Ida Cox facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ida Cox
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ida M. Prather |
| Born | February 25, 1888 or 1896 Toccoa, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | November 10, 1967 Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Singer/Songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1910s–1960 |
Ida Cox was a famous American singer and performer. She was born Ida M. Prather on February 26, 1888 (or 1896). She passed away on November 10, 1967. Ida was best known for her amazing blues songs. People called her "The Uncrowned Queen of the Blues."
Contents
Ida Cox: Early Life and Start in Music
Ida M. Prather was born in Toccoa, Georgia. She grew up in Cedartown, Georgia. Some records say she was born in 1896. Other researchers think she was born in 1888 or 1894. Her family lived near a large plantation. This meant they faced a future with few chances for school or good jobs.
Singing in the Choir
Ida joined her local church choir when she was young. She loved gospel music and performing. At age 14, she left home to join a touring group. It was called White and Clark's Black & Tan Minstrels.
Starting on Stage
Ida began her stage career playing a character named Topsy. This was a common role in vaudeville shows. She also toured with other African-American minstrel shows. These included the Florida Orange Blossom Minstrels and the Silas Green Show. She also joined the Rabbit Foot Minstrels.
Life with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels
The Rabbit Foot Minstrels were very important for Ida's career. Famous singers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith also started there. This group helped Ida learn how to perform on stage. Life on the road was tough for performers. The shows traveled in two cars. They had a huge tent that workers set up. A brass band would parade in town to tell people about the show.
The stage was made of boards. Gasoline lamps were used for lights. There were no microphones back then. Singers with quieter voices used a megaphone. Most blues singers, though, sang loudly without any help. When Ida wasn't singing, she was a funny comedian. This helped her get more stage experience.
Ida Cox's Personal Life
Around 1908, Ida married Adler Cox. He played the trumpet in the Florida Orange Blossom Minstrels. Ida toured with his group for a short time. Their marriage ended when he died in World War I. She kept his last name for her singing career.
In the early 1920s, she married Eugene Williams. They had a daughter named Helen. Not much is known about this marriage. It ended in divorce.
In 1927, she married Jesse "Tiny" Crump. He was a blues piano player. Jesse helped Ida write many songs. These included "Gypsy Glass Blues" and "Death Letter Blues." He also played piano on her recordings. Jesse became the manager of her growing career.
Becoming a Star
By 1915, Ida Cox was mostly singing the blues. In 1920, she performed in Atlanta. She was the main act at the 81 Theatre. She performed with the famous piano player Jelly Roll Morton. Ida had a strong stage presence. Her powerful singing made her a star. By the early 1920s, she was one of the best solo acts. These shows traveled on the Theater Owners Booking Association circuit.
In March 1922, Ida performed in Memphis, Tennessee. Her show was played on the radio station WMC. People loved it, and she became known to even more fans.
Ida Cox's Recording Career
In 1920, Mamie Smith had a hit song called "Crazy Blues." After this, record companies realized people wanted "race music." This started the classic female blues era. It lasted through the 1920s. Ida's popularity grew fast in the South. Talent scouts noticed her. She signed a contract with Paramount Records. This was the same company that recorded her idol, Ma Rainey. Paramount called Ida "The Uncrowned Queen of Blues."
Recording for Paramount
Between 1923 and 1929, Ida recorded 78 songs for Paramount. For her recordings, Paramount gave her great musicians. These included the pianist Lovie Austin and her band, the Blues Serenaders. This band featured Jimmy O'Bryant on clarinet and Tommy Ladnier on cornet. She also recorded with the Pruitt Twins. Ida also recorded for other labels. These included Broadway and Silvertone. She used different names like Kate Lewis and Jane Smith.
Raisin' Cain and Darktown Scandals
In 1929, Ida Cox and Jesse Crump started their own tent show. It was called Raisin' Cain. Ida was the main performer. Jesse played music and managed the show. Through the late 1920s and early 1930s, Raisin' Cain toured many states. These included Florida, Texas, and Illinois. The show had sixteen chorus girls, comedians, and backup singers.
A Popular Show
Raisin' Cain was very popular. In 1929, it was the first show from its circuit to play at the famous Apollo Theater in New York. Ida was sometimes called the "Sepia Mae West." She led touring groups into the 1930s. This was the best time of her performing career.
Challenges and Changes
By the end of the 1930s, times were hard. The Great Depression made it tough to keep the show going. Female blues singers were also becoming less popular. This meant the show often had breaks in its tour. Ida kept performing through the 1930s. In 1935, she and Jesse changed the show's name to Darktown Scandals. They toured the South and Midwest until 1939. The drummer Earl Palmer started his career as a tap dancer in this show.
Later Career and Comeback
In 1939, Ida was asked to sing at Carnegie Hall. This was a famous concert series called From Spirituals to Swing. She sang "'Fore Day Creep" with great musicians. This concert helped her career after the Depression. Ida recorded for Vocalion in 1939 and Okeh in 1940. She played with musicians like Charlie Christian and Lionel Hampton.
Retirement and Return
Ida kept performing until 1945. She had a stroke during a show in New York. This forced her to stop singing. She moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. There, she lived with her daughter, Helen Goode. Ida became very active in her church.
Ida disappeared from the music world for a while. Then, in 1959, a producer named John Hammond looked for her. He found her and asked her to record again. In 1961, 15 years after her last recordings, she made an album. It was called Blues for Rampart Street. She recorded it with famous musicians like Roy Eldridge and Coleman Hawkins.
A Final Statement
The album had songs from her old shows. One song, "Wild Women Don't Have the Blues," became popular again. Other singers recorded their own versions of it. A newspaper review said that Ida, at age 65, still had her amazing and expressive singing style. Ida called this album her "final statement." After recording it, she went back to Knoxville. She had another stroke in 1965. In 1967, she passed away from cancer at age 71.
Ida Cox's Singing Style
Ida Cox's singing style was more like vaudeville than pure blues. Her voice was not as strong as Bessie Smith or Ma Rainey. But she still amazed her audiences with her fiery spirit. During the classic female blues era, there were many talented singers. Ida's singing was only one part of her act. As her career grew, she truly earned her title, "The Uncrowned Queen of the Blues." On stage, she looked glamorous and confident. She wore stylish clothes, often with a tiara, cape, and a sparkly wand.
Ida Cox: An Independent Woman
Ida Cox had a very independent spirit. Many early blues stars were like this. Ida had to be independent from a young age. She started touring as a teenager. She proved herself to be a smart businesswoman. She was able to create and manage her own show, Raisin' Cain. This show lasted for ten years. This was a big achievement. Very few black women owned and managed their own businesses in the 1920s and 1930s. Ida was also one of the few female blues singers who wrote her own songs.
Songs of Real Life
Through her songs, Ida described the lives of poor and working-class African Americans. One of her most famous songs is "Wild Women Don't Have the Blues." It is remembered as one of the earliest songs about women's independence:
I've got a disposition and a way of my own,
When my man starts to kicking I let him find a new home,
I get full of good liquor, walk the street all night
Go home and put my man out if he don't act right
Wild women don't worry,
Wild women don't have the blues.
Discography
- Complete Recorded Works, vol. 1, Paramount, 1923, re-released by Document Records, 1997
- Blues for Rampart Street, Original Jazz Classics, 1961
- Ida Cox: The Essentials, Classic Blues, 2001
See also
In Spanish: Ida Cox para niños
