Born Adel Hall, near Livingston, Alabama, USA, 1902 (date unconfirmed); died January 29, 1964 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
A cook and washerwoman all her life, who also sang folk songs, country blues, and old-time spirituals of the 19th century. She was born Adel Hall, but adopted her nickname, Vera Hall, at an early age. Furthermore, she was married and separated a number of times, changing her name on each occasion. Names she is known by are: Adel Hall, Vera Ward Hall, Vera Hall-John, Vera Ward, and Adel Ward.
She was recorded by John Lomax, the renouned ethnomusicologist, for the Library of Congress 1937-1940, and by his son Alan Lomax in 1959. More recently, her rendition of the early spiritual Troubled So Hard was sampled by Moby on his 1999 hit album Play in the song Natural Blues.
Cousin of Dock Reed and Henry Reed.