SUGAR PIE DeSANTO

Sugar Pie DeSanto is a cousin of Etta James and an acclaimed singer and composer in her own right.

She was born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton in Brooklyn, NY, on October 16, 1935. Her mother, a concert pianist, was black and her father was Filipino. The family moved to San Francisco when she was four. There, young Umpeylia spent time with her cousin, Etta James, who was already planning a career in music.

Johnny Otis, the famed Rhythm & Blues bandleader, heard her perform at a talent show in 1955. Otis gave the 4’11” singer the nickname “Little Miss Sugar Pie,” and produced her debut single, “I Love You (Boom Diddy Wawa),” for Federal Records. DeSanto cut a few more sides with Otis before she moved on to the Aladdin label. Working with bandleader Pee Wee Kingsley (who she married), DeSanto recorded “One, Two, Let’s Rock” in 1958. The following year, Bob Geddins signed her to his Veltone label and produced “I Want to Know,” which he co-wrote with DeSanto. Kingsley sang with her on the record, which climbed to #4 on Billboard magazine’s R&B singles chart in 1960. Not long after, their marriage ended.

She relocated to Chicago, which DeSanto would make her base for the next ten years. There, she signed with Chess Records as a recording artist and songwriter.  The label released an album on her, Sugar Pie, in 1961. During that time, she also toured with James Brown’s Revue.

The year 1964 proved a commercial success for DeSanto, who placed three more singles on the R&B chart. “Slip-In Mules,” an answer to Tommy Tucker’s “Hi-Heel Sneakers,” even crossed over to the pop market, while the bawdy “Soulful Dress” would influence Millie Jackson’s brand of raunch. Also in 1964, DeSanto performed at the American Folk Blues Festival’s tour of Europe. The audiences there loved her act, which included both wild dancing and standing back flips.

Under the name “Peylia Parham,” DeSanto began a songwriting collaboration with Shena DeMell in 1965. This resulted in “Do I Make Myself Clear,” which DeSanto recorded as a duet with her cousin, Etta James. It spent a week on the Billboard Hot 100 and led to the more successful follow-up, “In the Basement.” When a subsequent release proved unsuccessful, DeSanto focused on her songwriting. Among the Chess acts for whom she wrote: Fontella Bass, Little Milton, Bobby McClure, and Billy Stewart. Her songwriting catalog includes more than 100 compositions.

DeSanto left Chicago and returned to California, settling in Oakland. There, she performed at Bay Area clubs and the occasional jazz festival. From 1968-73, she made a number of recordings for the Jasman label, owned by DeSanto’s longtime manager, James Moore.

In 1979, she married Jesse Earl Davis. In October 2006, Davis was killed while trying to put out the fire that consumed their Oakland apartment.

In 1999, DeSanto won the Bay Area Music Award for Best Female Blues Singer. In September 2008, she received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s prestigious Pioneer Award. In November 2009, she received a lifetime achievement citation from the Goldie Awards. And on December 10, 2020, DeSanto was honored by the Arhoolie Foundation, a nonprofit whose “mission is to document and celebrate...tradition-based styles of music.”

Charted singles:

“I Want to Know” (1960) R&B #4
“Slip-In Mules (No High Heel Sneakers)” (1964) R&B #10, Pop #48
“Soulful Dress” (1964) R&B #19
“Use What You Got” (1964) R&B #43
“Do I Make Myself Clear” (duet with Etta James, 1966) Pop #96
“In the Basement” (duet with Etta James, 1966) R&B #37, Pop #97

Other worthwhile Sugar Pie DeSanto recordings include “Ask Me,” “Can’t Let You Go,” “Going Back to Where I Belong,” “Mama Didn’t Raise No Fool,” “Maybe You’ll Be There,” and “She’s Got Everything.”