Sugar Pie DeSanto

Bandleader and producer Johnny Otis gave DeSanto the nickname "Little Miss Sugar Pie" because she was so small, weighing only 85 pounds. But when she opened her mouth to sing, the intensity and volume of her blues-drenched vocals always stopped the show. In a career that now spans 50 years, DeSanto also gained a reputation as a fine songwriter for hits like "Soulful Dress" and "I Want to Know." As she approaches her 72nd birthday, the singer shows no signs of slowing down. DeSanto's take on Jimmy McCracklin's "Blues Hall of Fame" is full of attitude — a growling, sassy celebration of surviving a long, hard life. Steve Gannon's B.B. King-influenced guitar lines skitter around DeSanto's vocals like a drunken wasp. "Life Goes On" and "I Need to Live Again" sound like lost gems of girl-group pop, but DeSanto's simmering, soulful voice takes it to church with the help of backing vocals by Sweet Nectar and Sugar G. Robinson's sanctified keyboard work. DeSanto shouts out "Git Back," bringing to mind the Stax hits of the Sixties, with its rolling bass, sharp horn stabs, and punchy rhythm. Refined Sugar is defiantly old-school, and that's part of its charm. DeSanto's fire-and-brimstone performances would do credit to a woman half her age.

Related Content

• B.B. King Announces One-Night Stand at Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami
  November 15, 2011
• Miami Music Legend Henry Stone Talks B.B. King's 50-Year History in Miami
  December 14, 2011
• B.B. King Plays the Blues at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, January 4
  January 5, 2012
• B.B. King at Arsht Center January 4
  December 29, 2011
• Big Poppa E and the E Band at Tobacco Road June 27
  June 23, 2011

More About

• Sugar Pie
• Johnny Otis
• Sugar Robinson
• Steve Gannon
• Jimmy McCracklin