Ma Rainey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ma Rainey
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Rainey in 1917
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Gertrude Pridgett |
| Born | April 26, 1886 Columbus, Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | December 22, 1939 (aged 53) Columbus, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1899–1939 |
| Labels | Paramount |
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Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (born Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer. She was one of the first blues artists to record her music. People called her the "Mother of the Blues" because she helped connect older styles of music like vaudeville with the real, heartfelt blues music from the South. She inspired many other blues singers. Ma Rainey was known for her strong voice, lively performances, and a special "moaning" way of singing. You can hear these qualities in her early songs like "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues".
Gertrude Pridgett started performing when she was a teenager. She became known as "Ma" Rainey after she married Will "Pa" Rainey in 1904. They toured with a group called the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. Later, they started their own group. Ma Rainey made her first recording in 1923. Over the next five years, she recorded more than 100 songs. Some of her famous recordings include "Bo-Weevil Blues" (1923), "Moonshine Blues" (1923), and "See See Rider Blues" (1925). She also recorded the popular blues song "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (1927).
Rainey also worked with famous musicians like Thomas Dorsey, Tampa Red, and Louis Armstrong. She toured and recorded with her band, the Georgia Jazz Band. She continued performing until 1935. After that, she mostly stopped singing and managed theaters in her hometown of Columbus, Georgia. She passed away four years later. Ma Rainey has been honored in the Blues Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Her life was shown in the 2020 Netflix movie Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. In 2023, she received a special Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Ma Rainey's Early Life
Most sources say Gertrude Pridgett was born on April 26, 1886, in Columbus, Georgia. However, some records suggest she might have been born in September 1882 in Alabama. Her parents were Thomas and Ella Pridgett, and she was the second of their five children. She had at least two brothers and a sister.
In February 1904, Gertrude married William "Pa" Rainey. She then started using the stage name "Ma Rainey." This name was a playful nod to her husband's nickname, "Pa."
Starting a Music Career
Gertrude Pridgett began her career as a performer in Columbus, Georgia. She was about 12 to 14 years old at the time. She started performing in traveling music shows. She later said that she first heard blues music around 1902. She formed a group called the Alabama Fun Makers Company with her husband, Will Rainey.
In 1906, they both joined a larger and more popular group called the Rabbit's Foot Company. They were known as "Black Face Song and Dance Comedians." In 1910, people described her as "Mrs. Gertrude Rainey, our song shouter." She continued with the Rabbit's Foot Company even after it got a new owner in 1912.
Rainey shared a story about how she discovered blues music. She said she was performing in Missouri one night when a girl introduced her to a sad song. It was about a man leaving a woman. Rainey learned the song and started adding it to her shows. She also claimed she created the term "blues" when someone asked her what kind of song she was singing.
Starting in 1914, the Raineys were called Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues. They spent winters in New Orleans, where she met many musicians. These included Joe "King" Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet, and Pops Foster. As blues music became more popular, Ma Rainey became very well known.
Recording Her Music
By the late 1910s, there was a growing demand for recordings by Black musicians. In 1920, Mamie Smith became the first Black woman to record music. In 1923, a producer from Paramount Records named J. Mayo Williams discovered Ma Rainey. She signed a contract with Paramount. In December of that year, she made her first eight recordings in Chicago. These included "Bad Luck Blues," "Bo-Weevil Blues," and "Moonshine Blues."
Over the next five years, she made more than 100 other recordings. These songs made her famous far beyond the South. Paramount Records promoted her a lot. They called her the "Mother of the Blues," the "Songbird of the South," and the "Paramount Wildcat."
In 1924, Rainey recorded with Louis Armstrong. They made songs like "Jelly Bean Blues" and "See, See Rider." That same year, she went on a tour across the South and Midwest of the United States. She sang for both Black and white audiences. She was joined by the bandleader and pianist Thomas Dorsey and his band, the Wildcats Jazz Band. Their tour started in Chicago in April 1924 and continued off and on until 1928. Dorsey left the group in 1926 due to illness. Lillian Hardaway Henderson, the wife of Rainey's cornet player, took over as pianist and band leader.
Unlike many blues singers of her time, Ma Rainey wrote at least a third of the songs she sang. Many of her most famous works, like "Moonshine Blues" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," became classic blues songs.
Throughout the 1920s, Ma Rainey was known as one of the most exciting performers in the United States. This was thanks to her songwriting, amazing stage presence, and powerful voice. She and her band could earn $350 a week while touring. This was a very good income for the time.
Towards the end of the 1920s, live vaudeville shows became less popular. Radio and recorded music took their place. Ma Rainey's career was not immediately affected. She kept recording for Paramount and earned enough money from touring to buy a bus with her name on it. In 1928, she worked with Thomas Dorsey again and recorded 20 songs. However, Paramount then ended her contract. Her style of blues was no longer considered popular by the record label.
Later Life and Passing
Ma Rainey and Pa Rainey adopted a son named Danny. He later joined his parents' musical act. The Raineys separated in 1916.
In 1935, Rainey returned to her hometown of Columbus, Georgia. She became the owner of three theaters: the Liberty in Columbus, and the Lyric and the Airdrome in Rome, Georgia. She managed these theaters until her death. Ma Rainey passed away from a heart attack in 1939.
Ma Rainey's Lasting Impact
Ma Rainey helped create what is now known as "classic blues." She also showed Black life in her music like no one before. She was a musical pioneer who built on older performance styles like minstrelsy and vaudeville. She added her own comedic timing and a mix of American blues traditions she found during her many tours. She helped start a type of music that appealed to people in both the North and South, and in both rural and city areas.
Her unique low and gravelly voice, sung with her strong and confident style, inspired many other singers. These included Louis Armstrong, Janis Joplin, and Bonnie Raitt.
In her song lyrics, Rainey showed the experiences of Black women in a way few others did at the time. Her songs expressed a wide range of feelings and life stories.
Rainey was also a fashion trendsetter. She was one of the first performers to wear flashy and expensive costumes on stage. She wore ostrich plumes, satin gowns, sequins, gold necklaces, diamond tiaras, and even gold teeth.
Ma Rainey was honored in the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1983. She was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990. In 1994, the U.S. Post Office released a special postage stamp honoring her. In 2004, her song "See See Rider Blues" (recorded in 1924) was added to the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also added to the National Recording Registry by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress.
A small museum opened in Columbus, Georgia, in 2007 to honor Ma Rainey. It is in the very house she built for her mother and where she lived from 1935 until her death in 1939.
The first yearly Ma Rainey International Blues Festival was held in April 2016 in Columbus, Georgia. It was near the home where Rainey lived. In 2017, the Rainey-McCullers School of the Arts opened in Columbus, Georgia. It was named in honor of Ma Rainey and the author Carson McCullers.
In 2023, she received a special Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award after her death. The announcement praised her "deep voice and mesmerizing stage presence." It also noted that she "recorded almost 100 records, many of them national hits that are now part of the American musical canon."
Images for kids
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Rainey and her band in 1923
See also
In Spanish: Ma Rainey para niños
