Started to transfer my „Complete Blues Discographies“-project from RateYourMusic to this site. We start with Mamie Smith. I’ll update the site slowly and will post updated entries on the blog.
Mamie Smith
Lived 1883–1946, recorded 1920–1942.
„The earliest surviving commercial recordings of black roots music were made by Okeh Records supervisor Fred Hagar (sometimes spelled Hager) and Ralph Peer, his assistant at the time, who recorded Mamie Smith in 1920. Smith was neither a blues specialist nor a southerner. She was a stage singer from Ohio, and the impetus to record her came from black songwriter Perry Bradford, who believed a female vocalist could sell records – and Bradford tunes – to both northern blacks and southern whites.“
(Epperson, Bruce: More Important Than the Music. A History of Jazz Discography. Chicago, London: University of Chicago Press 2013, 91)
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1: 1920-1921 (Document DOCD-5357)
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2: 1921-1922 (Document DOCD-5358)
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3: 1922-1923 (Document DOCD-5359)
Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4: 1923-1942 (Document DOCD-5360)
Mamie Smith’s complete recordings
Text Lambrecht 