[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 58 (Wednesday, May 2, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E695-E696]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        IN MEMORY OF AL HIBBLER

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Wednesday, May 2, 2001

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, today is a bittersweet day. It is with both 
great sadness and immense pride that I rise today in honor and 
celebration of the life of a music legend, Mr. Al Hibbler.
  Albert George Hibbler was born on August 16, 1915 in Tyro, 
Mississippi. At the age of twelve he moved to Arkansas and entered 
school for the first time when he was fourteen years old. Blind since 
birth, Al Hibbler studied voice at the Conservatory for the Blind in 
Little Rock and sang in the choir as a soprano. Four years later his 
voice deepened to his signature eloquent baritone. Hibbler became the 
first blind artist to achieve significant popularity as an entertainer.
  After leaving the Conservatory, Mr. Hibbler started singing the blues 
in roadhouses, but shortly thereafter realized his first love was soft 
smooth ballads. He sang with local bands throughout Arkansas and Texas 
until 1942 when he landed a major break with Jay McShann's band in the 
1940's. Eighteen months later Hibbler's dream of becoming a big band 
singer came to fruition when he auditioned and was hired as lead singer 
for the Duke Ellington Orchestra. He remained with the Duke Ellington 
Orchestra for eight years until he went out on his own achieving 
enormous success.
  During his musical career, Hibbler had a number of hit songs 
including, ``Do Nothing Until You Hear From Me'', ``Unchained Melody,'' 
``He'', ``11th Hour Melody'', ``After the Lights Go Down Low'', 
``Honeysuckle Rose'', ``All or Nothing at All'', ``Don't Get Around 
Anymore'', and ``The Very Thought of You''.

[[Page E696]]

  As a man of great consciousness, in the late fifties he turned his 
attention to the civil rights movement and was arrested twice during 
protest marches. These acts of courage scared away major record labels, 
but with the assistance of Frank Sinatra he was able to sign a contract 
with the Reprise Record label in the early sixties.
  Although, with the introduction of rock and roll his career as a jazz 
recording artist slowed, he performed through the Nineties.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask that all my colleagues join me in celebrating the 
life and the music of Al Hibbler, a jazz legend that gained success 
against all odds.

                          ____________________