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Ethel V. Finnie (January 7, 1898 – May 1, 1981)U.S. Social Security Death Index 1933–2014. Ancestry.com. was an American classic female blues singer. Her most notable recording is "You're Gonna Wake Up Some Morning, but Your Papa Will Be Gone". Information about her life outside music is sketchy.
Finnie was a graduate of New Orleans University (later incorporated into Dillard University)"Y.M.C.A. News". Chicago Defender. August 27, 1921. p. 8."Plan Soiree at Dillard". Pittsburgh Courier. December 5, 1953. p. 9. and was employed as a schoolteacher at the McDonogh School No. 6. Soards' New Orleans City Directory for 1918... New Orleans: Soards' Directory Co., 1918. p. 447.
Finnie married the pianist and composer Porter Grainger on September 25, 1923, in Stamford, Connecticut,"Porter Granger sic Marries." Chicago Defender, September 29, 1923. p. 10. with whom she performed throughout the northeastern United States, appearing at various venues and performing on radio programs, as documented in the pages of the African-American press of the period. It seems that after the birth of their daughter, Portia Lee Grainger, Finnie curtailed her activities and remained in New Orleans, close to her family, residing at 4021 Dryades Street.1940 Federal Census 12th Ward of City of New Orleans, Orleans Parish Enumeration District 36-337, Sheet 8-A, Lines 33–37. Eventually Porter and Finnie divorced.
She subsequently married William Turner and went into business in New Orleans as a hairdresser Polk's 1945 New Orleans (Orleans Parish, La.) Directory for 1945–46... New Orleans: R. L. Polk, 1945. p. 1154. and later as the owner of a beauty shop, restaurant and grocery.Gertrude Schalk (1951). "A Last Look at New Orleans, the City of Charm". Pittsburgh Courier. December 29, 1951. p. 10. She was involved in the sorority Iota Phi Lambda, serving as its southwestern regional director during the 1950s."Pledgee". Pittsburgh Courier. August 1, 1953. p. 11. She also served as the treasurer of the Fourth Region of the National Council of Negro Women in the 1960s.Ringgold, M. N. (1960). "Baton Rouge". Chicago Defender. May 21, 1960. p. 22.
Finnie died in New Orleans on May 1, 1981, aged 83.Ancestry.com. U.S., Social Security Death Index, 1935–2014 (on-line database). Provo, Utah: Ancestry.com Operations, 2011. Original data: Social Security Administration. Social Security Death Index, Master File. Social Security Administration.
She also recorded for Ajax Records and Emerson Records during this short time span. Another song she recorded, "Mistreatin' Daddy Blues", was initially not released, which may have prevented her gaining a wider audience. Other little-known blues singers, including Gladys Bryant, Dolly Ross, and Ada Brown, vied with Finnie for Grainger's material.
All her recorded work was eventually released by Document Records.
| 1923 | "I Don't Love Nobody (So I Don't Have No Blues)" (Clara Smith) | "Don't You Quit Me Daddy" (Porter Grainger) | Porter Grainger | Ajax Records |
| 1924 | "He Wasn't Born in Araby, but He's a Sheikin' Fool" (Andy Razaf / Edgar Dowell) | "Heart Breakin' Joe" (N/K) | Fletcher Henderson | Emerson Records |
| 1924 | "Don't Know and Don't Care Blues" (Porter Grainger) | "Hula Blues" (Porter Grainger) | Porter Grainger | Ajax Records |
| 1924 | "You're Gonna Wake Up Some Morning, but Your Papa Will Be Gone" (N/K) | Porter Grainger | Edison Records | |
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