Ma Rainey - Wikipedia Ma Rainey From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search African-American singer Ma Rainey Rainey in 1917 Background information Birth name Gertrude Pridgett Born (1886-04-26)April 26, 1886 Columbus, Georgia, U.S. Died December 22, 1939(1939-12-22) (aged 53) Columbus, Georgia, U.S. Genres Blues classic female blues Occupation(s) Vocalist Years active 1899–1939 Labels Paramount Associated acts Rainey and Rainey Assassinators of the Blues Rabbit Foot Minstrels Bessie Smith Louis Armstrong Thomas Dorsey Musical artist Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (née Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939)[1][2][3] was an influential American blues singer and early blues recording artist.[4] Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of southern blues, influencing a generation of blues singers.[5] Gertrude Pridgett began performing as a teenager and became known as "Ma" Rainey after her marriage to Will "Pa" Rainey in 1904. They toured with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels and later formed their own group, Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues. Her first recording was made in 1923. In the following five years, she made over 100 recordings, including "Bo-Weevil Blues" (1923), "Moonshine Blues" (1923), "See See Rider Blues" (1924), "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (1927), and "Soon This Morning" (1927).[6] Rainey was known for her powerful vocal abilities, energetic disposition, majestic phrasing, and a "moaning" style of singing. Her qualities are present and most evident in her early recordings "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues". Rainey recorded with Thomas Dorsey and Louis Armstrong, and she toured and recorded with the Georgia Jazz Band. She toured until 1935, when she largely retired from performing and continued as a theater impresario in her hometown of Columbus, Georgia, until her death four years later.[1] Contents 1 Early life 2 Early career 3 Recording career 4 Personal life and death 5 Legacy and honors 6 In popular culture 7 Recordings 8 Notes 9 References 9.1 Footnotes 9.2 Sources 10 Further reading 11 External links Early life[edit] There is uncertainty about the birth date of Gertrude Pridgett. Some sources indicate that she was born in 1882, while most sources assert that she was born on April 26, 1886.[2] Pridgett claimed to have been born on April 26, 1886 (beginning with the 1910 census, taken April 25, 1910), in Columbus, Georgia.[7] However, the 1900 census indicates that she was born in September 1882 in Alabama, and researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest that her birthplace was in Russell County, Alabama.[8][9] She was the second of five children of Thomas and Ella (née Allen) Pridgett, from Alabama. She had at least two brothers and a sister, Malissa Pridgett Nix.[7] In February 1904, Ma Rainey married William "Pa" Rainey.[10] She took on the stage name "Ma Rainey", which was "a play on her husband’s nickname, 'Pa'".[11] Early career[edit] Pridgett began her career as a performer at a talent show in Columbus, Georgia, when she was approximately 12 to 14 years old.[1][12] A member of the First African Baptist Church, she began performing in black minstrel shows. She later claimed that she was first exposed to blues music around 1902.[13] She formed the Alabama Fun Makers Company with her husband, Will Rainey, but in 1906 they both joined Pat Chappelle's much larger and more popular Rabbit's Foot Company, where they were billed together as "Black Face Song and Dance Comedians, Jubilee Singers [and] Cake Walkers".[14] In 1910, she was described as "Mrs. Gertrude Rainey, our coon shouter".[14] She continued with the Rabbit's Foot Company after it was taken over by a new owner, F. S. Wolcott, in 1912.[1] Rainey said she found "Blues Music" when she was in Missouri one night performing, and a girl introduced her to a sad song about a man leaving a woman. Rainey said she learned the lyrics of the song and added it to her performances. Rainey claimed she created the term "blues" when asked what kind of song she was singing.[10] Beginning in 1914, the Raineys were billed as Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues. Wintering in New Orleans, she met numerous musicians, including Joe "King" Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Pops Foster. As the popularity of blues music increased, she became well known.[15] Around this time, she met Bessie Smith, a young blues singer who was also making a name for herself.[A] A story later developed that Rainey kidnapped Smith, forced her to join the Rabbit's Foot Minstrels, and taught her to sing the blues; the story was disputed by Smith's sister-in-law Maud Smith.[16] Recording career[edit] Rainey and the band From the late 1910s, there was an increasing demand for recordings by black musicians.[17] In 1920, Mamie Smith was the first black woman to be recorded.[18] In 1923, Rainey was discovered by Paramount Records producer J. Mayo Williams. She signed a recording contract with Paramount, and in December she made her first eight recordings in Chicago,[19] including "Bad Luck Blues", "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues". She made more than 100 other recordings over the next five years, which brought her fame beyond the South.[1][20] Paramount marketed her extensively, calling her the "Mother of the Blues", the "Songbird of the South", the "Gold-Neck Woman of the Blues" and the "Paramount Wildcat".[21] In 1924, Rainey recorded with Louis Armstrong, including on "Jelly Bean Blues", "Countin' the Blues" and "See, See Rider".[22] In the same year, she embarked on a tour of the Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA) in the South and Midwest of the United States, singing for black and white audiences.[23] She was accompanied by the bandleader and pianist Thomas Dorsey and the band he assembled, the Wildcats Jazz Band.[24] They began their tour with an appearance in Chicago in April 1924 and continued, on and off, until 1928.[25] Dorsey left the group in 1926 because of ill health and was replaced as pianist by Lillian Hardaway Henderson, the wife of Rainey's cornetist Fuller Henderson, who became the band's leader.[26] Although most of Rainey's songs that mention sexuality refer to love affairs with men, some of her lyrics contain references to lesbianism or bisexuality,[27] such as the 1928 song "Prove It on Me": They said I do it, ain't nobody caught me. Sure got to prove it on me. Went out last night with a crowd of my friends. They must've been women, 'cause I don't like no men. It’s true I wear a collar and tie. Makes the wind blow all the while.[28] According to the website queerculturalcenter.org, the lyrics refer to an incident in 1925 in which Rainey was "arrested for taking part in an orgy at [her] home involving women in her chorus".[29] The political activist and scholar Angela Y. Davis noted that "'Prove It on Me' is a cultural precursor to the lesbian cultural movement of the 1970s, which began to crystallize around the performance and recording of lesbian-affirming songs."[30] At the time, an ad for the song embraced the genderbending outlined in the lyrics and featured Rainey in a three-piece suit, mingling with women while a police officer lurks nearby.[31] Unlike many blues singers of her day, Rainey wrote at least a third of the songs she sang including many of her most famous works such as "Moonshine Blues" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" which would become standards of the "classic blues" genre.[31] Throughout the 1920s, Ma Rainey had a reputation for being one of the most dynamic performers in the United States due in large part to her songwriting, showmanship and voice.[31] She and her band could fetch earnings of $350 a week on tour with the Theater Owners’ Booking Association which was double that of Bessie Brown and George Williams while a little over half what Bessie Smith would ultimately command.[32] Toward the end of the 1920s, live vaudeville went into decline, being replaced by radio and recordings.[26] Rainey's career was not immediately affected; she continued recording for Paramount and earned enough money from touring to buy a bus with her name on it.[33] In 1928, she worked with Dorsey again and recorded 20 songs, before Paramount terminated her contract.[34] Her style of blues was no longer considered fashionable by the label.[35] It is unclear if she maintained the royalties to her songs after she was fired from Paramount.[31] Personal life and death[edit] Ma Rainey and Pa Rainey adopted a son named Danny who later joined his parents' musical act. Rainey developed a relationship with Bessie Smith. They became so close that rumors circulated that their relationship was possibly also romantic in nature.[10] It was also rumored that Smith once bailed Ma Rainey out of jail.[29] The Raineys separated in 1916.[36][3] In 1935, Rainey returned to her home town, Columbus, Georgia, and became the proprietor[37] of three theatres, the Liberty in Columbus, and the Lyric and the Airdrome in Rome, Georgia,[38] until her death. She died of a heart attack in 1939.[39][40][3] Legacy and honors[edit] Ma Rainey created what is now known as "classic blues" while also portraying black life like never before. As a musical innovator she built on the minstrelsy and vaudeville performative traditions with comedic timing and a hybrid of American blues traditions she encountered in her vast tours across the country. She helped to pioneer a genre that appealed to North and South, rural and urban audiences.[31] Her signature low and gravelly voice sung with Rainey's gusto and authoritative style inspired imitators from Louis Armstrong, Janis Joplin and Bonnie Raitt among others.[31] In her lyrics, Rainey portrayed the black female experience like few others of the time reflecting a wide range of emotions and experiences. In her 1999 book Blues Legacies and Black Feminism, Angela Davis wrote that Rainey's songs are full of women who “explicitly celebrate their right to conduct themselves as expansively and even as undesirably as men".[41] In her songs, she and other black women sleep around for revenge, drink and party all night and generally live lives that "transgressed these ideas of white middle class female respectability".[42] The portrayals of black female sexuality, including those bucking heteronormative standards, fought ideas of what a woman should be and inspired Alice Walker in developing her characters for The Color Purple.[43] Bragging about sexual escapades was popular in men's songs at the time but her use of these themes in her works established her as both fiercely independent and fearless and many have drawn connections between her use of these themes and their modern use in Hip-Hop.[44] Rainey was also a fashion icon who pioneered flashy, expensive costuming in her performances, wearing ostrich plumes, satin gowns, sequins, gold necklaces, diamond tiaras, and gold teeth.[31] Rainey was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.[45] In 1994, the U.S. Post Office issued a 29-cent commemorative postage stamp honoring her. In 2004, "See See Rider Blues" (performed in 1924) was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and was added to the National Recording Registry by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress.[46] There was also a small museum opened in Columbus in 2007 to honor Ma Rainey's legacy. It is in the very house that she had built for her mother and later lived in from 1935 until her death in 1939.[47] The first annual Ma Rainey International Blues Festival was held in April 2016 in Columbus, Georgia, near the home that Rainey owned and lived in at the time of her death.[48][49] In 2017, the Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts opened in Columbus, Georgia, named in honor of Rainey and author Carson McCullers.[50] In popular culture[edit] Sterling A. Brown wrote the poem "Ma Rainey" in 1932, about how "When Ma Rainey / comes to town" people everywhere would hear her sing. In 1981, Sandra Lieb wrote the first full-length book about Rainey, Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey.[51] Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a 1982 play by August Wilson, is a fictionalized account of a recording of her song of the same title set in 1927. Theresa Merritt and Whoopi Goldberg starred as Rainey in the Original and Revival Broadway productions, respectively. Viola Davis portrayed Rainey in the 2020 film adaptation of the play and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.[52] Mo'Nique played Rainey in the 2015 television film Bessie about the life of Bessie Smith, for which she earned a nomination for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.[53] Recordings[edit] This sortable table presents all 94 titles recorded by Rainey.[54] The recording dates are approximated. The classification, by Sandra Lieb, is almost entirely by form. Blues songs which are only partly of twelve-bar structure are classified as mixtures of blues and popular song forms. Songs without any twelve-bar or eight-bar structure are classified as non-blues.[55] The JSP and DOCD columns refer to the two complete CD reissues.[56][57] Click any label to sort. To return to chronological order, click #. # Matrix Recording date Title Accompaniment Paramount issue no. Sandra Lieb classification JSP 77933 Document DOCD Notes 01 1596 1923/12 "Bad Luck Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12081 Twelve-bar blues A 5581 02 1597 1923/12 "Bo-Weavil Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12080 Mixture of blues and popular song forms A 5581 Another take on JSP & DOCD 03 1598 1923/12 "Barrel House Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12082 Twelve-bar blues A 5581 04 1599 1923/12 "Those All Night Long Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12081 Non-blues A 5581 Another take on JSP & DOCD 05 1608 1923/12 "Moonshine Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12083 Mixture of blues and popular song forms A 5581 06 1609 1923/12 "Last Minute Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12080 Twelve-bar blues A 5581 07 1612 1923/12 "Southern Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12083 Twelve-bar blues A 5581 08 1613 1923/12 "Walking Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12082 Twelve-bar blues A 5581 09 1698 1924/03 "Lost Wandering Blues" Pruit Twins 12098 Twelve-bar blues A 5581 10 1699 1924/03 "Dream Blues" Pruit Twins 12098 Twelve-bar blues A 5581 11 1701 1924/03 "Honey Where You Been So Long?" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12200 Non-blues A 5581 12 1702 1924/03 "Ya-Da-Do" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12257 Non-blues A 5581 Another take on JSP & DOCD 13 1703 1924/03 "Those Dogs of Mine" "(Famous Cornfield Blues)" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12215 Non-blues A 5581 14 1704 1924/03 "Lucky Rock Blues" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12215 Mixture of blues and popular song forms A 5581 15 1741 1924/04 "South Bound Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12227 Non-blues A 5581 16 1758 1924/05 "Lawd Send Me a Man Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12227 Non-blues A 5581 17 1759 1924/05 "Ma Rainey's Mystery Record" Lovie Austin Blues Serenaders 12200 Twelve-bar blues A 5581 18 1824 1924/08 "Shave 'Em Dry Blues" Two unknown guitars 12222 Eight-bar blues B 5581 19 1825 1924/08 "Farewell Daddy Blues" Unknown guitar 12222 Twelve-bar blues B 5581 20 1922 1924/10 "Booze and Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12242 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 21 1923 1924/10 "Toad Frog Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12242 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 22 1924 1924/10 "Jealous Hearted Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12252 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 23 1925 1924/10 "See See Rider Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12252 Mixture of blues and popular song forms B 5582 With Louis Armstrong; another take on JSP & DOCD 24 1926 1924/10 "Jelly Bean Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12238 Mixture of blues and popular song forms B 5582 With Louis Armstrong 25 1927 1924/10 "Countin' the Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12238 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 With Louis Armstrong; another take on JSP & DOCD 26 10001 1924/11 "Cell Bound Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12257 Mixture of blues and popular song forms B 5582 27 2136 1925/05 "Army Camp Harmony Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12284 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 Another take on JSP & DOCD 28 2137 1925/05 "Explaining the Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12284 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 Another take on JSP & DOCD 29 2138 1925/05 "Louisiana Hoo Doo Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12290 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 30 2138 1925/05 "Goodbye Daddy Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12290 Mixture of blues and popular song forms B 5582 31 2209 1925/05 "Stormy Seas Blues" Her Georgia Band 12295 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 Another take on DOCD5625 32 2210 1925/08 "Rough and Tumble Blues" Her Georgia Band 12311 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 33 2211 1925/08 "Night Time Blues" Her Georgia Band 12303 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 Another take on JSP & DOCD 34 2212 1925/08 "Levee Camp Moan" Her Georgia Band 12295 Non-blues B 5582 35 2213 1925/08 "Four Day Honorary Scat" Her Georgia Band 12303 Non-blues B 5582 Misprint for "'Fore Day"; another take on JSP & DOCD 36 2214 1925/08 "Memphis Bound Blues" Her Georgia Band 12311 Twelve-bar blues B 5582 37 2369 1925/12 "Slave to the Blues" Her Georgia Band 12332 Twelve-bar blues C 5583 38 2370 1925/12 "Yonder Come the Blues" Her Georgia Band 12357 Non-blues C 5583 39 2371 1925/12 "Titanic Man Blues" Her Georgia Band 12374 Mixture of blues and popular song forms C 5583 Another take on JSP & DOCD 40 2372 1925/12 "Chain Gang Blues" Her Georgia Band 12338 Twelve-bar blues C 5583 41 2373 1925/12 "Bessemer Bound Blues" Her Georgia Jazz Band 12374 Twelve-bar blues C 5583 Another take on JSP & DOCD 42 2374 1925/12 "Oh My Babe Blues" Her Georgia Band 12332 Non-blues C 5583 43 2375 1925/12 "Wringing and Twisting Blues" Her Georgia Band 12338 Non-blues C 5583 44 2369 1925/12 "Stack O'Lee Blues" Her Georgia Band 12357 Ballad C 5583 45 2448 1926/03 "Broken Hearted Blues" Her Georgia Band 12364 Twelve-bar blues C 5583 Another take on DOCD5625 46 2451 1926/03 "Jealousy Blues" Her Georgia Band 12364 Non-blues C 5583 Another take on DOCD5660 47 2452 1926/03 "Seeking Blues" Her Georgia Band 12352 Mixture of blues and popular song forms C 5583 Another take on JSP & DOCD 48 2466 1926/03 "Mountain Jack Blues" Jimmy Blythe (piano) 12352 Twelve-bar blues C 5583 Another take on JSP & DOCD 49 2627 1926/06 "Down in the Basement" Her Georgia Band 12395 Non-blues C 5583 50 2628 1926/06 "Sissy Blues" Her Georgia Band 12384 Twelve-bar blues C 5583 51 2629 1926/06 "Broken Soul Blues" Her Georgia Band 12384 Non-blues C 5583 52 2631 1926/06 "Trust No Man" Lillian Henderson (piano) 12395 Non-blues C 5583 53 405 1926/11 "Morning Hour Blues" Jimmy Blythe (piano) Blind Blake (guitar) 12455 Twelve-bar blues D 5584 54 407 1926/11 "Weepin' Woman Blues" Her Georgia Boys 12455 Twelve-bar blues D 5584 55 408 1926/11 "Soon This Morning" Her Georgia Band 12438 Twelve-bar blues D 5584 56 4019 1926/12 "Little Low Mamma Blues" Blind Blake (guitar) possibly Leroy Picket (violin) 12419 Twelve-bar blues D 5584 57 4020 1926/12 "Grievin Hearted Blues" Blind Blake (guitar) possibly Leroy Picket (violin) 12419 Mixture of blues and popular song forms D 5584 58 4021 1926/12 "Don't Fish in My Sea" Jimmy Blythe (piano) 12438 Twelve-bar blues D 5584 59 4082 1927/08 "Big Boy Blues" Her Georgia Band 12548 Twelve-bar blues D 5584 60 4083 1927/08 "Blues Oh Blues" Her Georgia Band 12566 Non-blues D 5584 61 4090 1927/08 "Damper Down Blues" Her Georgia Band 12548 Twelve-bar blues D 5584 62 4091 1927/08 "Gone Daddy Blues" Her Georgia Band 12526 Mixture of blues and popular song forms D 5584 63 4092 1927/08 "Oh Papa Blues" Her Georgia Band 12566 Non-blues D 5584 64 4707 1927/08 "Misery Blues" Her Georgia Band 12508 Non-blues D 5584 65 4708 1927/08 "Dead Drunk Blues" Her Georgia Band 12508 Twelve-bar blues D 5584 66 4709 1927/08 "Slow Driving Moan" Her Georgia Band 12526 Mixture of blues and popular song forms D 5584 67 20228 1927/12 "Blues the World Forgot—Part 1" Her Georgia Band 12647 Comedy D 5584 68 20229 1927/12 "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" Her Georgia Band 12590 Non-blues D 5584 69 20230 1927/12 "Blues the World Forgot—Part 2" Her Georgia Band 12647 Comedy D 5584 70 20231 1927/12 "Hellish Rag" Her Georgia Band 12612 Non-blues D 5584 71 20232 1927/12 "Georgia Cake Walk" Her Georgia Band 12590 Comedy D 5584 72 20233 1927/12 "New Bo-Weavil Blues" Her Georgia Band 12603 Mixture of blues and popular song forms D 5584 73 20232 1927/12 "Moonshine Blues" Her Georgia Band 12603 Mixture of blues and popular song forms D 5584 74 20233 1927/12 "Ice Bag Papa" Her Georgia Band 12612 Non-blues D 5584 75 20661 1928/06 "Black Cat Hoot Owl Blues" Her Tub Jug Washboard Band 12687 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Band led by Georgia Tom 76 20662 1928/06 "Log Camp Blues" Her Tub Jug Washboard Band 12804 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Band led by Georgia Tom 77 20663 1928/06 "Hear Me Talking to You" Her Tub Jug Washboard Band 12668 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Band led by Georgia Tom 78 20664 1928/06 "Hustlin' Blues" Her Tub Jug Washboard Band 12804 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Band led by Georgia Tom 79 20665 1928/06 "Prove It on Me Blues" Her Tub Jug Washboard Band 12668 Non-blues E 5156 Band led by Georgia Tom 80 20666 1928/06 "Victim of the Blues" Her Tub Jug Washboard Band 12687 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Band led by Georgia Tom 81 20667 1928/06 "Traveling Blues" Her Tub Jug Washboard Band 12707 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Band led by Georgia Tom; another take on JSP and DOCD5216 82 20668 1928/06 "Deep Moaning Blues Blues" Her Tub Jug Washboard Band 12707 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Band led by Georgia Tom another take on JSP & DOCD 83 20878 1928/09 "Daddy Goodbye Blues" Georgia Tom Dorsey (piano) Tampa Red (guitar) 12963 Eight-bar blues E 5156 84 20879 1928/09 "Sleep Talking Blues" Georgia Tom Dorsey (piano) Tampa Red (guitar) 12760 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Another take on JSP & DOCD 85 20880 1928/09 "Tough Luck Blues" Georgia Tom Dorsey (piano) Tampa Red (guitar) 12735 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 86 20881 1928/09 "Blame It on the Blues" Georgia Tom Dorsey (piano) Tampa Red (guitar) 12760 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 87 20882 1928/09 "Sweet Rough Man" Georgia Tom Dorsey (piano) Tampa Red (guitar) 12926 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 88 20883 1928/09 "Runaway Blues" Georgia Tom Dorsey (piano) Tampa Red (guitar) 12902 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 89 20885 1928/09 "Screech Owl Blues" Eddie Miller (piano) 12735 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 90 20886 1928/09 "Black Dust Blues" Eddie Miller (piano) 12926 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 91 20897 1928/09 "Leaving This Morning" Georgia Tom Dorsey (piano) Tampa Red (guitar) 12902 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 92 20898 1928/09 "Black Eye Blues" Georgia Tom Dorsey (piano) Tampa Red (guitar) 12963 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Another take on JSP & DOCD 93 20921 1928/10 "Ma and Pa Poorhouse Blues" Papa Charlie Jackson (duet & banjo) 12718 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 94 20144 1928/10 "Big Feeling Blues" Papa Charlie Jackson (duet & banjo) 12718 Twelve-bar blues E 5156 Notes[edit] ^ Sources are unclear on the exact date and circumstances under which Rainey and Smith met, but it was probably sometime between 1912 and 1916.[16] References[edit] Footnotes[edit] ^ a b c d e Oliver, Paul, "Rainey, Ma (née Pridgett, Gertrude)", Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Oxford University Press, retrieved 20 April 2010 ^ a b "Ma Rainey | Biography, Songs, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. ^ a b c s (December 18, 2020). "The True Story Of Ma Rainey From Netflix's 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom'". Women's Health. ^ Southern, Eileen (1997). The Music of Black Americans: A History (3rd ed.). W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-393-97141-4. ^ Russonello, Giovanni (2019-06-12). "Overlooked No More: Ma Rainey, the 'Mother of the Blues'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-09-06. ^ Lieb, Sandra (1983). Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey (3rd ed.). University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 0-87023-394-7. ^ a b Lieb, p. 2 ^ Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger Publishers. p. 87. ISBN 978-0313344237. ^ 1900 Census for Columbus Ward 5, Muscogee, Georgia, District 4, Enumeration district 91, Sheet 16A, line 20, 'Prigett, Gertrude, Sept 1882, 17. ^ a b c Ma Rainey. Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. Encyclopedia.com. Updated 2020. Retrieved November 22, 2020. ^ Jaxson, The. "Ma Rainey: The Mother of the Blues". www.thejaxsonmag.com. ^ Lieb, p. 3 ^ Robert Palmer (1981). Deep Blues. Penguin Books. p. 44. ISBN 978-0-14-006223-6. ^ a b Abbott, Lynn; Seroff, Doug (2009). Ragged but Right: Black Traveling Shows, Coon Songs, and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. University Press of Mississippi. p. 261. ^ Lieb, p. 5 ^ a b Lieb, p. 15 ^ Lieb, p. 19 ^ Lieb, p. 20 ^ Lieb, p. 21 ^ Lieb, p. 23 ^ Lieb, p. 25 ^ Lieb, p. 26 ^ Lieb, p. 27 ^ Lieb, p. 28 ^ Lieb, p. 35 ^ a b Lieb, p. 37 ^ Friederich, Brandon (June 7, 2017). "Ma Rainey's Lesbian Lyrics: 5 Times She Expressed Her Queerness in Song". Billboard. Retrieved June 9, 2017. ^ Ellison, Marvin M.; Brown Douglas, Kelly, eds. (2010). Sexuality and the Sacred: Sources for Theological Reflection (2nd ed.). Westminster John Knox Press. p. 54. ISBN 978-0664233662. ^ a b "Gladys Bentley". queerculturalcenter.org. Archived from the original on November 10, 2013. Retrieved December 22, 2013. ^ Davis, Angela Y. (1999). Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. Vintage. pp. 40, 238. ISBN 978-0679771265. ^ a b c d e f g "Ma Rainey Is Best Known as a Pioneer of the Blues. But She Broke More Than Musical Barriers". Time. Retrieved 2020-12-23. ^ Abbott, Lynn (2017). The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville. University Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781496810038. ^ Lieb, p. 39 ^ Lieb, p. 40 ^ Lieb, p. 90 ^ "Who Is Ma Rainey? How the 'Mother of the Blues' Became an Icon". Entertainment Tonight. ^ "Overlooked No More: Ma Rainey, the 'Mother of the Blues' (Published 2019)". The New York Times. 2019-06-12. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-03-04. ^ Lieb, p. 1 ^ Santelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues. Penguin Books. p. 387. ^ "Ma Rainey". Britannica.com. 1939-12-22. Retrieved 2011-12-30. ^ Davis, Angela (2011). Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday. Penguin Random House. ISBN 978-0679450054. ^ Mack, Kimberly (2020). Fictional Blues: Narrative Self-Invention from Bessie Smith to Jack White. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 9781625345493. ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (1984-10-14). "What Black Writers Owe to Music". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-12-23. ^ Jones, DaLyah (2020-08-23). ""Let's Have A Sex Talk": The Eras of Sex Talk By Black Women In Hip-Hop". Okayplayer. Retrieved 2020-12-23. ^ Ma Rainey Induction Year: 1990. Rockhall.com. Accessed February 26, 2014. ^ 2004 National Recording Registry Choices. Loc.gov/rr. A ccessed February 26, 2014. ^ "Ma Rainey | Biography, Songs, & Facts". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2021-03-04. ^ "Ma Rainey International Blues Festival - Mad About Ma Blues Society". Retrieved 6 July 2018. ^ "Ma Rainey International Blues Festival". 29 January 2016. Archived from the original on 29 January 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2018. ^ "Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts opens as 2017-18 classes begin". Ledger-enquirer.com. Retrieved 6 July 2018. ^ Lieb, Sandra (1981). Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey. University of Massachusetts. ISBN 9780870233340. ^ Lee, Benjamin (18 October 2020). "Netflix releases trailer for Chadwick Boseman's final movie". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 October 2020. ^ "Mo'Nique on Emmy Nomination for 'Bessie,' Lee Daniels' 'Empire' Snub: 'What You Put Out Is What You Get Back'". The Wrap. 2015-07-16. Retrieved 2020-12-04. ^ Dixon, Robert M. W.; Godrich, John; and Rye, Howard W. (compilers) (1997). Blues and Gospel Records 1890–1943. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0198162391. ^ Lieb, pp. 189–191. ^ Ma Rainey. Mother of the Blues. 5-CD box set. JSP Records JSP7793 (A–E). ^ Ma Rainey. Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 1: December 1923 to c. August 1924, Document Records DOCD5581. Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 2: c. 15 October 1924 to c. August 1925, Document DOCD5582. Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 3: c. December 1925 to c. June 1926, Document DOCD5583. Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 4: c. November 1925 to c. December 1927, Document DOCD5584. The Complete 1928 Sessions in Chronological Order, Document DOCD5156. Too Late, Too Late, vol. 2: 1897–1935, Document DOCD5216. Too Late, Too Late, vol. 11: 1924–1939, Document DOCD5625. Too Late, Too Late, vol. 13: 1921–1940, Document DOCD5660. Sources[edit] Lieb, Sandra (1983). Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey. University of Massachusetts Press. ISBN 0-87023-334-3. Davis, Angela Y. (1998). Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. Pantheon. ISBN 0-679-45005-X. Further reading[edit] Ma Rainey and the Classic Blues Singers by Derrick Stewart-Baxter (Stein and Day, 1970) ISBN 978-0812813210 External links[edit] Ma Rainey Blues Festival official website Gertrude “Ma” Rainey at the New Georgia Encyclopedia Ma Rainey discography at Discogs Ma Rainey at AllMusic Ma Rainey at IMDb Ma Rainey (1886-1939) at Red Hot Jazz Archive Ma Rainey at Find a Grave Awards for Ma Rainey v t e Georgia Women of Achievement 1990s 1992 Martha Berry Lucy Craft Laney Juliette Gordon Low Flannery O'Connor 1993 Dicksie Bradley Bandy Mary Musgrove Cassandra Pickett Durham Viola Ross Napier Ma Rainey 1994 Julia Flisch Carson McCullers Margaret Mitchell Ruth Hartley Mosley Emily Harvie Thomas Tubman 1995 Selena Sloan Butler Anna Colquitt Hunter Hazel Jane Raines 1996 Susan Cobb Milton Atkinson Nellie Peters Black Ellen Craft Corra Harris Lugenia Burns Hope 1997 Rebecca Latimer Felton Mary Ann Harris Gay Nancy Hart Lucy Barrow McIntire 1998 Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Julia Collier Harris Rhoda Kaufman Carrie Steele Logan 1999 Moina Michael Lillian Smith 2000s 2000 Sallie Ellis Davis Laura Askew Haygood Ellen Axson Wilson 2001 Julia L. Coleman Catherine Evans Whitener 2002 Wessie Gertrude Connell Lula Dobbs McEachern Alice Harrell Strickland 2003 Madeleine Kiker Anthony Helena Maud Brown Cobb Julia Lester Dillon Leila Ross Wilburn 2004 Mathilda Beasley Louise Frederick Hays Helen Dortch Longstreet Sarah McLendon Murphy Emily Barnelia Woodward 2005 Alice Woodby McKane Nina Anderson Pape Jeannette Rankin 2006 Eliza Frances Andrews Grace Towns Hamilton Sarah Porter Hillhouse 2007 Margaret O. Bynum Edith Lenora Foster Helen Douglas Mankin Sara Branham Matthews 2008 Elfrida De Renne Barrow Amilee Chastain Graves Susan Dowdell Myrick 2009 Caroline Pafford Miller Jane Hurt Yarn Harriet Powers 2010s 2010 Mary Ann Lipscomb Celestine Sibley Madrid Williams 2011 Lillian Gordy Carter Mary Francis Hill Coley May duBignon Stiles Howard 2012 Sarah Randolph Bailey Beulah Rucker Oliver Ethel Harpst 2013 Lollie Belle Wylie Mary Gregory Jewett Henrietta Stanley Dull 2014 Rebecca Stiles Taylor Ella Gertrude Clanton Thomas Bazoline Estelle Usher 2015 Allie Carroll Hart Frances Freeborn Pauley Nell Kendall Hodgson Woodruff 2016 Sarah Harper Heard Ellamae Ellis League Katie Hall Underwood 2017 Carolyn Mackenzie Carter Clermont Huger Lee Lucile Nix 2018 Ludie Clay Andrews Susie Baker King Taylor Mamie George S. Williams 2019 Leila Denmark Mary Dorothy Lyndon 2020s 2020 Clarice Cross Bagwell Katharine DuPre Lumpkin Juanita Marsh Jean Elizabeth Geiger Wright 2021 Ruby M. Anderson Mary G. Bryan Laura Pope Forester Allie Murray Smith v t e Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – Class of 1990 Performers Hank Ballard Bobby Darin The Four Seasons Tom DeVito, Bob Gaudio, Nick Massi, Frankie Valli Four Tops Renaldo Benson, Abdul "Duke" Fakir, Lawrence Payton, Levi Stubbs The Kinks Mick Avory, Dave Davies, Ray Davies, Pete Quaife The Platters David Lynch, Herb Reed, Paul Robi, Zola Taylor, Tony Williams Simon & Garfunkel Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon The Who Roger Daltrey, John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend Early influences Louis Armstrong Charlie Christian Ma Rainey Non-performers (Ahmet Ertegun Award) Gerry Goffin and Carole King Holland–Dozier–Holland Authority control General Integrated Authority File (Germany) ISNI 1 VIAF 1 WorldCat National libraries Norway Spain France (data) Italy United States Czech Republic Australia Israel Netherlands Poland Other Faceted Application of Subject Terminology MusicBrainz artist RERO (Switzerland) 1 Social Networks and Archival Context SUDOC (France) 1 Trove (Australia) 1 ." Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia. . Encyclopedia.com. 16 Oct. 2020 . (2020, November 22). Retrieved November 22, 2020, from Rainey, Ma (1886–1939) | Encyclopedia.com Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ma_Rainey&oldid=1026581926" Categories: 1880s births 1939 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Age controversies American blues singers American street performers African-American female singers Baptists from Georgia (U.S. state) Bisexual musicians Bisexual women Classic female blues singers LGBT African Americans LGBT people from Georgia (U.S. state) LGBT people from Alabama Musicians from Columbus, Georgia Paramount Records artists People from Rome, Georgia Vaudeville performers LGBT singers from the United States 20th-century Baptists Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description is different from Wikidata Articles with hCards Infobox musical artist with missing or invalid Background field Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with ICCU identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers Wikipedia articles with FAST identifiers Wikipedia articles with MusicBrainz identifiers Wikipedia articles with RERO identifiers Wikipedia articles with SNAC-ID identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Languages العربية تۆرکجه Català Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Esperanto فارسی Français Frysk Galego Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Magyar مصرى Nederlands Norsk bokmål Norsk nynorsk Polski Português Русский Simple English Српски / srpski Suomi Svenska Українська Edit links This page was last edited on 3 June 2021, at 03:21 (UTC). 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