March 14
“Lonesome Mama Blues,” Music by Billie Brown; Lyrics by Anna Welker Brown and E. Nickel; Performed by Mamie Smith (1922)
Though blues music had been around for quite some time at this point, a style of music called “urban blues” was becoming more popular in the 1920s, particularly in vaudeville. As I mentioned last week with Paul Whiteman, this urban blues style of music was a bit more accessible to the masses and was thus able to help move blues music into the mainstream. Mamie Smith was a popular vaudeville actress who became the first African-American woman to record a blues song in 1920. That song, “Crazy Blues,” became so incredibly popular that it launched her to stardom and made urban blues a household sound. That one recording showed record companies that black women had a sound and a presence that would sell, paving the way for more black women to share their vocal talents with the world.
Mamie Smith’s performance of “Lonesome Mama Blues” made it to #6 in the US charts in 1922. The song itself isn’t particularly special, aside from being from the heyday of Mamie Smith’s career and a good example of the urban blues genre. That’s not to say it’s not worth a listen - you can hear the roots of R&B music, and the song most definitely evokes a period of time that has been oft portrayed in film and television. To me, it’s interesting to hear the progression of popular music and how it influenced what would come. So give it a listen!
Also, if you're going to read one article about a person today, check out the USA Today article I link below. It's quite interesting.
The song:
Resources
About blues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blues
About Mamie Smith: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mamie_Smith
https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/music/2022/02/14/black-history-month-trailblazers-blues-icon-mamie-smith-paved-way/9305200002/
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