Varetta Dillard has been played on NTS in shows including Diddy Wah, featured first on 5 August 2019. Songs played include Scorched.

Varetta Dillard (Feb 03, 1933 Harlem, New York - Oct 04, 1993 Brooklyn, New York) was one of the great unknown blues shouters of the 1950s. A two-time winner of the Apollo Theater's amateur competition, she recorded solo and as a part of a duo that she shared with vocalist/pianist H-Bomb Ferguson. Signed by Savoy in 1951, her singles included "Easy Easy Baby" in 1952 and "Mercy, Mr. Percy," her theme song, the following year.

Dillard became known for her tribute songs to fallen…