who was ma rainey
Other articles where Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom is discussed: Chadwick Boseman: …and gifted musician Levee in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020), based on the play by August Wilson, was a tour de force, for which he received a posthumous Academy Award nomination. from my original 78-rpm disk, not a CD.Deep Moaning Blues (1928) MA RAINEYacc. We’ll never share your email with anyone else. Not like Ma. She attracted large audiences of adoring fans across the South and Midwest. Rainey is credited with inspiring later singers such as Dinah Washington, Big Mama Thornton, and Janis Joplin. Bessie Smith, who is regarded as the “Empress of Blues,” was also romantically linked with Ma. “Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey.” National Women’s History Museum. A progressive social reformer and activist, Jane Addams was on the frontline of the settlement house movement and was the first American woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize. Her voice bursts forth with a hearty declaration of courage and determination — a reaffirmation of Black life.". Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom depicts this racist structure within the music industry, with the fictionalized Rainey railing against the financial exploitation and creative control of her white managers. Boseman died of colon cancer on August 28, 2020, and it was revealed that… Ma Rainey was born Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia on April 26, 1886. After comedy routines and other acts, Rainey would make her grand entrance and dazzle the audience with songs like “I Ain’t Got Nobody,” “A Good Man is Hard to Find,” and her encore, “See See Rider Blues.”. She is widely recognized as the first great female blues vocalist. Also a songwriter, her lyrics and melodies reflected her experiences as an independent, openly bisexual African-American woman. Feb. 1, 2000; Accessed Jan. 13, 2021. https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1802493. Known for his flamboyant performances, Little Richard's hit songs from the mid-1950s were defining moments in the development of rock ‘n’ roll. I was so excited when I found out we’d be getting August Wilson’s play centering Ma Rainey on the screen. She made her debut with the Bunch of Blackberries revue at the Springer Opera House in Columbus. Chicago – Brandman, Mariana. Her artistry brings life to what in lesser hands would be a dull, elementary piece. Redhotjazz.com was a pioneering website during the "Information wants to be Free" era of the 1990s. Anywheres aroun’. McNeil observed that the number "is typical of Rainey's output, a driving, unornamented vocal propelled along by an accompanist who plays the number straight. Singer Ma Rainey was the first popular stage entertainer to incorporate authentic blues into her song repertoire and became known as the "Mother of the Blues.". Rainey then created her own show: “Madame Gertrude Ma Rainey and Her Georgia Smart Set.”. Ma Rainey was nothing if not a pioneer, especially for the 1920s. That same year, Rainey recorded "See See Rider," a number that, as Arnold Shaw observed in Black Popular Music in America, emerged as "one of the most famous and recorded of all blues songs. A very lean Chadwick Boseman plays Levee, the spotlight-stealing trumpeter who represents the younger, more commercially minded generation eager to fast-track to success. Ma Rainey was the first generation born out of enslavement in her family. In the song “Oh Papa Blues,” Rainey tells of the wrongs a former lover committed against her, but her lamentation soon turns to scheming for revenge. Many eventually claimed that TOBA stood for “Tough on Black Artists.”, Still, Rainey was a star on the TOBA circuit. The play is set in Chicago in the 1920s, and deals with issues of race, art, religion, and the historic exploitation of Black recording artists by white producers.. In the liner notes to The Blues, folklorist W.K. For the next several years, she devoted her time to the ownership of two entertainment venues — the Lyric Theater and the Airdome — as well as activities in the Friendship Baptist Church. The black woman faced not only racist and sexist hindrances over the course of her career, but it is also widely believed that she was bisexual. Accessed Jan. 30, 2021. https://nmaahc.si.edu/LGBTQ/ma-rainey, Obrecht, Jas. She possessed listeners; they swayed, they rocked, they moaned and groaned, as they felt the blues with her. “Overlooked No More: Ma Rainey, the ‘Mother of the Blues’.” The New York Times. As Dorsey recalled, in The Rise of Gospel Blues, "When she started singing, the gold in her teeth would sparkle. The play's title comes from Ma Rainey's song of the same name, which refers to the Black … According to Mayo Williams, as quoted in the liner notes to August Wilson's 1988 play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, "Ma Rainey was a shrewd businesswoman. In Black Pearls, Daphane Harrison praised Rainey as the first great blues stage singer: "The good-humored, rollicking Rainey loved life, loved love, and most of all loved her people. The blues descended from the call-and-response storytelling songs of West Africa. Rainey worked at the Springer Opera House in 1900, performing as a singer and dancer in the local talent show, "A Bunch of Blackberries." 05/16/2021 A great contributor to America's rich blues tradition, Rainey's music has served as inspiration for African American poets such as Hughes and Sterling Brown, the latter of whom paid tribute to the majestic singer in the poem "Ma Rainey," which appeared in his 1932 collection Southern Road. Fellow blues singer, Victoria Spivey, later said of the recording, as quoted in The Devil's Music, "Ain't nobody in the world been able to holler 'Hey Boweevil' like her. Known as “The Mother of the Blues,” she was able to bridge the transition from vaudeville to the recording industry. Yet, like its predecessor, the theatrical origins of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom weigh heavy on this film, directed with a stagey air by Tony award winner George C Wolfe. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, born Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett, was most likely, and by her own account, born on April 26, 1886, in Columbus, Georgia. Accessed Jan. 30, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/Ma%20Rainey.pdf, Russonello, Giovanni. On February 2, 1904, Pridgett married comedy songster William "Pa" Rainey. That year, after Dorsey left the band, she recorded with various musicians on the Paramount label — often under the name of Ma Rainey and her Georgia Jazz Band which, on various occasions, included musicians such as pianists Fletcher Henderson, Claude Hopkins and Willie the Lion Smith; reed players Don Redman, Buster Bailey and Coleman Hawkins; and trumpeters Louis Armstrong and Tommy Ladnier. Rainey’s cultural legacy is profound. 16.7k Followers, 15 Following, 158 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Ma Rainey (@maraineyfilm) Afterward, they were billed as the "Assassinators of the Blues" with Tolliver's Circus and Musical Extravaganza. Life as a traveling entertainer was not easy for African Americans in the early decades of the twentieth century. "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," the engulfing film version of the great play by August Wilson — the late Pulitzer Prize-winning "theater poet of black America" — means to shake you. Following the death of her mother and sister, Rainey retired from the music business in 1935 and settled in Columbus. In 1924, pianist and arranger Thomas A. Dorsey recruited members for Rainey's touring band, The Wild Cats Jazz Band. Lieb, Sandra R. Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey. ", While performing with the Moses Stokes troupe in 1912, the Raineys were introduced to the show's newly recruited dancer, Bessie Smith. Leslie Jones Will Do Anything for Ma Rainey Leslie Jones overcomes trouble with some local riffraff while completing an important errand for Ma Rainey in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." Obrecht, Jas. Students will examine photographs and primary source accounts describing uniforms for women’s sports from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century. “Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey.” National Women’s History Museum. She was in the spotlight. © 2021 Biography and the Biography logo are registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. She was a mentor to the legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, and the two were rumored to have had a romantic relationship. Chicago – Brandman, Mariana. Abigail Adams was an early advocate for women's rights. II. After about a dozen years of marriage, Rainey and her husband separated. Rainey displayed a talent for singing at a young age and began performing as a teenager. Rainey's tour debut at Chicago's Grand Theater on State Street marked the first appearance of a "down home" blues artist at the famous southside venue. See full bio ». Presenter Yara Shahidi accepted the coveted award on the late actor’s behalf. Her two-hour show usually began with jazz numbers by the band and a performance by a line of chorus girls. Her first session, cut with Austin and Her Blue Serenaders, featured the traditional number "Bo-Weevil Blues." Yo-Yo Ma is an acclaimed cellist and songwriter who has produced dozens of albums and won 18 Grammy Awards. Ma Rainey is revered and feared by her manager Irvin (Jeremy Shamos) and band members, all but the youngest, the horn player. Though the TOBA and vaudeville circuits had gone into decline by the early 1930s, Rainey still performed, often resorting to playing tent shows. The renowned … Singer Janis Joplin rose to fame in the late 1960s and was known for her powerful, blues-inspired vocals. A vibrant stage presence, she was known for her gold teeth, flashy clothing and jewelry, and establishing a personal connection with her audiences. Accessed Jan. 30, 2021. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/obituaries/ma-rainey-overlooked.html, Smith, David. It was his final role. ", Unlike many other blues musicians, Rainey earned a reputation as a professional on stage and in business. Nicknamed the “Mother of the Blues,” she recorded more than 100 singles, including the hits “ Prove it on Me Blues,” “ See See Rider Blues,” and “ Don’t Fish in My Sea.” Fast Facts: Ma Rainey Accessed Jan. 30, 2021. https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/07/ma-rainey/, Russonello, Giovanni. ", W.C. Before she was Ma Rainey, she was born Gertrude Pridgett, the second of five children to Thomas and Ella Pridgett. Rainey signed a recording contract with Paramount Records in 1923, making her one of the earliest recorded blues musicians. 2021. ", https://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-1802493. Her 1924 recording of “See See Rider Blues” (for which she was accompanied by a young Louis Armstrong) was added to the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry in 2004. Dey comes to hear Ma Rainey from de little river settlements, TOBA was well known for its exploitative working conditions and the low wages it paid African-American performers. Rainey passed away from heart disease on December 22, 1939 at the age of 53. Late Chadwick Boseman won the Best Performance in a movie for his final role in ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’ at the 2021 edition of MTV Movie & TV Awards. Eight years Smith's senior, Rainey quickly befriended the young performer. She often opened her stage show singing "Moonshine Blues" inside the cabinet of an over-sized victrola, from which she emerged to greet a near-frantic audience. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. But not much has … Following the deaths of her sister and mother, Rainey returned to Columbus, Georgia to live with her brother. Ma Rainey was born Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia on April 26, 1886. During her last sessions, held in 1928, she sang in the company of her former pianist Thomas "Georgia Tom" Dorsey and guitarist Hudson "Tampa Red" Whittaker, producing such numbers as "Black Eye Blues," "Runaway Blues" and "Sleep Talking Blues.". Catch "Ma Rainey" on Netflix and you'll see Viola Davis and the late Chadwick Boseman give the performances of their lives. Examine Zora Neale Hurston’s lifelong commitment to African American literature and cultural preservation. Serving as both director and manager, Dorsey assembled able musicians who could read arrangements as well as play in a down "home blues" style. Described by African American poet Sterling Brown in Black Culture and Black Consciousness as "a person of the folk," Rainey recorded in various musical settings and exhibited the influence of genuine rural blues. Ma Rainey And The Classic Blues Singers, by Derrick Stewart-Baxter, Stein and Day Press, 1970: Blues Legacies And Black Feminism, by Angela Davis, Pantheon Books, 1998 ; 107 ; Red Hot Jazz Archive . As William Barlow explained, in Looking Up at Down, her songs were also "diverse, yet deeply rooted in day-to-day experiences of Black people from the South. Dec. 15, 2020. In “Prove It on Me Blues,” Rainey boasts about her attraction to women and wearing men’s clothing. Ma Rainey is a hilarious film, and Boseman, through his coy smile, and displaying his full range, is equally hilarious in it. In that spirit we are recovering the lost data from the now defunct site and sharing it with you. . Her performances drew racially mixed (though still segregated) audiences, demonstrating her wide appeal. More recently, Alice Walker looked to Rainey's music as a cultural model of African American womanhood when she wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple. She owned and managed two theaters and was active in the Friendship Baptist Church, where her brother was a deacon. Rainey, the “Mother of the Blues,” was influential for bridging the traditions of vaudeville and authentic Southern blues. https://www.biography.com/musician/ma-rainey. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Jazz and blues vocalist Bessie Smith's powerful, soulful voice won her countless fans and earned her the title "Empress of the Blues. (Rainey's) was the first recording of that song, giving her a hold on the copyright, and one of the best of the more than 100 versions. Thinking Historically: The Evolution of Women’s Athletic Wear, Chronicles of American Women: Your History Makers, Women Writing History: A Coronavirus Journaling Project, Learning Resources on Women's Political Participation, https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2020/07/ma-rainey/, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/obituaries/ma-rainey-overlooked.html, https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/15/ma-rainey-black-bottom-netflix-mother-of-the-blues, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/gertrude-ma-rainey. Already a popular singer in the Southern theater circuit, Rainey entered the recording industry as an experienced and stylistically mature talent. Ma Rainey (1886–1939) Ma Rainey. It was on the performance circuit that she met comedian, singer, and dancer Will “Pa” Rainey, and the two married in 1904. Ma Rainey, considered the mother of blues in many ways birthed a black female sexuality that is confined by neither respectability nor sexual depravity. This you do not … The beats of the film retain a staged feel, palpable in the rapid banter between the band … Draped in long gowns and covered in diamonds and a necklace of gold pieces, Rainey had a powerful command over her audiences. But amidst these difficulties, Rainey’s protagonists did not rely on male partners or submit to the rules society tried to inflict on them. With the success of her early recordings, Rainey took part in a Paramount promotional tour that featured a newly assembled back-up band. Ella Fitzgerald, known as the "First Lady of Song" and "Lady Ella," was an immensely popular American jazz and song vocalist who interpreted much of the Great American Songbook. And does it ever, using humor, heartbreak, betrayal and sudden savagery to do it. Ma Rainey was the first popular stage entertainer to incorporate authentic blues into her song repertoire. Find the latest in ma rainey music at Last.fm. 2004. Ma Rainey was the first popular stage entertainer to incorporate authentic blues into her song repertoire. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Official release poster Directed byGeorge C. Wolfe Produced by Denzel Washington Todd Black Dany Wolf Screenplay byRuben Santiago-Hudson Based onMa Rainey's Black Bottom by August Wilson Starring Hair department head Mia Neal, celebrity hairstylist Jamika Wilson and makeup artist Sergio Lopez-Revera took home the gold for best makeup and hairstyling at this year's Academy Awards.. With this prestigious win, Neal and Wilson have not only become the first Black women to be nominated but also the first to … Born Gertrude Pridgett, Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886 - December 22, 1939) was one of the first blues singers to record music. ", American singer and guitarist Muddy Waters may have been born in Mississippi, but he defined Chicago blues with songs like "I'm Your Hoochie Coochie Man. ", In 1923, Rainey also released "Moonshine Blues" with Lovie Austin, and "Yonder Comes the Blues" with Louis Armstrong. 2021. https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/gertrude-ma-rainey. “‘See See Rider Blues’ -- Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey (1924).” Library of Congress. “'All they want is my voice': the real story of 'Mother of the Blues' Ma Rainey.” The Guardian. Ma Barker was the matriarch of the Barker-Karpis Gang, whose spree of kidnappings, murderers and bank robberies led to her and its members' violent deaths. Ma Rainey's blues were simple, straightforward stories about heartbreak, promiscuity, drinking binges, the odyssey of travel, the workplace and the prison road gang, magic and superstition — in short, the southern landscape of African Americans in the Post-Reconstruction era.". She was inducted into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. Rainey’s songwriting was notable for its raw depiction of life from the perspective of a woman struggling with heartbreak, depression, and other maladies. We never tried to put any swindles on her. Date accessed. When Ma Rainey. She made her debut with the Bunch of Blackberries revue at the Springer Opera House in Columbus. . Her parents, Thomas and Ella (Allen) Pridgett, were minstrel performers. She’s born in the rural South, she is dark-skinned, which couldn’t have been easy. Separated from her husband in 1916, Rainey subsequently toured with her own band, Madam Gertrude Ma Rainey and Her Georgia Smart Sets, featuring a chorus line and a Cotton Blossoms Show, and Donald McGregor's Carnival Show. Billed as "Ma" and "Pa" Rainey the couple toured Southern tent shows and cabarets. Miles aroun’, From Cape Girardeau, Poplar Bluff, Flocks in to hear. Often called the “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey was known for her deep-throated voice and mesmerizing stage presence that drew packed audiences and sold hit records in the early twentieth century. Around 1915, the Raineys toured with Fat Chappelle's Rabbit Foot Minstrels. Accessed Jan. 30, 2021. https://www.loc.gov/static/programs/national-recording-preservation-board/documents/Ma%20Rainey.pdf, Paranick, Amber. Despite earlier historical accounts crediting Rainey as Smith's vocal coach, it has been generally agreed by modern scholars that Rainey played less of a role in the shaping of Smith's singing style. . In 2020, Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom came to the screen with Viola Davis starring as Rainey and Chadwick Boseman as trumpeter Levee. MLA – Brandman, Mariana. However, what we got was not the Ma Rainey we all deserved. Rainey's music has served as inspiration for such poets as Langston Hughes. Rainey died in Rome, Georgia (some sources say Columbus) on December 22, 1939. Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary "Mother of the Blues," Ma Rainey (Academy Award® winner Viola Davis). Ma Rainey often claimed that she was born on April 26, 1886, in Columbus, Georgia. Beyond that, the specific details of her early life remain murky to this day. ", READ MORE: Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey Forged a Powerful Friendship That Helped Bring Blues to the Mainstream. When she was 18, she married William “Pa” Rainey, but the two later split. James Brown, the "Godfather of Soul," was a prolific singer, songwriter and bandleader, as well as one of the most iconic figures in funk and soul music. Handy was an African American composer and a leader in popularizing blues music in the early 20th century, with hits like "Memphis Blues" and "St. Louis Blues.". Ma Rainey's Black Bottom won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, making history at the 93rd Academy Awards. The stylists Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson are the first Black women to win in this category. They formed a double act (“Ma and Pa Rainey”) and toured with various African-American minstrel troupes and vaudeville groups, most notably the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. When she lost her recording contract with Paramount (the company claimed her style of blues had fallen out of fashion) she resumed touring and performed at private parties. By: Mariana Brandman, NWHM Predoctoral Fellow in Women’s History | 2020-2022. Abrams is now one of the most prominent African American female politicians in the United States. While many date the “first wave” of feminism to the Women’s Rights Convention held in 1848 in Seneca Falls, the origins of the feminism movement lay much earlier. Though she did not hear blues in Columbus, Rainey's extensive travels had, by 1905, brought her into contact with authentic country blues, which she worked into her song repertoire. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (née Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an influential American blues singer and early blues recording artist. “Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey in Newspapers.” Library of Congress. It was a Broadway success and was recently adapted as a film. Of course, the movie features the American blues singer “Ma” Rainey. Ma do her stuff; Comes flivverin’ in, Or ridin’ mules, Or packed in trains, Picknickin’ fools. She then began singing with traveling vaudeville acts in tent shows, honky-tonks, and carnivals. Captive Africans passed them down through the generations while enslaved in the Western Hemisphere. An’ Mobile town, When Ma hits. She performed during the first three decades of the 20th century and enjoyed mass popularity during the blues craze of the 1920s. In 1927, Rainey cut sides such as "Black Cat, Hoot Owl Blues" with the Tub Jug Washboard Band. In 1994, a stamp depicting Rainey was a part of a series of stamps featuring Jazz and Blues singers. The film also won the award for Best Costume Design. Accessed Jan. 30, 2021. https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/dec/15/ma-rainey-black-bottom-netflix-mother-of-the-blues. Durante generaciones, el movimiento feminista ha avanzado notablemente en la defensa de los derechos de las mujeres. With the help of Mayo "Ink" Williams, Rainey first recorded for the Paramount label in 1923 (three years after the first blues side recorded by Mamie Smith). During Rainey's five-year recording career at Paramount, she cut nearly ninety sides, most of which dealt with the subjects of love and sexuality — bawdy themes that often earned her the billing of 'Madam Rainey.' Though they shared an extraordinary command of the idiom, the two women delivered their messages in styles and voices that were dissimilar and manifestly personal. Rainey was born Gertrude Pridgett on April 26, 1886, in Columbus, Georgia, to minstrel troupers Thomas Pridgett, Sr. and Ella Allen-Pridgett. Blues musician, with such songs as "Slave to the Blues," "Jelly Bean Blues," "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" , and "Bo Weevil Blues." Rainey made her home in Chicago for much of the 1920s and early 1930s. Between 1923 and 1928, she recorded almost 100 records, many of them national hits that are now part of the American musical canon. Rainey displayed a talent for singing at a young age and began performing as a teenager. "Her ability to capture the mood and essence of Black rural southern life of the 1920s," noted Daphane Harrison in Black Pearls: Blues Queens "quickly endeared her to throngs of followers throughout the South. 2004. “Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey.” National Women’s History Museum, 2021. Her parents, Thomas and Ella (Allen) Pridgett, were minstrel performers. But according to The New York Times, a census taken in 1900 lists her birthdate as September 1882 and her birthplace as Alabama. Nobody. Comes to town, Folks from anyplace. Find ma rainey tracks, artists, and albums. July 2, 2020. “‘See See Rider Blues’ -- Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey (1924).” Library of Congress. ", In August 1924, Rainey — along with the 12 string guitar of Miles Pruitt and an unknown second guitar accompanist — recorded the eight-bar blues number "Shave 'Em Dry." Tischler, Barbara L. "Rainey, Ma (26 April 1886–22 December 1939), vaudeville, blues, and jazz singer and self-proclaimed "Mother of the Blues"." That’s what it’s like, Fo’ miles on down, To New Orleans delta. Boseman, who had also scooped a posthumous Golden Globes award in February 2021, gained wide acclaim for his role alongside Viola Davis. "Ma Rainey probably did pass some of her singing experience on to Bessie," explained Chris Albertson in the liner notes to Giants of Jazz, "but the instruction must have been rudimentary. The glam team behind "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" made history at the 2021 Oscars.. “Overlooked No More: Ma Rainey, the ‘Mother of the Blues’.”, Tischler, Barbara L. "Rainey, Ma (26 April 1886–22 December 1939), vaudeville, blues, and jazz singer and self-proclaimed "Mother of the Blues". She died of an accidental drug overdose in 1970. The Theater Owners Booking Association (TOBA) arranged many of their performances. Ma Rainey was a fat, queer, dark-skinned, blues-singing Black woman, also known as The Mother of the Blues. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of southern blues, influencing a generation of blues singers. “Ma Rainey, 1886-1939.” Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Rainey’s strong voice and characteristic “moaning” style of singing also fueled her success. American National Biography. We strive for accuracy and fairness. ", Until 1926, Rainey performed with her Wild Jazz Cats on the Theater Owner's Booking Association circuit (TOBA). Ma Rainey, née Gertrude Pridgett, (born April 26, 1886, Columbus, Georgia, U.S.—died December 22, 1939, Columbus), American singer who was known as the “mother of the blues” and who was recognized as the first great professional blues vocalist. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is a 1982 play – one of the ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle by August Wilson – that chronicles the 20th-century African-American experience. June 12, 2019. Famed author Louisa May Alcott created colorful relatable characters in 19th century novels. Her story inspired famed playwright August Wilson’s 1982 play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which takes its title from Rainey’s 1927 song of the same name (which in turn refers to the black bottom dance trend of the 1920s). As scholar and activist Angela Davis wrote, the women in Rainey’s songs “explicitly celebrate their right to conduct themselves as expansively and even as undesirably as men.”. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1981.
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