More Info on Mamie SmithSimilar Undetermined MusicSearch Artistopia
Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = Mamie Smith| image = MamieSmith.png| caption =| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Mamie Robinson| birth_date = birth date|1883|05|26|birth_place = Cincinnati, Ohio , United States| death_date = death date and age|1946|09|16|1883|05|26|death_place = New York, New York , United States| instrument = Vocals| genre = Blues | occupation = Actress, dancer, singer| years_active =| label =| associated_acts = Mamie Smith (née Robinson) (May 26, 1883 & ndash; September 16, 1946) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress, who appeared in several films late in her career. As a vaudeville singer she performed a number of styles including jazz and blues . She entered blues history by being the first African American artist to make vocal blues recordings in 1920. Willie "The Lion" Smith (not her husband) explained the background to that recording in his (ghosted) autobiography, Music on My Mind .
Early life
Mamie Robinson was born probably in Cincinnati , Ohio , although no records of her birth exist. When she was ten years old, she found work touring with a white act called the Four Dancing Mitchells. As a teenager, she danced in Tutt Brothers|Salem Tutt Whitney 's Smart Set. In 1913, she left the Tutt Brothers to sing in clubs in Harlem and married a waiter named William "Smitty" Smith.
Musical career
On August 10, 1920, in New York City , Smith recorded a set of songs all written by the African American songwriter, Perry Bradford , including " Crazy Blues " and "It's Right Here For You (If You Don't Get It, 'Tain't No Fault of Mine)", on Okeh Records . It was the first recording of vocal blues by an African American artist,cite book | first= Paul | last= Du Noyer | year= 2003 | title= The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music | edition= 1st | publisher= Flame Tree Publishing | location= Fulham, London | isbn= 1-904041-96-5 | page= 154 and the record became a best seller, selling a million copies in less than a year. To the surprise of record companies, large numbers of the record were purchased by African Americans, and there was a sharp increase in the popularity of race record s. Because of the historical significance of "Crazy Blues", it was inducted into the List of Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients A-D|Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994, http://www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame#c Grammy Hall of Fame and, in 2005, was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress .
Smith continued to make a series of popular recordings for Okeh throughout the 1920s. She also made some records for Victor Talking Machine Company|Victor . She toured the United States and Europe with her band "Mamie Smith & Her Jazz Hounds" as part of "Mamie Smith's Struttin' Along Review".cite book | last=Kernfeld | first=Barry Dean | title=The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz | location=London | publisher=MacMillan |edition=2nd edition, vol. 3 | chapter=Mamie Smith | year=2002| pages=615 | isbn=1-56159-284-6 She was billed as "The Queen of the Blues". This billing of Mamie Smith was soon one-upped by Bessie Smith , who called herself "The Empress of the Blues."
Film career and later years
Mamie Smith appeared in an early sound film , Jailhouse Blues , in 1929. She retired from recording and performing in 1931. She returned to performing in 1939 to appear in the motion picture Paradise in Harlem produced by her husband Jack Goldberg. She appeared in further films, including Mystery in Swing , Sunday Sinners (1940), Stolen Paradise (1941), Murder on Lenox Avenue (1941), and Because I Love You (1943). She died in 1946, in New York. Listen|filename=Mamie_Smith,_Crazy_Blues.ogg |title=Crazy Blues |description=The first recording of vocal blues by an African American singer, Mamie Smith's performance of Perry Bradford 's " Crazy Blues " in 1920.
References
Reflist|refs=Citation | last = Oliver | first = Paul | author-link = Paul Oliver | title = Smith (née Robinson), Mamie | newspaper = Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians|The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd edition | publisher = Oxford University Press | date = | url = http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/J417000? q=mamie+smith& search=quick& pos=2& _start=1#firsthit | accessdate =April 22, 2010 Cite book | last = Tracy | first = Steven C. | title = Going to Cincinnati: A History of the Blues in the Queen City | publisher = University of Illinois Press | year = 1998 | page = 5 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books? id=OGyWw-M5wFsC& pg=PA5 | isbn =0-252-06709-6
Cite book | last = Gates | first = Henry Louis | authorlink = Henry Louis Gates | last2 = Higginbotham | first2 = Evelyn Brooks | title = Harlem Renaissance lives from the African American national biography | publisher = Oxford University Press US | year = 2009 | page = 458 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books? id=E_vRLcgEdGoC& pg=PA458 | isbn =0-19-538795-3
Cite book | last = Weisenfeld | first = Judith | title = Hollywood be thy name: African American religion in American film, 1929-1949 | publisher = University of California Press | year = 2007 | page = 287 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books? id=B-NAR_zWZoIC& pg=PA287 | isbn =0-520-25100-8
Cite book | last = Whalan | first = Mark | title = American Culture in the 1910s | publisher = Edinburgh University Press | year = 2010 | page = 148 | isbn =0-7486-3424-X
Cite book | last = Schuller | first = Gunther | authorlink = Gunther Schuller | title = Early jazz: its roots and musical development | publisher = Oxford University Press US | year = 1986 | page = 226 | url = http://books.google.co.uk/books? id=PfwfMTWBGgYC& pg=PA226 | isbn =0-19-504043-0
Gates & Higginbotham, p. http://books.google.co.uk/books? id=E_vRLcgEdGoC& pg=PA460 460
External links
Portal|Biography
http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2017/Cincinnatis_own_Mamie_Smith Mamie Smith African American Registry
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p529|label=Mamie Smith
IMDb name|0809197
http://physics.lunet.edu/blues/Mamie_Smith.html Mamie Smith Blues Online Biography with photos
http://www.redhotjazz.com/mamie.html Mamie Smith on RedHotJazz.com with .ram files of her early recordings
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=6473116 Mamie Smith and the Birth of the Blues Market NPR special on the selection on "Crazy Blues" to the 2005
Find a Grave|13382434
Persondata|NAME = Smith, Mamie |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |SHORT DESCRIPTION = American vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress |DATE OF BIRTH = May 26, 1883 |PLACE OF BIRTH = Cincinnati, Ohio , United States |DATE OF DEATH = September 16, 1946 |PLACE OF DEATH = New York, New York , United States DEFAULTSORT:Smith, Mamie Category:1883 births Category:1946 deaths Category:Classic female blues singers Category:African American female singers Category:African American musicians Category:American blues singers Category:Blackface minstrel performers Category:People from Cincinnati, Ohio Category:Vaudeville performers Category:Okeh Records artists
de:Mamie Smith es:Mamie Smith eo:Mamie Smith fr:Mamie Smith pt:Mamie Smith sh:Mamie Smith sv:Mamie Smith
Copyright Citations
This article is licensed under the GNU License
Click here for original article: Mamie Smith
