in your book Mark was Anthony & Aqualads thinking that George Goldner's little cousin had signed them to Scepter.....I checked around and it seems likely it was a bit of a false promise on Goldner's part (no surprise as far as the Goldner's were concerned - they were a bit dodgy at best and his uncle was always in debt to the mob) and Goldner Jr. only ever really had them on his Gold Bee label. An interesting story nonetheless and the Aqualads obviously believed they were signed.

on a visit about 15 years ago,i was privileged to meet chattie at her studio in charlotte,we had a great conversation and remember her says one of her pals was coming over,yeah none other than johnny honeycutt himself,so cameras were out and i remember johnny could not remember doing i,m comin over.memories ,memories.

So how does Johnny Honeycutt fit into the 'Carolinas picture' ??

I always had him down as being New York based !!

So how does Johnny Honeycutt fit into the 'Carolinas picture' ??

I always had him down as being New York based !!

hi robert,when talking with chattie she suddenly said her friend was calling round in an while,in walked johnny honeycutt,i have a brilliant photo of himself ,chattie and me in chatties studio.he gave me his business card and contact details,he was doing functions,weddings etc,under johnny honeycutt and the soul coporation then.regards george

The book is on Amazon.com for $12 so not that hard to find.

And although Mark W's book is still in the to read pile, I am certain that it will be better so buy that first.

The book is on Amazon.com for $12 so not that hard to find.

And although Mark W's book is still in the to read pile, I am certain that it will be better so buy that first.

Yes but most book dealers on US Amazon don't ship to the UK. 

If they are willing to ship to England, they also put their stuff up on UK Amazon.

There are no copies of the book available via Amazon UK.

 

Yes but most book dealers on US Amazon don't ship to the UK. 

If they are willing to ship to England, they also put their stuff up on UK Amazon.

There are no copies of the book available via Amazon UK.

 

Not in my experience as they are only allowed to charge UK postage on UK Amazon. I buy 2/3 books a week direct from States on Amazon, I generally just contact them in advance and agree postage, its not cheap, but most of them add the extra in UK site price to cover, and lots don't bother.

However just to be clear Mark W's book is available direct and easy from the UK and is better. So go and buy it now, everyone, research like that needs proper recognition so step away from google and get onto Blurb y'all.

Whatever happened to the very soulful Mike Williams?

Thanks Jock for the kind comments.

Technically though mine is printed in the Netherlands for UK buyer. Blurb have print houses there and in the US (Blurb is a US company). I have a few personal copies of both colour and black and white versions, which will cut down the postage to UK buyers as I am UK based. If anyone wants one just PM me. There's also a PDF option available for purchase on-line (sorry no ebook).

Edited July 24, 201311 yr by Windlesoul

However just to be clear Mark W's book is available direct and easy from the UK and is better. So go and buy it now, everyone, research like that needs proper recognition so step away from google and get onto Blurb y'all.

 

Pay for a book? Goodness me man whatever will you think of next? Agree Mark's is the better read (I've read both) and in my experience many major Amazon US bookdealers do ship to the Uk for reasonable prices. Come on Roburt you know it makes sense! All that stuff you googled on The Appreciations is covered in far more detail in Mark's book along with other interesting northern / rare records.

Edited July 24, 201311 yr by Steve G

 

 

Not in my experience as they are only allowed to charge UK postage on UK Amazon. I buy 2/3 books a week direct from States on Amazon, I generally just contact them in advance and agree postage, its not cheap, but most of them add the extra in UK site price to cover, and lots don't bother.

From next January, we (the wife & I) will be spending 6 to 8 weeks in Florida every winter (she cann't cope with freezing conditions anymore).

So I've been 'storing up' good deals via Amazon US and the like to finalise when the items can be shipped 'locally'.

I can wait 5 months or so for lots of the books (CD's / records) I'm after (after all, I already have a 6 month backlog of books I've not yet gotten around to reading).

 

........ TO THINK THAT WHEN I RETIRED .......

... ..I thought I'd have time for lots of things I'd been putting off for years (sorting the 45 / LP / CD collection out being one such task). Seems not, as I can't even make the time to catch up on my planned reading.