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Ma Rainey

Studio publicity photograph, c. 1917 — photographer unrecorded/unknown (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

Classic

Ma Rainey

This artist is no longer with us.

Born: April 26, 1886, Columbus, Georgia · Died: December 22, 1939, Columbus, Georgia (heart attack)• United States

Classic BluesVaudeville Blues

Instruments

Voice

Labels

Paramount

from

Georgia / TOBA vaudeville circuit

Born

April 26, 1886, Columbus, Georgia

Gertrude Pridgett was already a working entertainer for over two decades before anyone thought to put a microphone in front of her — which is why, by the time Paramount Records finally recorded her in December 1923, the whole industry had settled on calling her the Mother of the Blues, not because she invented the music but because she'd been out on the road performing it since before most of her eventual imitators were born (Kilde: Wikipedia). She was born on April 26, 1886, in Columbus, Georgia, to Thomas and Ella Pridgett, and first got on a stage at around twelve or fourteen years old in a local talent show (Kilde: Wikipedia). In February 1904 she married the vaudeville performer William "Pa" Rainey, and took the stage name that made the pairing obvious — Ma and Pa Rainey worked the Black minstrel and tent-show circuit together for years, including a long run with the Rabbit's Foot Minstrels from 1906 onward, years before recorded blues existed as a commercial category at all (Kilde: Wikipedia). Sometime between 1912 and 1916 she crossed paths with a much younger singer named Bessie Smith, who was also touring the minstrel circuit. A colorful legend later claimed Rainey had literally kidnapped Smith to teach her the blues — a story Smith's own sister-in-law disputed — but the two were close enough, for long enough, that rumors of a romantic relationship followed them for the rest of their careers (Kilde: Wikipedia). Paramount producer J. Mayo Williams finally brought Rainey into a Chicago studio in December 1923, and over the next five years she cut more than 100 sides — "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues" from that first session, "See See Rider Blues" in October 1924, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" in 1927, and, in 1928, "Prove It on Me Blues," a record that references her arrest that same year for hosting a party at her home involving women from her own chorus, and stands today as one of the most direct queer statements committed to record in the entire decade (Kilde: Wikipedia; Queer Cultural Center). Her studio bands over the years included Thomas Dorsey's Wildcats Jazz Band and, on a handful of 1924 sides, a young Louis Armstrong (Kilde: Wikipedia). She retired to Columbus, Georgia, in the 1930s and became the proprietress of three theaters — the Liberty in Columbus, and the Lyric and Airdrome in nearby Rome — running the business side of the industry she'd spent her whole career touring through. She died of a heart attack in Columbus on December 22, 1939, and was buried in the city's Porterdale Cemetery, historically the town's Black burial ground (Kilde: Wikipedia; Find a Grave). Every classic blues singer who came after her — up to and including Bessie Smith herself — was working in a shadow Rainey had already cast a decade before the first blues record existed.

Musical Influence

Rainey's phrasing and stagecraft shaped Bessie Smith directly — the two toured together for years before Smith became a star in her own right — and through Smith the whole classic-blues vocal tradition. Louis Armstrong, who backed her on record in 1924, carried lessons from those sessions into his own phrasing for decades. Scholar Angela Davis identified Rainey's frank, queer-coded lyrics as a direct cultural precursor to the lesbian cultural movements of the 1970s, and later generations of singers from Janis Joplin to Bonnie Raitt have cited her vocal boldness as a reference point (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

Travelling minstrel and tent-show tradition

Family and personal life

Husband

William "Pa" Rainey

Vaudeville performer; married February 1904. The couple separated around 1916.

Parents

Thomas & Ella Pridgett

From Alabama; Gertrude had at least two brothers and a sister, Malissa Pridgett Nix.

Formative experiences

•c. 1898–1900: First stage appearance in a local Columbus, Georgia talent show, aged around 12–14. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1906 onward: Toured with the Rabbit's Foot Minstrels. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1912–1916: Crossed paths with Bessie Smith on the minstrel circuit. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•December 1923: First Paramount recording session, Chicago. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
•1928: Arrested after an incident at her home involving women from her chorus, referenced directly in "Prove It on Me Blues." (Kilde: Wikipedia; Queer Cultural Center)

Stories & Anecdotes

"A colorful (and disputed) legend claims Rainey kidnapped a young Bessie Smith to teach her the blues — Smith's own sister-in-law denied it ever happened. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

""Prove It on Me Blues" (1928) directly references Rainey's own arrest that year and stands as one of the most explicit queer-themed blues records of the decade. (Kilde: Wikipedia; Queer Cultural Center)"

"After retiring from touring, she became proprietress of three theaters in Georgia — the Liberty in Columbus and the Lyric and Airdrome in Rome. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Close companion on the minstrel circuit c. 1912–1916; later the most famous classic-blues singer to follow in Rainey's footsteps.

Louis Armstrong

Backed Rainey on several 1924 recordings.

Thomas "Georgia Tom" Dorsey

Bandleader/pianist for her Wildcats Jazz Band studio recordings.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Ma Rainey - See See Rider Blues [1924]

Recorded October 1924; inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.

Classic Mood Experience

Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey - Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Ma Rainey - Prove it On Me Blues [1928]

Ma Rainey - Prove it On Me Blues [1928]

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

Year	Title	Producer	Studio	Label	Chart	Sales	Musicians	YouTube	Notes
1923	First Paramount session, Chicago	J. Mayo Williams	—	Paramount Records	—	—	Lovie Austin (Piano, bandleader (Blues Serenaders))		Debut session in December 1923; "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues" among the first sides cut.
1924	Spring sessions, Chicago	J. Mayo Williams	—	Paramount Records	—	—	Lovie Austin (Piano, bandleader), The Pruitt Twins (Banjo, guitar)		March–May 1924 sessions backed by her touring band as well as Lovie Austin's Blues Serenaders.
1924	"See See Rider Blues" session, Chicago	J. Mayo Williams	—	Paramount Records	—	—	Louis Armstrong (Cornet), Her Georgia Jazz Band (Backing band)		Recorded October 1924 with her Georgia Jazz Band, featuring a young Louis Armstrong on cornet; later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (2004).
1925	Georgia Band sessions, Chicago	J. Mayo Williams	—	Paramount Records	—	—	Her Georgia Band (Backing band)		November 1924 through August 1925, backed by Her Georgia Jazz Band and Her Georgia Band lineups.
1926	Sessions with Jimmy Blythe and Blind Blake, Chicago	J. Mayo Williams	—	Paramount Records	—	—	Jimmy Blythe (Piano), Blind Blake (Guitar)		December 1925 through June 1926, with pianist Jimmy Blythe and guitarist Blind Blake among her accompanists.
1927	"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" session	Paramount Records	—	Paramount Records	—	—	Her Georgia Boys (Backing band)		With Her Georgia Boys/Georgia Band, November 1926–December 1927; became a blues standard and, decades later, the title of August Wilson's 1982 play.
1928	"Prove It on Me Blues" session with the Tub Jug Washboard Band	Paramount Records	—	Paramount Records	—	—	Georgia Tom Dorsey (Piano, bandleader), Tampa Red (Guitar), Papa Charlie Jackson (Banjo)		June–October 1928, backed by Her Tub Jug Washboard Band led by Georgia Tom Dorsey (later the father of gospel music), with Tampa Red on guitar and Papa Charlie Jackson; directly references her 1925/1928 arrest and is among the most explicit queer-themed blues records of the era.

Famous songs

01Bo-Weevil Blues

02Moonshine Blues

03See See Rider Blues

04Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

05Prove It on Me Blues

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Sources

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