{{Short description|American pianist and singer (1914–1993)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Camille Howard | birth_name = Deasy Browning | image = CamilleHoward-newspaperphoto1948.jpg | caption = Howard in 1948 | alias = Camille Agnes Browning<br>Camille Browning Howard | birth_date = {{birth date|1914|3|29}} | birth_place = Galveston, Texas, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|3|10|1914|3|29}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, United States | origin = | genre = R&B | occupation = Pianist, singer, songwriter | years_active = Mid 1930s–late 1950s | label = | past_member_of = Roy Milton | website = }} '''Camille Howard''' (March 29, 1914 – March 10, 1993)<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues – A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara| pages=394–395 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> was an American rhythm and blues pianist and singer, who first came to prominence in Roy Milton's Solid Senders in the 1940s. Her most successful recordings included "R. M. Blues" (as Milton's pianist, 1945), "Thrill Me" (as singer with Milton, 1947), and her own "X-Temporaneous Boogie" (1948).
==Life and career== She was born in Galveston, Texas, the daughter of Cecilia ({{nee}} Hines) and Samuel Browning. Her birth was registered as '''Deasy Browning''', but she grew up using the name '''Camille Agnes Browning'''.<ref name="bare"/> She learned piano and, during her teens, was a member of a local group, the Cotton Tavern Trio.<ref name=marion>[http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/CamilleH.html J. C. Marion, "Camille Howard", ''Jamm Up''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604140007/http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/CamilleH.html |date=June 4, 2011 }}. Retrieved November 29, 2016</ref> By 1935 she was performing as a club musician in Galveston, as Camille Browning.<ref name="bare"/>
In the early 1940s, as Camille Howard, she moved from Texas to California. By 1943, she became a member of the Roy Milton Trio, who recorded for Lionel Hampton's Hamp-Tone label in 1945.<ref name="blackcat">[http://www.rockabilly.nl/references/messages/camille_howard.htm Dik de Heer, "Camille Howard", ''Black Cat Rockabilly'']. Retrieved September 27, 2016</ref> Milton's group then expanded to become a six- or seven-piece band, the Solid Senders, and they were signed by Art Rupe's Juke Box label, which later became Specialty Records. Howard's piano featured on singer and drummer Milton's first hit, "R. M. Blues", recorded in December 1945, on which "she plays seemingly unending, florid melodies with her right hand."<ref name=blackcat/> The record reached number 2 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart, and number 20 on the pop chart, in early 1946.<ref name="whitburnr&b">{{cite book |title= Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995|last=Whitburn |first=Joel |authorlink=Joel Whitburn |year=1996 |publisher=Record Research |page=307}}</ref>
The record was the first of many R&B hits for Milton on the Juke Box and Specialty labels.<ref name=allmusic>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/camille-howard-mn0000944555/biography Biography by Bill Dahl, ''Allmusic.com'']. Retrieved November 28, 2016</ref> Following its success, Howard also made her first recordings under her own name for the small Pan-American label in 1946.<ref name=blackcat/> She stayed with Milton's Solid Senders and was the featured piano player on all their hits through the late 1940s and early 1950s. She was the vocalist on their number 5 R&B hit in 1947, "Thrill Me".<ref name="whitburnr&b"/>
After the success of "Thrill Me", Rupe began promoting her as a solo artist, and she had her first hit under her own name in 1948 with "X-Temporaneous Boogie", which reached number 7 on the R&B chart,<ref name= "whitburn howard">Whitburn, ''Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942–1995'', p.199</ref> and sold close to a quarter of a million copies.<ref name=blackcat/> The track, a "roaring instrumental" in her characteristic "two-fisted thundering boogie style", was recorded with Milton and bassist Dallas Bartley, and was improvised at the end of her first recording session as leader, late on December 31, 1947; the following day, a ban on recordings imposed by the American Federation of Musicians came into effect.<ref name=blackcat/><ref name=allmusic/>
She continued to play in Milton's band, and Milton was also a member of her Trio for recordings; they may have been married.<ref name="bare"/> Her own trio included Winston Williams (bass) and Walter Murden (drums), but she also performed occasionally with Milton, and toured with Jimmy Witherspoon, Little Willie Littlefield, Joe Liggins and others.<ref name=marion/>
As well as continuing to record with Milton, Howard had 14 singles released under her own name by Specialty between 1948 and 1952, including both "storming boogies and sultry ballads".<ref name=blackcat/> Her R&B chart hits included "You Don't Love Me" (1948), "Fiesta in Old Mexico" (1949), and "Money Blues (If You Ain't Got No Money, I Ain't Got No Use For You)" (1951).<ref name= "whitburn howard"/> She also recorded with Witherspoon, Lillie Greenwood, and others.<ref name="bare"/>
In early 1953, Howard signed with Federal Records, and released several more singles, but with diminishing success in the face of the growth of rock and roll.<ref name=allmusic/> She signed with Vee-Jay Records in 1956, and that year toured with Roy Brown, Little Willie John, The 5 Royales, and Joe Tex, but she had no more hits.<ref name=marion/>
She retired from the music business shortly afterwards. She maintained strong religious convictions,<ref name=allmusic/> and in later years was unwilling to talk about her career in secular music.<ref name="blackcat"/>
She died in Los Angeles in 1993, aged 78.<ref name="bare"/>
==Discography== * ''Camille Howard, Vol. 1: Rock Me Daddy'' (Specialty SPCD-7046, 1993) * ''Camille Howard, Vol. 2: X-Temporaneous Boogie'' (Specialty SPCD-7062, 1996)
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Camille}} Category:1914 births Category:1993 deaths Category:American rhythm and blues musicians Category:20th-century African-American women singers Category:American blues pianists Category:Boogie-woogie pianists Category:Swing pianists Category:Vee-Jay Records artists Category:Specialty Records artists Category:20th-century American women pianists Category:20th-century American pianists Category:Musicians from Galveston, Texas Category:20th-century American women singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:African-American pianists