Ma Rainey
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Biography
Ma Rainey was an American blues singer born Gertrude Pridgett on April 26, 1886, in Columbus, Georgia. She began performing as a teenager in local stage shows, then entered the Black vaudeville and tent-show circuit, where she developed a direct, theatrical vocal style before marrying performer William âPaâ Rainey in 1904. The couple toured as Rainey and Rainey, âAssassinators of the Blues,â and by the 1910s Ma Rainey had become one of the best-known blues performers on the Southern circuit. In 1923, she signed with Paramount Records and began recording in Chicago, cutting early sides such as âBo-Weevil Blues,â âMoonshine Bluesâ and âBad Luck Blues.â Between 1923 and 1928, Ma Rainey recorded close to 100 titles, often with top jazz and blues musicians, including Louis Armstrong on her 1924 recording of âSee See Rider Blues.â Her catalogue also included âJelly Bean Blues,â âCountinâ the Blues,â âChain Gang Blues,â âMa Raineyâs Black Bottom,â âProve It on Me Bluesâ and âBlack Eye Blues,â songs that linked vaudeville blues, classic female blues, early jazz and Southern blues expression. After Paramount ended her contract, she continued performing for several years, then returned to Columbus, where she operated theaters before her death on December 22, 1939. She was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, while âSee See Rider Bluesâ entered the National Recording Registry in 2004 and she received a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023.
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Albums
Top Tracks
- Track Popularity
- Stormy Weather by Ma Rainey
- See See Rider Blues
- Oh Papa Blues
- Black Cat Hoot Owl Blues
- Black Eye Blues
- Blues Oh Blues
- Sleep Talking Blues
- Black Eye Blues by Ma Rainey
- Prove It On Me Blues
- Lucky Rock Blues
- Georgia Cake Walk
- Don't Fish In My Sea
- Stack O'Lee Blues
- Shave 'Em Dry Blues
- Yonder Come The Blues
- Screech Owl Blues
- Traveling Blues
- Farewell Daddy Blues
- Log Camp Blues
- See See Rider by Ma Rainey
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
- Mountian Jack Blues
- Yonder Come the Blues (Take 1)
- Black Eye Blues (Take 1)
