Lance Avery Morgan
How The Mid-Century Champagne Chanteuse Captured Hearts With Her Silky Voice To Leave A Musical Legacy. Even Janet Jackson Is A Fan
The singer, Damita Jo, made the world a more musical place with her dynamic voice, which took her from Austin to audiences across the globe. In fact, Janet Jackson’s 2004 hit album, Damita Jo, is the singer’s tribute to the voice that influenced the pop star. The Austin-born vocalist, actress, and comedian whose supple, big-room voice sailed across jazz, R&B, pop, and lounge. Best known for her clever, early 1960s “answer songs” and for a career that spanned supper clubs, TV, and comedy tours, she remained proudly tied to her Austin roots. Born in 1930 and raised in part in Santa Barbara, CA, she frequently returned home and later attended Samuel Huston College (now Huston-Tillotson University) in her hometown.
By the late 1940s, she was already working at L.A. clubs where she found better performance opportunities to showcase her satiny voice. In 1951, she joined Steve Gibson & the Red Caps, becoming the featured vocalist through the 50s. She later married Gibson, yet they severed their professional and personal ties in 1959. You’ll sometimes see her credited as Damita Jo Wood (after marrying her manager, James “Biddy” Wood, in 1961).
BREAKING OUT
Damita Jo broke wide in the early 1960s with witty, well-sung “answer songs” that responded to the day’s big hits, a popular trend she mastered. For example, “I’ll Save the Last Dance for You” (1960) was a response to the Drifters’ “Save the Last Dance for Me,” and became a Top 20 R&B /Top 25 Pop hit. Then there was “I’ll Be There” (1961), a response to Ben E. King’s “Stand by Me,” which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 20 R&B chart. They are masterclasses in conversational phrasing and emotional clarity, cool yet heartfelt, elegant in delivery. These records highlighted her conversational phrasing and easy swing; a jazz singer’s finesse applied to pop storytelling.
She quickly became a standard in cabaret rooms across the country, thanks to her versatile catalog, which ranged from cozy nightclub LPs (Damita Jo at the Diplomat, 1962) to sophisticated pop (“If You Go Away,” 1966). Labels she performed on included RCA Victor, Mercury, Epic, Vee-Jay, Ranwood, and more. She sang plenty of standards and reworks, such as the release, “Dance with a Dolly (With a Hole in Her Stocking)” in 1962, nodding to swing-era fare while keeping it radio-friendly. Each track is a snapshot of her ability to balance pop savvy with club-level finesse.
FIREPOWER IGNITED
Onstage, her firepower ignited and couldn’t be extinguished. She worked with Ray Charles, Count Basie, and Lionel Hampton, demonstrating her ability to front a band of any size and yet still sound intimate. As an entertainer, she made the rounds of TV, more clubs, and comedy venues. Starting in the mid-1960s, Damita Jo transitioned from a singer to an all-around entertainer, incorporating comedy into her act. In the late 1970s, she toured with legendary comedian Redd Foxx, a move that kept her in front of large, diverse audiences.
After years on the road, she spent significant time in Baltimore, Maryland, where she also recorded the civil rights-minded “The Color of Your Skin Makes No Difference,” which was used in local school programming.
Damita Jo’s life arc, which took her from East Austin to topping the national charts, mirrors a wider Texas-to-Hollywood migration of Black artists who honed their craft at home, polished it on West Coast stages, and gave back: she stayed connected to family, alma mater, and community, earning civic recognition while still in her prime.
DAMITA JO DAY
When Austin honored her in 1967, the Mayor and City Council of Austin proclaimed “Damita Jo Day,” and a street was named in her honor. It represented a genuine hometown salute to her national success.
The songstress passed away in 1998 in Baltimore from a respiratory illness; yet, her legacy lives on through her music, which remains accessible. Damita Jo’s vocal talent, like the woman herself, was smart, stylish, and rooted in pure jazz sensibility that is ageless.
