Mamie Smith(1891-1946)1st Black Female Blues, Okeh 1920 78 RPM "Crazy Blues" VG+

$

100

Mamie Smith(1891-1946)Artist, First Black Female Vocalist to Record the Blues. 1920 78RPM Okeh Record Label, General Phonograph Corporation New York.

Side A: 4169-A Popular Blue Song"Crazy Blues", (Perry Bradford), Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds

Side B: 4169-B Popular Blue Song"It's Right Here for You", (If You Don't Get It-Taint No Fault of Mine), (Marion Dickerson-Alex. Belledna), Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds

A brief biography from Wikipedia on artist as follows:

"Mamie Smith (née Robinson; May 26, 1891 – September 16, 1946) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress. As a vaudeville singer she performed in various styles, including jazz and blues. In 1920, she entered blues history as the first African-American artist to make vocal blues recordings. Willie "The Lion" Smith (no relation) described the background of that recording in his autobiography, Music on My Mind (1964)."

"On February 14, 1920, Smith recorded "That Thing Called Love" and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down" for Okeh Records, in New York City, after African-American songwriter and bandleader Perry Bradford persuaded Fred Hagar to break the color barrier in black music recording.  Okeh Records went on to record many iconic songs by black musicians. Although this was the first recording by a black blues singer, the backing musicians were all white. Hagar had received threats from Northern and Southern pressure groups saying they would boycott the company if he recorded a black singer. Despite these threats the record was a commercial success and opened the door for more black musicians to record."

"Smith's biggest hit was recorded later, on August 10, 1920 when she recorded a set of songs written by Perry Bradford, including "Crazy Blues" and "It's Right Here for You (If You Don't Get It, 'Tain't No Fault of Mine)", again for Okeh Records, A million copies were sold in less than a year. Many were bought by African Americans, and there was a sharp increase in the popularity of "race records". Because of its historical significance, "Crazy Blues" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994 and was selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress in 2005."