Background
Ethel V. Finnie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the second child and only daughter of Noble Armond Finnie, a butler, and Mary "Mamie" Anderson Finnie, a housewife.
Ethel V. Finnie was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the second child and only daughter of Noble Armond Finnie, a butler, and Mary "Mamie" Anderson Finnie, a housewife.
Her most notable recording was "You"re Gonna Wake Up Some Morning, But Your Papa Will Be Gone". Generally, biographical information of her life outside of music is sketchy. She had an older brother, Noble Finnie, Junior.
Finnie was a graduate of New Orleans University (later incorporated into Dillard University) and was employed as a schoolteacher at the McDonogh School Number.
6.
On September 25, 1923, in Stamford, Connecticut, Finnie married the pianist and composer Porter Grainger, with whom she made appearances throughout the Northeastern United States, appearing in various venues and radio programs, as found in the pages of the African-American press of the period. She subsequently remarried, to William Turner, and went into business in New Orleans as a hair dresser, and later as the owner of a beauty shop, restaurant and grocery. She was involved in the sorority Iota Phi Lambda, serving as Southwestern Regional Director of the sorority during the 1950s, and also served as treasurer of the Fourth Region of the National Council of Negro Women in the 1960s.
Ethel Finnie Turner died in New Orleans on May 1, 1981, aged 83.
She recorded eight songs in 1923 and 1924, including the track "You"re Gonna Wake Up Some Morning, But Your Papa Will Be Gone". lieutenant was released by Edison as part of their Edison Diamond Discs in 1924, in addition to being issued on their Amberol cylinder.
She also recorded for Ajax and Emerson during this short time span. Another song she recorded was "Mistreatin" Daddy Blues" which was initially not released, and may have prevented her gaining a wider audience.
Other little known blues singers including Gladys Bryant, Dolly Ross, and Ada Brown vied with Finnie for Grainger"s material.
All her recorded work was eventually released by Document Records.