Jackie Verdell

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After leaving high school, she joined the The Davis Sisters in 1955, at the start of their tenure with Herman Lubinsky and Ozzie Cadena's record label Savoy Records of Newark, New Jersey. How she came to sing with one of gospel's famous groups is a typical Golden Age gospel tale. Raised in the Church of God in Christ, she was a soloist in the choir of Faith Temple in New York, pastored by Bishop A.A. Childs (the church would later serve as the site of Malcolm X's last rites). Ruth Davis was attending a broadcast at which Jackie was singing and the rest is gospel history. Jackie Verdell possessed a powerful mezzo-soprano voice, and her performances on records such as "Lord Don't Leave Me", "Following Him", and "I Don't Know What I'd Do" made an impression on the young Aretha Franklin, amongst others. "I also considered Jackie Verdell of the Davis Sisters one of the best and most underrated female soul singers of all time" said Franklin in her 1999 autobiography Aretha: From These Roots. ""It was through Jackie that I learned the expression 'Girl, you peed tonight'--meaning you were dynamite. Several nights Jackie sang so hard she literally had a spot or two on her robe from peeing. Singing far too hard, I also peed here and there in the early days; I quickly realized no one should sing that hard." Verdell was second lead for The Davis Sisters between 1955 and 1960, featuring on many of their Savoy recordings. Like Franklin, she left the gospel field in 1960 and began singing

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