Lavelle White (born July 3, 1929) – Stop These Teardrops (1959)

The unsung singer/songwriter wrote this phenomenal, rockin' R&B jam, the B-side of her second single on the notorious Don Robey's Duke Records.

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Lavelle White is a singer/songwriter who recorded several R&B singles in the late 1950s and early 60s, then had a career second act in the 90s and beyond as a Texas-based blues artist.

Born in Amite City, Louisiana to sharecropper parents, Lillia Lavell “Lavelle” White sang gospel songs in church from a young age and began writing poetry when she was twelve years old. She then started writing her own songs. At age 15 she moved to Houston to live with her older brother and his family, and snuck out to local nightclubs to hear the blues. White got her first paid singing gig at age 21, often accompanied by guitarist Clarence Hollimon and his brother Sweets on piano.

When she started touring with bands, guitarist Johnny Copeland recommended her to infamous Houston record label owner Don Robey, who ran Peacock and Duke Records and profited at his artists’ expense by stealing their songwriting credits. She was signed to a contract, and her first single was released in 1958, the rockin’ R&B number “Teen-Age Love” featuring Mac Rebennack aka Dr. John on guitar, b/w the heartfelt “If (I Could Be With You).”

She was billed as Miss La-Vell, and was credited with co-writing both songs with an unknown songwriter listed only as “Smith,” which was likely one of Robey’s pseudonyms. The following year she put out another single on Duke. The A-side was “Yes, I've Been Crying” (1959), solely credited to Robey’s primary pseudonym “D. Malone,” aka Deadric Malone. However, she did receive full songwriting credit for the flip, the phenomenal jam “Stop These Teardrops.”

Altogether she recorded a half-dozen singles on Duke Records between 1958 and 1965. The superb single “Stolen Love” (1960) b/w the haunting “You’re The Most” came next, both sides credited to D. Malone.

The following year she put out the stellar “Just Look At You Fool” (1961) b/w “Tide Of Love,” with D. Malone again credited as the writer.

Finally, she received songwriting credit again for both “Why Young Men Go Wild” (1963) and its superb, hypnotic B-side “Run To You.”

During the seventies, White moved to Chicago and appeared at the Kingston Mines club there for the next eight years, playing alongside international blues greats. In the eighties she departed for Austin, Texas, and began a long-term association with Clifford Antone’s blues club on Sixth Street. Her debut album Miss Lavelle was released in 1994 on Antone’s label, and two more followed in 1997 and 2003, cementing her career’s second act as a blues superstar.

Happy 95th Birthday to the great Lavelle White.

Further info:

“Miss Lavelle White,” Texas Music Museum.

“Things I've Learned: Miss Lavelle White,” interview by David Leffler, Austin Monthly Magazine, May 2020.

“The Incomparable Miss Lavelle White,” Austin Woman Magazine, March 1, 2024.

#soul #funk #R&B #DukeRobey #LavelleWhite