photo by Alan MercerFreda Payne has always been the embodiment of glamour, beauty, grace, and talent. Her 1972 hit “Band of Gold” is still played all over the world. When I first started taking photos many years ago I dreamed of working with her. I have been photographing her for eight years now. We did this most recent set by the pool of her Hollywood Hills home.
AM: Hi Freda. You are always traveling so where are you going next?
FP: I just came back from the UK. I will be doing a one night performance in Detroit at the St. Regis Hotel for President Obama on May 8th. Then in May I am at Catalina’s in Los Angeles from the 22nd to the 24th.
AM: How often do you get to perform in Detroit?
FP: I don’t perform in Detroit often at all. As a matter of fact I haven’t performed in Detroit in a few years.
AM: What does it feel like to go back to Detroit?
FP: That’s my home town so it feels good to be back in your home town.
AM: Detroit is suffering right now.
FP: Detroit is going through a lot of upheavals and down trodden hard economic times, as the whole country is going through now. But it’s still my home town where I have relatives and hopefully a lot of friends, and then people who might remember me and want to come out and see me perform now.
AM: Are you doing a regular concert?
FP: This is a one woman tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, who is one of the people I admire the most. There is also Lena Horne and the late, great Eartha Kitt, who I always pay tribute to with my impersonations. Of course with Ella I try at times to emulate her as closely as possible and at the same time allow my own personality and talents to shine through.
AM: Your career is as long and legendary as these ladies you mention.
FP: Wow, that’s a mind blower.
AM: It really is to me.
FP: Sometimes I forget how old I am. I lose track of time and the years go by and finally you realize hey I’m still doing this. I’m still a soldier fighting in the trenches, doing what I love to do, really showing my talent, trying to make people happy. At the same time I make myself happy. I fulfill myself and my spirit when I perform.
AM: So do you believe in destiny?
FP: Oh Yeah…definitely.
AM: You believe you were born to entertain?
FP: I think so. I believe when you are in your mother’s womb it is all mapped out.
AM: When did you realize you were a good singer?
FP: I didn’t know I had any talent or real ability to sing until I was twelve. I didn’t know what my purpose in life was going to be until I was twelve or thirteen. I didn’t know I had any talent or that I stood out.
AM: How did you find out?
FP: My piano teacher discovered it. She said, ‘Freda you know you have a lovely voice’ and I said, ‘I do?’ Then she said, ‘I want you to sing a solo at the next piano recital’ so I did, and after that my Mother’s friends started saying, ‘oh wow we didn’t know Freda could sing. We want her to sing at our next social gathering.’ Then I started getting requests to sing at dances.
AM: Did you do anything else to get experience?
FP: I started entering talent contests and winning. I was so impressed with myself for winning that I thought, ‘gee I can win stuff singing. I can make money singing too’. Other people kept pushing me to be a professional singer. I took heed to that. That’s how I push myself.
AM: You are defying the odds right now.
FP: I sure am. Number one is my age. Number two is I only really had two big records.
AM: Fortunately ‘Band of Gold’ is eternal.
FP: It is bigger in the UK than here. Everybody knows ‘Band of Gold’. I just got back from Liverpool where I stayed at the Hard Day’s Night Hotel in the John Lennon suite. There is a white lacquer piano in there. It is nice. The room is very well decorated with huge murals of John Lennon. Anyway I called room service and a blonde guy who looked like he was in his early twenties, brought me the food. He said, ‘I have to tell you that I love your music and I am such a big fan. I love your record’. I said, ‘How do you know my record? You’re a little young!?!’ and he said ’Oh yeah, that is one of my favorite records of all time.’ I was so shocked.
AM: That is the power of that song.
FP: The people over in England have a much stronger reaction to it than here in the States. Everybody starts singing along with it and getting up and dancing. It’s really one of their big songs. It stayed number One in the UK for six weeks and it’s been re-released over and over again.
AM: I just got the news that you are going to be performing on American Idol on Wednesday, April 22. I am SO excited.
FP: I am sooo excited.
AM: How does it feel?
FP: I heard my voicemail when I returned from London. We are still on the plane and I get this message from Steve Ford, one of my booking agents. He says, ‘I have great news for you. How would you like to be seen in front of 25 million people? I booked you on American Idol.’ Then I just held my breath because I didn’t want it to be a date I was already booked for, but it wasn’t, so I thought, Yes, Yes I can do it!! I feel like this is the breakthrough I have been waiting for. There’s no telling who will see it. That is the main thing in this industry. It’s about exposure. I know I need to be on primetime television now. I haven’t had that in a long time. This is a breakthrough.
AM: We all know careers go up and down.
FP: It’s the roulette wheel. I tell young people don’t give up. You’ve got to want it. You’ve got to starve for it and sacrifice for it, be willing to do the right thing. Don’t abuse yourself. Learn as much as you can about the business, take classes, do it all. Keep yourself ready. Don’t party too much. When you’re young you will do that anyway. Keep your nose clean.
AM: You are on a career up right now.
FP: You’ve known me since the eighties and you are right. The last five years have been a slow steady flow into the last couple of years escalating a little more and more. That’s why I like to keep myself in good shape. You never know when the break comes so you have to be ready. It’s a matter of being ready. Enjoy yourself and don’t get uptight about it. Live your life and enjoy what you are doing while you are doing it.
AM: You seem to be enjoying yourself and succeeding at the same time.
FP: There is a verse in the bible that says, ’Many are called but few are chosen.’ I just feel blessed. I hate to say it because my mother told me to always be humble but, sometimes I feel special, but I am not special. I am not exceptional. I just happen to be at the right place at the right time and the right things are happening. It’s almost like a miracle.
AM: I understand that actually, but I don’t want it to be a miracle. You so deserve this.
FP: I’ve been in this business a long time and been through a lot of struggles.
AM: Not only that but you keep proving yourself over and over again.
FP: Yes proving myself over and over. At least I try. That’s why I started doing the Ella show. I just knew I could do it. I felt it internally and it worked out for me. I started out as a jazz singer and went into R&B so it was easy for me to go back to jazz. It was like a piece of cake to me. I can also do pop music so if a producer wants to work with me I would be open to that. I’m accustomed to it. I have done it before. I would love to do that.
AM: That reminds me of the recent re-issue of your MGM album ‘How Do You Say I Don’t Love You Anymore’. Do you feel separate from that recording?
FP: (Laughing) Somebody sent me a copy and I was playing it, scrutinizing it. I was really criticizing it thinking I could do so much better now. Those arrangements are kind of dated now. I’m my own worst critic. There are some songs that are good. I like ‘If You Love Me’ the Edith Piaf number, and ‘It’s Hear For You’, ‘San Juan’ and ‘Feeling Good’ which Micheal Buble just did.
AM: Your performance and arrangement of ‘Feeling Good’ is the best.
FP: Oh thanks, they were very good arrangements. Benny Goldson did those. He worked with Quincy Jones and Miles Davis. He’s an icon.
AM: Do you remember what the expectation was for this record?
FP: They were trying to find a niche to market and it didn’t happen with this one. Right after that I got with Invictus and recorded all my hits. I guess I really belonged more in an R&B setting in order to cross over, to make my mark.
AM: It’s so different today.
FP: Now they don’t wear long gowns and go for glamour in the same way. It’s all scantily clad dancers. It’s all production where as I go for singers who come out and sing with good backing. I like to just stand there and sing to the audience.
AM: I think you should do a show in Las Vegas.
FP: That would be great. People like to be entertained there. They go there to enjoy themselves. I could do my show there where it was in segments of R&B and Jazz, and contemporary pop. Who knows I may even have a few dancers.
To learn more about Freda visit her MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/missfredapayne
And her website http://www.fredapayne.com/
AM: Hi Freda. You are always traveling so where are you going next?
FP: I just came back from the UK. I will be doing a one night performance in Detroit at the St. Regis Hotel for President Obama on May 8th. Then in May I am at Catalina’s in Los Angeles from the 22nd to the 24th.
AM: How often do you get to perform in Detroit?
FP: I don’t perform in Detroit often at all. As a matter of fact I haven’t performed in Detroit in a few years.
AM: What does it feel like to go back to Detroit?
FP: That’s my home town so it feels good to be back in your home town.
AM: Detroit is suffering right now.
FP: Detroit is going through a lot of upheavals and down trodden hard economic times, as the whole country is going through now. But it’s still my home town where I have relatives and hopefully a lot of friends, and then people who might remember me and want to come out and see me perform now.
AM: Are you doing a regular concert?
FP: This is a one woman tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, who is one of the people I admire the most. There is also Lena Horne and the late, great Eartha Kitt, who I always pay tribute to with my impersonations. Of course with Ella I try at times to emulate her as closely as possible and at the same time allow my own personality and talents to shine through.
AM: Your career is as long and legendary as these ladies you mention.
FP: Wow, that’s a mind blower.
AM: It really is to me.
FP: Sometimes I forget how old I am. I lose track of time and the years go by and finally you realize hey I’m still doing this. I’m still a soldier fighting in the trenches, doing what I love to do, really showing my talent, trying to make people happy. At the same time I make myself happy. I fulfill myself and my spirit when I perform.
AM: So do you believe in destiny?
FP: Oh Yeah…definitely.
AM: You believe you were born to entertain?
FP: I think so. I believe when you are in your mother’s womb it is all mapped out.
AM: When did you realize you were a good singer?
FP: I didn’t know I had any talent or real ability to sing until I was twelve. I didn’t know what my purpose in life was going to be until I was twelve or thirteen. I didn’t know I had any talent or that I stood out.
AM: How did you find out?
FP: My piano teacher discovered it. She said, ‘Freda you know you have a lovely voice’ and I said, ‘I do?’ Then she said, ‘I want you to sing a solo at the next piano recital’ so I did, and after that my Mother’s friends started saying, ‘oh wow we didn’t know Freda could sing. We want her to sing at our next social gathering.’ Then I started getting requests to sing at dances.
AM: Did you do anything else to get experience?
FP: I started entering talent contests and winning. I was so impressed with myself for winning that I thought, ‘gee I can win stuff singing. I can make money singing too’. Other people kept pushing me to be a professional singer. I took heed to that. That’s how I push myself.
AM: You are defying the odds right now.
FP: I sure am. Number one is my age. Number two is I only really had two big records.
AM: Fortunately ‘Band of Gold’ is eternal.
FP: It is bigger in the UK than here. Everybody knows ‘Band of Gold’. I just got back from Liverpool where I stayed at the Hard Day’s Night Hotel in the John Lennon suite. There is a white lacquer piano in there. It is nice. The room is very well decorated with huge murals of John Lennon. Anyway I called room service and a blonde guy who looked like he was in his early twenties, brought me the food. He said, ‘I have to tell you that I love your music and I am such a big fan. I love your record’. I said, ‘How do you know my record? You’re a little young!?!’ and he said ’Oh yeah, that is one of my favorite records of all time.’ I was so shocked.
AM: That is the power of that song.
FP: The people over in England have a much stronger reaction to it than here in the States. Everybody starts singing along with it and getting up and dancing. It’s really one of their big songs. It stayed number One in the UK for six weeks and it’s been re-released over and over again.
AM: I just got the news that you are going to be performing on American Idol on Wednesday, April 22. I am SO excited.
FP: I am sooo excited.
AM: How does it feel?
FP: I heard my voicemail when I returned from London. We are still on the plane and I get this message from Steve Ford, one of my booking agents. He says, ‘I have great news for you. How would you like to be seen in front of 25 million people? I booked you on American Idol.’ Then I just held my breath because I didn’t want it to be a date I was already booked for, but it wasn’t, so I thought, Yes, Yes I can do it!! I feel like this is the breakthrough I have been waiting for. There’s no telling who will see it. That is the main thing in this industry. It’s about exposure. I know I need to be on primetime television now. I haven’t had that in a long time. This is a breakthrough.
AM: We all know careers go up and down.
FP: It’s the roulette wheel. I tell young people don’t give up. You’ve got to want it. You’ve got to starve for it and sacrifice for it, be willing to do the right thing. Don’t abuse yourself. Learn as much as you can about the business, take classes, do it all. Keep yourself ready. Don’t party too much. When you’re young you will do that anyway. Keep your nose clean.
AM: You are on a career up right now.
FP: You’ve known me since the eighties and you are right. The last five years have been a slow steady flow into the last couple of years escalating a little more and more. That’s why I like to keep myself in good shape. You never know when the break comes so you have to be ready. It’s a matter of being ready. Enjoy yourself and don’t get uptight about it. Live your life and enjoy what you are doing while you are doing it.
AM: You seem to be enjoying yourself and succeeding at the same time.
FP: There is a verse in the bible that says, ’Many are called but few are chosen.’ I just feel blessed. I hate to say it because my mother told me to always be humble but, sometimes I feel special, but I am not special. I am not exceptional. I just happen to be at the right place at the right time and the right things are happening. It’s almost like a miracle.
AM: I understand that actually, but I don’t want it to be a miracle. You so deserve this.
FP: I’ve been in this business a long time and been through a lot of struggles.
AM: Not only that but you keep proving yourself over and over again.
FP: Yes proving myself over and over. At least I try. That’s why I started doing the Ella show. I just knew I could do it. I felt it internally and it worked out for me. I started out as a jazz singer and went into R&B so it was easy for me to go back to jazz. It was like a piece of cake to me. I can also do pop music so if a producer wants to work with me I would be open to that. I’m accustomed to it. I have done it before. I would love to do that.
AM: That reminds me of the recent re-issue of your MGM album ‘How Do You Say I Don’t Love You Anymore’. Do you feel separate from that recording?
FP: (Laughing) Somebody sent me a copy and I was playing it, scrutinizing it. I was really criticizing it thinking I could do so much better now. Those arrangements are kind of dated now. I’m my own worst critic. There are some songs that are good. I like ‘If You Love Me’ the Edith Piaf number, and ‘It’s Hear For You’, ‘San Juan’ and ‘Feeling Good’ which Micheal Buble just did.
AM: Your performance and arrangement of ‘Feeling Good’ is the best.
FP: Oh thanks, they were very good arrangements. Benny Goldson did those. He worked with Quincy Jones and Miles Davis. He’s an icon.
AM: Do you remember what the expectation was for this record?
FP: They were trying to find a niche to market and it didn’t happen with this one. Right after that I got with Invictus and recorded all my hits. I guess I really belonged more in an R&B setting in order to cross over, to make my mark.
AM: It’s so different today.
FP: Now they don’t wear long gowns and go for glamour in the same way. It’s all scantily clad dancers. It’s all production where as I go for singers who come out and sing with good backing. I like to just stand there and sing to the audience.
AM: I think you should do a show in Las Vegas.
FP: That would be great. People like to be entertained there. They go there to enjoy themselves. I could do my show there where it was in segments of R&B and Jazz, and contemporary pop. Who knows I may even have a few dancers.
To learn more about Freda visit her MySpace page http://www.myspace.com/missfredapayne
And her website http://www.fredapayne.com/
photo by Alan Mercer
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