| Along with Bessie Smith Gertrude
"Ma" Rainey is regarded as the best of the 1920s classic blues singers.
She was most likely the first woman to incorporate blues into minstrel
and vaudeville stage shows, perhaps as early as 1902. Rainey is often called
the Mother of the Blues since she inspired many of the female blues singers
who followed her. Her influence was profound, despite the fact that before
her recording debut she rarely performed outside the South. Rainey's vocal
delivery was closer to the raw, earthy blues style of Southern country
blues artists than the more urbanized, cabaret-like presentation of the
female blues singers who began recording in the early '20s. On her best
records Rainey sang with a rootsy, homespun authenticity. Thus, Rainey
is the all-important connection between male-dominated country blues and
female-dominated urban blues in the 1920s. |
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