Esther Phillips was born Esther Mae Jones and split her childhood between her father in Houston and her mother in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, building a vocal foundation in the church choir. In 1949, at 14, her sister pushed her into an amateur talent show at the Barrelhouse Club, where bandleader Johnny Otis was so stunned that he recorded her immediately, added her to his traveling revue and named her Little Esther; the surname Phillips reportedly came from a gas station sign spotted on the road. Her 1950 debut Double Crossing Blues went to number one on the rhythm and blues charts, followed by two more number ones and four additional top ten records in a single year. This episode asks how a 14-year-old with a biting, world-weary voice dominated an adult touring circuit with no safety net at all.

The conversation traces the cra ...