Ketty Lester

Ketty Lester (born Revoyda Frierson; August 16, 1934) is an American singer and actress known for her 1961 hit single "Love Letters", which reached the top 5 of the charts in the US and the UK. She is also known for her role as Hester-Sue Terhune on the American television series Little House on the Prairie. In 2022, she was inducted into the Arkansas Black Hall of Fame.

Life and career Ketty Lester was born Revoyda Frierson on August 16, 1934 in Hope, Arkansas.

Lester (as Revoyda Frierson) appeared as a contestant on the December 26, 1957, episode of You Bet Your Life, hosted by Groucho Marx. Lester sang "You Do Something to Me". The chosen category was "Mother Goose", a subject she admitted knowing nothing about; George Fenneman fed the correct answers to her, and she and her partner won $1,000.

Returning to California, she recorded her first single, "Queen for a Day", for the Everest label. She was introduced by Dorothy Shay to record producers and songwriters Ed Cobb and Lincoln Mayorga of The Four Preps and The Piltdown Men, who won her a contract with Era Records in Los Angeles. In 1961 they released her single "Love Letters" b/w "I'm a Fool to Want You". The record also reached No. 2 on the R&B chart and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart, selling over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA. In 1991, it was ranked 176th in the RIAA-compiled list of Songs of the Century.

Lester continued to record for Era with little success until 1964, when she signed with RCA. She released several unsuccessful singles for that label, and two albums, The Soul of Me and Where Is Love?, in a more R&B-oriented style that has been compared to Dinah Washington and Nancy Wilson. Some of her earlier recordings also featured on one side of an album shared with previously released tracks by Betty Everett. Also in 1964, she won a Theatre World Award for her performance in the off-Broadway show Cabin in the Sky. She moved to the Tower label, issuing a single and album, When A Woman Loves A Man, an answer record to Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman". However, these releases, and later records for the Pete label, including a 1968 album titled Ketty Lester, met with little commercial success.

In 2020, she released her memoir, Ketty Lester: From Arkansas To Grammy Nominated Love Letters to Little House on the Prairie. Lester attended the 50th Anniversary Reunion for Little House on the Prairie in 2024, meeting fans and also delivering a sermon on stage.

Discography Albums

Love Letters – ERA, 1962 Betty Everett & Ketty Lester – 1964 (only on two tracks) The Soul of Me – RCA Victor, 1964 Where Is Love? – Armed Forces Radio & Television Service Station Library, 1965 When a Woman Loves a Man – Tower, 1966 Ketty Lester – Records by Pete, Sheffield, 1969 Ketty Lester in Concert – Sheffield, 1977 A Collection of Her Best – AVI Records, 1982 I Saw Love – Mega, 1984

"Queen for a Day"b/w "I Said Goodbye to My Love"

"Love Letters"b/w "I'm a Fool to Want You"

"But Not for Me"b/w "Once Upon a Time" (from Love Letters)

"You Can't Lie to a Liar"b/w "River of Salt"

"This Land Is Your Land"b/w "Love Is for Everyone"

1963 "Fallen Angel"b/w "Lullaby for Lovers" (Non-album track)

"Some Things Are Better Left Unsaid"b/w "The House Is Haunted (by the Echo of Your Last Goodbye)"

"Roses Grow with Thorns"b/w "Please Don't Cry Anymore"

"I Trust You Baby"b/w "Theme from 'The Luck of Ginger Coffey'"

"You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Crazy)"b/w "Variations on a Theme by Bird"

"Pretty Lies, Pretty Make Believe"b/w "(Looking for a) Better World"

"I'll Be Looking Back"b/w "West Coast"

"Secret Love"b/w "Love Me Just a Little Bit"

"When a Woman Loves a Man"b/w "We'll Be Together Again"

1968 "I Will Lead You"b/w "Now That I Need Him"

"Cracker Box Livin'"b/w "The Measure of a Man"

"Show Me"b/w "Since I Fell for You"

"Jesus Laid His Hands on Me""One Day at a Time"

"Have You Heard?"b/w "She'd Never Heard of Anyone Called Jesus"

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