Tiny Topsy facts for kids

Otha Lee Moore (born May 22, 1930 – died August 16, 1964) was an American singer known as Tiny Topsy. She sang R&B music, which is a popular style of music. Even though her stage name was "Tiny," she was actually a big person, about five feet tall and weighing 250 pounds. A music writer named Mark Lamarr once joked that she was called "Tiny" like you'd call a bald person "curly" because she had a very powerful voice!

None of her seven songs released as singles became big national hits. However, her early song "Just a Little Bit" became much more famous later when other artists sang it. For a while, people thought Tiny Topsy might be the same person as another singer named Bernice Williams, but now historians believe they were two different people.

Tiny Topsy's Life and Music Journey

Otha Lee Moore was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up nearby in Robbins, Illinois. Her parents were Annabell and Casey Moore. She started singing in the mid-1940s. She sang with Al Smith's eight-person jazz and R&B band in her hometown.

Her band later became the main band for several record labels. These labels included Chance, Parrot, and Vee-Jay Records. They recorded over eighty music sessions between 1952 and 1959. However, Tiny Topsy was not part of these recordings.

Her First Recordings

Tiny Topsy's first time recording music was on July 9, 1957, in Cincinnati. During this session, she recorded "Aw! Shucks Baby" for Federal Records. This song featured a cool tenor saxophone solo by Ray Felder.

Another song recorded was "Miss You So." This song was released as a single by Tiny Topsy and the Five Chances. The "B-side" of the record, "Miss You So," was a new version of a song that Lillian Offitt had made popular earlier. A third song from that session, "A Woman's Intuition," was not released until 1988.

More Songs and UK Releases

Her next single was "Come On, Come On, Come On" with "Ring Around My Finger" on the other side. She was again backed by a singing group called the Charms, who were given credit on the record label this time.

Another rock-style song, "You Shocked Me," was her third release on Federal Records. Both "Come On, Come On, Come On" and "You Shocked Me" were also released in the United Kingdom by Parlophone Records. This was special because it was rare for American R&B songs to be released in the UK back then.

Tiny Topsy's fourth single for Federal was written by Bernice Williams. This song, "Western Rock 'n' Roll," included small parts of popular songs from that time. These included "Lollipop", "At the Hop", "Get a Job", and "Short Shorts". The song started with the sound of gunshots. It was recorded on March 19, 1958, which was three months before the Olympics had their hit song, "Western Movies." Some music experts think that the sound effects in "Western Movies" were inspired by "Western Rock 'n' Roll."

In 1959, she recorded "After Marriage Blues" (also known as "How You Changed") and "Working On Me, Baby." These songs were released on Argo Records.

Her Last Singles and Legacy

Her next single was "Just a Little Bit" (1959), which was her last with Federal Records. Rosco Gordon later had a very successful version of this song in 1960. His version reached number 2 on the US Billboard R&B music chart.

An earlier recording of "Aw! Shucks Baby" with "Everybody Needs Some Loving" on the B-side was released by King Records in 1963. This was just a few months before she passed away.

Tiny Topsy married Samuel Hall, who owned a night club in Chicago. Because of this, she was sometimes known as Otha Lee Moore Hall.

Tiny Topsy passed away on August 16, 1964, in Cook County Hospital in Chicago. She was 34 years old. She died from a sudden health problem after performing at her husband's club. She was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery.

Today, you can find several compilation albums that include all of her recorded songs. One of these is Aw! Shucks, Baby, released in 1988.

Singles Discography