celebrating blues foundational figure Mamie Smith on her birthday: May 26

Mamie Smith (May 26, 1891 – August or September 16, 1946) was an American singer. She performed in theater and comedy shows, singing different styles of music including jazz and blues. In 1920, she made history as the first black artist to record a blues song with vocals.

By making "Crazy Blues" a hit, Mamie Smith paved the way for the recording careers of foundational blues legends like Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, and eventually country-blues pioneers like Robert Johnson, Muddy Waters, and Howlin' Wolf. In the 1960s, British rock musicians (like Cream, Led Zeppelin, The Jeff Beck Group, and The Rolling Stones) took those blues structures, cranked up the amplifiers, and distorted the guitars. Musicians took those heavy blues songs, turned up the volume on their electric guitars, and made them hard rock and heavy metal.

Mamie Smith had an important in the foundation more than 100 years ago.

Mamie Smith "Harlem Blues" 1935

Mamie Smith - Crazy Blues