A01433 - Otha Lee "Tiny Topsy" Moore, "Just a Little Bit" R&B Singer

Otha Lee Moore (b. May 22, 1930, Chicago, Illinois – d. August 16, 1964, Chicago, Illinois), better known as Tiny Topsy, was an American R&B singer.  She was five feet tall and weighed 250 pounds.

Although none of her seven single releases made the national charts, her early version of "Just a Little Bit" preceded bigger success for the song. 

Otha Lee Moore was born in Chicago, Illinois, the daughter of Annabell and Casey Moore, and was raised in nearby Robbins, Illinois. She began her singing career in the mid-1940s, fronting Al Smith's eight-piece jazz and rhythm and blues band in her hometown. Moore's backing outfit went on to become the house band for labels including Chance, Parrot, and Vee Jay, and turned out over eighty recording sessions between 1952 and 1959, but all of them without Tiny Topsy's involvement.

Moore's first recording session was on July 9, 1957, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and resulted in "Aw! Shucks Baby" (Federal Records), incorporating a Ray Felder tenor saxophone solo. Another track recorded was "Miss You So", with the resultant single release billed as by Tiny Topsy and the Five Chances. The B-side, "Miss You So", was a cover version of an earlier hit for Lillian Offitt. The third cut at the session, "A Woman's Intuition", was not issued until 1988. Her next single was "Come On, Come On, Come On" b/w "Ring Around My Finger", when she was again backed by the vocal group the Charms, who this time got credit on the resulting label. Another rock-laden track, "You Shocked Me", was her third release on Federal. Both "Come On, Come On, Come On" and "You Shocked Me" saw a UK release by Parlophone, a rarity for American R&B tracks of the day. Tiny Topsy's fourth Federal single was written by Bernice Williams. "Western Rock 'n' Roll" incorporated small sequences of the then-current hits "Lollipop", "At the Hop", "Get a Job", and "Short Shorts".  It opened with gunshots and having been recorded on March 19, 1958, predated the Olympics hit, "Western Movies" by three months. 

In 1959, Moore recorded "After Marriage Blues" (also known as "How You Changed") and "Working On Me Baby" which were released on Argo Records. 

Moore's next single, which proved to be her last with Federal, was "Just a Little Bit"  (1959).  Rosco Gordon had a No. 2 hit on the United States Billboard R&B chart with his version of "Just a Little Bit" in 1960.  An alternate recording of "Aw! Shucks Baby" with "Everybody Needs Some Loving" on the B-side was released by King Records in 1963, months prior to her death.

Moore had married Samuel Hall, a Chicago night club owner, and was therefore sometimes known as Otha Lee Moore Hall.

Tiny Topsy died on August 16, 1964, in Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, at the age of 34 of an intracerebral hemorrhage, following an evening of performing at her husband's club. She was buried at Burr Oak Cemetery. 

There are several compilation albums available which encompass all of Otha Lee Moore's (Tiny Topsy's)   recorded work, including Aw! Shucks, Baby (1988).