"I had the great pleasure of knowing Annette Hanshaw since 1959 when having been captivated beyond hope of release by some of her records the previous year, I decided to meet her if it were at all possible. So I went to New York that June, and met this shy being whose reluctance to delve into her recording achievements has since become well known. Gradually, I persuaded her to discuss her life in show business, which she had put behind her more than two decades before we met and found that here was a source of valuable information and more, much more, here was a delightful companion who, having promised to see me and help me research as much as she could, would not go back on her word.
Over the years we kept in touch by letter, and I kept hoping that various projects to record Annette again would become real. Then, little by little, I sensed that things were not as well with her as they should be. I kept hearing from other sources that she had had several stays in hospital, and the chances of a new Annette LP faded away. I helped David Tarnow of CBC in his tribute to her, broadcast on March 4 and 5, 1984, in a letter to me three weeks later, Annette said she had still not heard it, adding that a famous Canadian artist from Ottawa wanted to paint her portrait.
There followed another long silence, then on Christmas Eve, 1984. Annette called me on the phone. She sounded a little frail, but I could tell she was putting up a fight. "I'm pretty sick," she said. "How I wish it would all go away." On Wednesday, March 13, 1985, her wish was granted, and all of us who love her voice lost something irreplaceable....
The highest compliment to Annette Hanshaw was paid by no less a perfectionist than Tommy Dorsey, who described her as "the musician's singer."
John Hammond once said of her, "I don't think she realizes how good she is." He was right; she led the way and the others followed on, most a long distance behind. None ever overtook her; if any in the future should try, we have Annette's records an infallible yardstick by which others can be measured." Liner notes "Annette Hanshaw Volume 3," by Brian Rust, noted music biographer and historian.
