Biography
Mamie Smith was what you might call in modern parlance a
"Breakthrough Artist." You see, back in 1919, record companies didn't
have a whole lot of interest in that primitive blues stuff that black
folks were slinging down South in roadhouses and squawking up North in
speakeasys. Too raw, too gutbucket. White people won't buy it, and
everybody knows that blacks don't have enough money to be buying
records. But! Along came this fellow named Perry Bradford, and Perry had
this notion that people of all stripes would buy this music if they
could just hear some of it. Eventually, Mr. Bradford annoyed his bosses
at OKeh Records enough that the old German who ran the place agreed to
put some of it out. Good ol' Ralph Peer, who also had a big hand in
getting country music onto phonograph records, made some recordings of
Mamie Smith, a versatile vaudeville gal who could sing just about
anything, doing something Perry Bradford wrote called "Crazy Blues."
Next thing you know, it sold a million copies.
What kind of surprised the record companies was that whites and
blacks both bought the record, and within a couple of years,
OKeh hired its own in-house black producer, the snappy Clarence
Williams, to bring in and record new black talent. After that
development, it was pretty much guaranteed that a lot of great music was
going to be coming down the pipe mighty fast, music that would have
otherwise gone unrecorded.
"Mem'ries of You Mammy" is a pretty early effort by Mamie, recorded
in November of 1920, only a few months after her breakthrough hit. Blues
at that time was sentimental just as often as it was down 'n' dirty,
and this one is as misty-eyed as they come. The interesting thing about
it is that she's singing the song from the point of view of someone now
living up north who's missing her mom down south. As everyone knows, the
big post-war migration of blacks to northern cities is why we ended up
with such great music in Chicago and New York in the 20s. But that's a
whole other blather session, and the feeling of being far away from
people you love is universal, ain't it? So even if you have a mommy or a
mumsy instead of a mammy, you can understand the feeling.
Mamie Smith was apparently quite an entertainer. No "give me a beer
and a pigfoot" performer was she; her shows had dancing, funny bits, and
even a trapeze act! She also had good taste in musicians, her Jazz
Hounds at different points employing the amazing James "Bubber" Miley
(the man whose trumpet made early Ellington records sing) and tenor
legend Coleman Hawkins, who was billed as "Saxophone Boy" (which he was,
since his mom hadn't even gotten him his first razor yet).
Later on, once sound came to movies, Mamie made some. Here is a song
from one of them (it's pretty much "Crazy Blues," although it's not
called that and the arrangement is more swingy). She's a little past her
heyday here, but she still sounds pretty good. -JoeMc
"Breakthrough Artist." You see, back in 1919, record companies didn't
have a whole lot of interest in that primitive blues stuff that black
folks were slinging down South in roadhouses and squawking up North in
speakeasys. Too raw, too gutbucket. White people won't buy it, and
everybody knows that blacks don't have enough money to be buying
records. But! Along came this fellow named Perry Bradford, and Perry had
this notion that people of all stripes would buy this music if they
could just hear some of it. Eventually, Mr. Bradford annoyed his bosses
at OKeh Records enough that the old German who ran the place agreed to
put some of it out. Good ol' Ralph Peer, who also had a big hand in
getting country music onto phonograph records, made some recordings of
Mamie Smith, a versatile vaudeville gal who could sing just about
anything, doing something Perry Bradford wrote called "Crazy Blues."
Next thing you know, it sold a million copies.
What kind of surprised the record companies was that whites and
blacks both bought the record, and within a couple of years,
OKeh hired its own in-house black producer, the snappy Clarence
Williams, to bring in and record new black talent. After that
development, it was pretty much guaranteed that a lot of great music was
going to be coming down the pipe mighty fast, music that would have
otherwise gone unrecorded.
"Mem'ries of You Mammy" is a pretty early effort by Mamie, recorded
in November of 1920, only a few months after her breakthrough hit. Blues
at that time was sentimental just as often as it was down 'n' dirty,
and this one is as misty-eyed as they come. The interesting thing about
it is that she's singing the song from the point of view of someone now
living up north who's missing her mom down south. As everyone knows, the
big post-war migration of blacks to northern cities is why we ended up
with such great music in Chicago and New York in the 20s. But that's a
whole other blather session, and the feeling of being far away from
people you love is universal, ain't it? So even if you have a mommy or a
mumsy instead of a mammy, you can understand the feeling.
Mamie Smith was apparently quite an entertainer. No "give me a beer
and a pigfoot" performer was she; her shows had dancing, funny bits, and
even a trapeze act! She also had good taste in musicians, her Jazz
Hounds at different points employing the amazing James "Bubber" Miley
(the man whose trumpet made early Ellington records sing) and tenor
legend Coleman Hawkins, who was billed as "Saxophone Boy" (which he was,
since his mom hadn't even gotten him his first razor yet).
Later on, once sound came to movies, Mamie made some. Here is a song
from one of them (it's pretty much "Crazy Blues," although it's not
called that and the arrangement is more swingy). She's a little past her
heyday here, but she still sounds pretty good. -JoeMc