Mother of the Blues

Mother of the Blues
- Shrink-wrapped
Born Gertrude Pridgett in 1882 in Alabama, by the age of fourteen she had made her first public appearance and soon joined the tent show circuit. When she was 21, she met the older Will Rainey of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. They married in the same year, and toured as 'Ma & Pa Rainey - Assassinators of the Blues'. By December, 1923, when she made her record debut for Paramount, 'Pa' Rainey was history. Ma Rainey recorded exclusively for the Paramount label from 1923 to 1928 cutting 94 sides and some alternate takes - which included two duets with Papa Charlie Jackson. All but four of Rainey's initial 19 titles on record featured Lovie Austin on piano and her celebrated Blues Serenaders - 'Ma' Rainey's bands were of a high standard on all her recordings. As well as recording the first version of See See Rider Blues, she cut the initial version of a song which seems to originate from her home state. Cell Bound Blues, cut in 1924, refers to a confession of a killing in self-defence and subsequent incarceration. It resurfaced in 1928 as Canned Heat Blues by Waymon 'Sloppy' Henry, and Blind Willie McTell's Bell Street Blues. Ma Rainey was a Paramount artist. This is an endorsement - Paramount's talent scouts were exceptionally astute - and a tragedy, because the label skimped at every stage of production. Their recording techniques were rudimentary, and they used cheap materials to make the discs themselves. This was compounded by the records' popularity - they were played until they were worn almost beyond redemption. The challenge is to find the least-worn examples of Paramount records (no masters exist. The company scrapped them as soon as they seemed to be of no further use) and to remaster them meticulously. The process is a compromise. Surface noise must be removed while retaining all the available music. As with all JSP collections, this set delivers the best possible sound at the current state of the art. That it exists at all is no small achievement.
Country USA
Brand JSP
Manufacturer Jsp Records
Binding Audio CD
ItemPartNumber 0788065779320
Model 0788065779320
ReleaseDate 2007-07-17
UnitCount 5
UPCs 788065779320
EANs 0788065779320

Country	USA
Brand	JSP
Manufacturer	Jsp Records
Binding	Audio CD
ItemPartNumber	0788065779320
Model	0788065779320
ReleaseDate	2007-07-17
UnitCount	5
UPCs	788065779320
EANs	0788065779320

You might also like...