Ann Cole
b. Cynthia Coleman, 24 January 1934, Newark, New Jersey, USA. Her father sang with the family gospel group, the Coleman Brothers, and young Cynthia began singing in her grandfather's church as a child. In 1949, after absorbing the diverse influences of Billie Holiday and Mahalia Jackson, she formed the gospel group, the Colemanaires, with her cousins, which recorded for Timely Records between 1953 and 1954. However, in 1954 she started a secular career under the name Ann Cole, recording obscure sides for Timely and Mor-Play before switching to Baton Records in 1956, where she had success with the original versions of Easy, Easy, Baby and Got My Mo-Jo Working (But It Just Won't Work On You). After leaving Baton in 1959, a subsequent re-recording of her biggest Baton hit In The Chapel was unsuccessful, and Ann Cole was further hampered by a serious accident which eventually resulted in her being confined to a wheelchair. Her final record, released on Roulette in 1962, charted for one week at number 99, and Ann Cole returned to performing the spirituals and hymns that were her first inspiration.