Connie Allen
By Marv Goldberg
© 2026 by Marv Goldberg
Connie Allen was a blues shouter in the finest tradition. While never very famous, she recorded with two of the best orchestras in Detroit. [By the way, would anyone like to take a guess as to how many women in the U.S. were named "Connie Allen"?]
Constantina "Connie" Allen was born on September 24, 1926, in East Chicago, Indiana. Her parents were Judge Allen, Sr. and Edna May Parker. Note that her birth certificate, filled out by someone with faulty hearing (probably soon to become a census-taker), named her as "Contertine". She had five siblings: Fatima, Christina, Judge, Jr., Drew, and Derrick.
The 1930 census found the family still in East Chicago, Indiana. The only sibling, at that point, was Fatima, but she would die in less than a year.
By the time of the 1940 census, Judge, Edna, and Constantina had moved eastward, to Detroit.
Absolutely nothing is known about the beginnings of Constantina's singing career, but by mid-1948, she was already known as "Connie Allen". She's first mentioned in the July 31, 1948 Detroit Tribune, which said:
Ever heard of Connie Allen?
If you haven't, you will from this point in. From who? Me. Because, along with these other late entries comes Connie with a heart full of singing and a beautiful way to sing.
What the columnist was talking about was the second annual "Tribune Band Poll" (which also included vocalists). This was Connie's first year (I checked 1947) and, in that same July 31 edition, she started out with 130 points, tied with Honey Brown and leading Chubby Newsom, Alberta Adams, and Kitty Stevens [Stevenson]. Where did the points come from? I have no idea. I think that singers were assigned a random number of points just to start things rolling. At the start, Connie trailed three of your all-time favorites: Lorraine Carter, Toni Palmer, and Mildred McIver.
I'm not even sure why she's on the list, since there's not a single mention of an appearance to date (and there'd be precious few in the future).
By the time the poll had ended (in the August 21 edition), the clear winner was Mildred McIver (770 points), followed by Toni Palmer, Chubby Newsom, and Lorraine Carter. Connie came in fifth with (... wait for it ...) 130 points. She still beat out Alberta Adams and Kitty Stevens, but I really have no idea what these polls were supposed to prove.
December 10, 1948 found Connie as one of the many performers who appeared at the Motor City Press Club's "Night Of Stars", held at the Club Three 666. (That's really is its name.) Can't say I've ever heard of any of the other "stars". However, this is the first time she was mentioned as appearing anywhere, either as Connie or Constantina.
On January 29, 1949, she made it to the Pittsburgh Courier's "Theatrical Poll" (here we go again). She started with 102 points, leaving her far behind Dinah Washington, Lil Green, Julia Lee, Rosetta Howard, Annie Laurie, Beverly White, Bea Booze, and Chubby Newsom. She was only ahead of Margaret Watkins.
By the time that poll had ended (on March 26), Dinah Washington had amassed 13,700 points, some 10,000 more than runner-up Lil Green. Connie had only struggled up to 371, but poor Margaret Watkins was still at the bottom.
I have to assume that the Pittsburgh Courier had a pretty wide circulation. How many people in Pittsburgh would have heard of Connie to vote for her?
A more important date: on February 11, 1949, Connie married Warren Jabber in Detroit. It was not fated to last.
A Savoy recording: on December 1, 1949, in Detroit, Connie recorded a song called "What's Happening", with saxophonist Paul Williams and his band, the Hucklebuckers. (Earlier that year, he'd had a #1 smash hit with "The Hucklebuck".) A busy day for him; on that same day, the Williams orchestra appeared at the Duke Theater (but Connie's name wasn't in the ad).
In 1980, Peter Grendysa interviewed saxophonist Paul Williams. He had this to say about Connie Allen:
"Connie Allen, who is heard on Young Man Blues, went on the road with us. She later worked with the Todd Rhodes Band. Had that hit Rocket 69 with Todd. We had this song You've Got To Know What's Happening and we needed somebody to sing on this record. She was working at a restaurant next door as a waitress. Somebody said, 'That waitress over there sings pretty good', and I said 'Go get her!' She did so well we just kept her with the band."
It sounds good, but, except for their names on the resulting record label, there's not a single Paul Williams appearance that mentions Connie Allen.
In February 1950, Savoy released "What's Happening" with "Camp Meeting Bounce" (an instrumental) on the flip. The whole band gets in on the enthusiastic singing, and much of the song highlights Williams' sax work. Connie sings "If you girls want to try your luck / Dig Mister Paul and learn to Hucklebuck". The disc was reviewed in the March 11, 1950 Billboard and the March 25 Cash Box:
Billboard (85): Surging medium tempo blues swings a storm. Thrush gets unison chant responses from band. A driving, exciting side.
Cash Box: The coupling [to "Camp Meeting Bounce"] has chirp Connie Allen on the vocal, offering a bit of blues that should do extremely well in the phonos. The wide following Williams has should account for some lively juke box action with this pair.
The April 1950 census found "Constance" Allen back living with her parents. She was a "night club singer" and said she was "married", but Warren Jabber was living in Saginaw, Michigan and said he was "separated". (The marriage was short enough so that she never bothered to tell Social Security about being "Constantina Jabber".) Also present were siblings Christina, Judge, Jr., and Drew. (Brother Derrick would be born the following year.
By June 1951, Connie had replaced Kitty Stevenson as the singer in Todd Rhodes' band. In early 1952, she recorded two songs, with Rhodes, for King Records: "Your Daddy's Doggin' Around" and "Rocket 69". Once again, the band is a big part of the vocals on both.
But, just like with Paul Williams, finding any Rhodes appearances that mention Connie are, with a single exception, doomed to failure.
In February 1952, King issued "Your Daddy's Doggin' Around", backed with the instrumental, "Red Boy Is Back". (In 1949, Rhodes had had a big hit with "Blues For The Red Boy".) The song was reviewed in the March 1 Billboard, receiving an 81:
Solid vocal by Connie Allen, with a gang vocal by the band on this fast swingy blues ditty. Lyrics are good, band lends great support. A disk that could catch some coin.
In April 1952, King released "Rocket 69", backed by the instrumental "Possessed". Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" had been a #1 R&B hit in May of 1951, but it was only about a car. However, it inspired Todd Rhodes' very off-color "Rocket 69" (penned by Henry Glover), which, in turn, was the inspiration for the Medallions' "Buick 59". Probably Connie's most famous song, it wasn't reviewed in any of the trades.
Rhodes appeared at Sparrow's Beach (Annapolis, Maryland) on July 27, 1952. The ad mentions "Rocket 69", but not Connie. However, it does mention Little Miss Sharecropper (just on the verge of changing her name to Lavern Baker). Sharecropper was new with the Rhodes band, having replaced Connie. Again, I can't find a single show Connie and Rhodes did together up to this point.
Connie might have gone back with Paul Williams, although, again, there are no shows linking them. But in late 1952, she recorded two songs with Williams for Mercury: "Young Man Blues" and "Hard Working Woman". For a change, neither side has band vocals.
And now, a momentous occasion. From March 9-16, 1953, the Todd Rhodes orchestra appeared at the Blue Angel in Dayton, Ohio. What makes it momentous is that it's the first time Connie's name is actually in an ad (and the only time she's recorded as appearing with Todd Rhodes).
To take away from that achievement, when the Mercury tunes were released, in April 1953, Connie's name didn't appear on the label.
California concert promoter Norman Granz had a label called Clef, which was initially a part of Mercury; the tunes were released on Clef simultaneously (even having the same record number as Mercury).
The two tunes were also issued, as part of an EP, on Granz' Norgran label, probably in 1954. Once again, Connie's name wasn't on the label. The other two songs were Paul Williams instrumentals: "Miami Drag" and "Easy Walking".
Another Detroit Tribune poll. It began on April 3, 1954, starting Connie off with 100 points. Ahead of her were Mae Patterson, Alberta Adams, Gloria Irving, Lavern Baker, Dakota, Laura Johnson, and Chubby Newsom. When it ended, on June 5, the winner was Bobbe Caston, with Gloria Irving in second place. Connie had only picked up 20 more votes, but Alberta Adams, Lavern Baker, and Chubby Newsom weren't even there. Wish I could understand these things.
However, a lot of the competitors couldn't be located. In the June 12 Tribune, there was a list of some 90 people who needed to get in touch with the paper in order to get "certificates and subscriptions". By August 28, there were still around 50 on the list. Along with Connie, they included (just to name the famous ones): Muddy Waters, Bobby Lewis, Willie John, Lavern Baker, the Carols, the Serenaders, Alberta Adams, Chubby Newsom, the 5 Jets, Clay Tyson, Nina Mae McKinney, and Joe Weaver.
Things were looking up in 1955. There was a January 14 ad for Connie at the Club El Sino (Detroit); she was still there in early February. Then, she was at the Ebony Lounge, in Cleveland, for one week, starting February 14. Next was the Club DeLisa, in Chicago, starting on March 12. She seems to have been there through the end of September, although it looks like she took one night off (July 5) to appear at the Warfield Theater in Detroit (there was only one ad).
Around August 1955, she recorded four songs for Samuel Cornelius "Connie" Toole's Theron label from Chicago in a single session. On these, she was accompanied by the Leon Washington Orchestra. The tunes were: "Don't", "I Haven't Got The Heart", "What Jolly Folks", and "Saving My Love" (Johnny Ace's "Saving My Love For You"). Note that Theron labels credited "Connee Allen". The first two were issued in October 1955 and reviewed in the October 29 Billboard:
Don't (71): Nice blues side, with smart lyric and good performance by Miss Allen.
I Haven't Got The Heart (70): Connee Allen displays a voice of interesting quality in this pop-styled ballad.
It took Cash Box until January 14, 1956 to review them:
Don't (C+): An easy styling by Connee Allen of a middle beat rhythm piece. Intimate chanting to the unobtrusive orking of Leon Washington.
I Haven't Got The Heart (B): A soft light mood offering with warm chanting by the thrush. Expressive singing with a style that combines a touch of rhythm and blues, pop, and jazz phrasing. Pleasing side.
In the same issue, there was this:
Connee Allen, performing at El Sino Lounge in Detroit, doing good job for Theron Records, according to Connie Toole, who has big plans for this label. Regarding "I Haven't Got The Heart", Toole says emphatically, "It's worth watching. We've got other good ones coming along soon."
While she'd been at the El Sino the prior year, there were no ads for her at that venue in 1956. In December 1955, Theron released the other two songs, "Saving My Love" and "What Jolly Folks". They weren't reviewed. After listening to "What Jolly Folks", I couldn't even tell you what genre of music it belongs in.
From the fall of 1955 until October 23, 1957, Connie seemed to have vanished. On that date, she started an engagement at the Parkway Inn ("Between Bay City & Saginaw").
There was an article about her in the Lima (Ohio) News of September 8, 1958. It said that she was about to give up show business because "I like married life better than show business, and it looks like I can't have both." Her marriage prevented her from traveling, because she didn't like to get far from Detroit.
But, you cry, Warren Jabber is gone from her life. Who's her husband? Well, his name was Irvin Boyd, but I have no idea when they'd married. Even worse, in 1959, Irvin died from leukemia.
The last time Connie Allen shows up anywhere was when she appeared at Detroit's Club 20 Grand in February 1960. No, I take that back. In August 1963, she appeared at the Diamond Horseshoe Bar And Grill in Louisville, Kentucky.
According to her niece, Bernita Allen, sometime after that, she began working for the city of Detroit's school system as a teacher's aide.
In 1967, Connie's sister, Christina, had a Soul release on Chicago's USA label (as "Chris Campbell", her married name): "Li'l Liza Jane (Do The Thing)" / "You Gotta Pay Dues".
Nothing more until November 18, 1987, when Connie married Richard Duncan.
The end came on August 30, 1991, when Constantina Boyd Duncan died in Highland Park, Michigan. There was no obituary.
It's hard to sum up Connie Allen's career. She certainly had a good voice, but seemed to go out of her way not to appear anywhere. She was associated with two top bands, but with a single exception, was never advertised with either one.
One final note: Wikipedia says: Some of her songs include: Your Daddy's Doggin' Around, Hard Working Woman, Sugar In My Bowl, What's Happening, and You'll Never Change Me. However, there's no trace of "Sugar In My Bowl" or "You'll Never Change Me" anywhere.
Special thanks to Connie's niece, Bernita Allen.
SAVOY (Paul Williams & His Hucklebuckers - Vocal: Connie Allen)
734 What's Happening / [Camp Meeting Bounce - instrumental] - 2/50
KING (Todd Rhodes Orchestra - vocal by Connie Allen)
4509 Your Daddy's Doggin' Around / [Red Boy Is Back - instrumental] - 2/52
4528 Rocket 69 / [Possessed - instrumental] - 4/52
MERCURY (Paul Williams & His Orchestra)
89048 Young Man Blues / Hard Working Woman - 4/53
CLEF (Paul Williams & His Orchestra; Clef owned by Norman Granz)
89048 Young Man Blues / Hard Working Woman - 4/53
NORGRAN (Paul Williams & His Orchestra; owned by Norman Granz)
EP-N51 Young Man Blues / [Miami Drag (I)] // Hard Working Woman / [Easy Walking (I)] - 54?
NOTE: Her name isn't on the Mercury, Clef, or Norgran labels
THERON (Connee Allen - Leon Washington Orchestra)
114 Don't / I Haven't Got The Heart - 10/55
115 Saving My Love / What Jolly Folks - ca. 12/55