Sugar Pie De Santo

2-25002 | Paul Chinn | San Francisco Chronicle | Getty | 2004

Singer and song writer Umpeylia (or Peylia) Marsema Balinton (Sugar Pie De Santo) was born in Brooklyn, New York City, on October 16, 1935 but grew up in San Francisco. A friend of Etta James, she was discovered by Johnny Otis, who nicknamed her “Sugar Pie”, in 1955 and toured with his Revue. In 1959-60 she toured with the James Brown Revue. She first tasted success in the R&B chart in 1960 with her recording of “I want to know” (Check 103) which reached no. 4 on the R&B chart. In 1962 she signed with Chess Records. In 1964 she toured Europe with the Chess Revue.

Tragedy struck in 2006 when her second husband, Jessee Earl Davis, died in an attempt to extinguish a fire in their apartment in Oakland, California.

“Strange feeling” (Geddisons 100 and other reissues) was released in the UK on Sue LP ILP 943 “Dr Soul” and dates from 1962. Did not chart.

Sugar Pie De Santo died in a hospice in Oakland, California, from COPD and Heart Failure, on 20 December 2024.

102 | 13 June 2025

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