MAMIE SMITH — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 1 • 1920-1921 | DOCD-5357 (1995) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

In 1995, Document Records devoted four CDs to the complete recorded works of legendary cabaret vocalist Mamie Smith. In the words of multi-instrumentalist Garvin Bushell, "Mamie Smith wasn't a real blues singer like Bessie Smith. She didn't get in between the notes like Bessie did. Mamie was what we called a shouter. But the white people called it blues!" A native of Cincinnati OH, Mamie Robinson came up in traveling variety shows, landed in Harlem in 1912 and obtained her second surname by marrying one William Smith, a theatrical tenor professionally known as Sweet Singing Smitty. One night in early 1920, William asked pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith to put together a band to accompany Mamie during an Okeh recording session at the General Phonograph Corporation on West 45th Street, in a time slot initially reserved for Sophie Tucker. The Lion went and heard Smith in performance at Digg's Cafe, noted that "she was O.K." and set about organizing a quintet using part of the house band at the Orient, a nightclub on 135th Street between Lenox and Fifth Avenues. The first group ever to record as Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds consisted of The Lion, clarinetist Ernest Sticky Elliott, either Addington Major or Ed Cox on cornet, and trombonist Ward "Dope" Andrews, who had recorded with Noble Sissle and James Reese Europe in 1919; Andrews had a very talented and famous nephew in trumpeter Charlie Shavers. Partly because it was believed that the recording equipment wouldn't pick up the string bass and couldn't handle a full drum kit, the addition of violinist Leroy Parker was deemed sufficient to complete the ensemble. On February 14, 1920 this unit recorded "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down" and "That Thing Called Love", employing a subdued style that was typical of theater pit orchestras throughout New York. Conflicting theories abound as to the actual identity of this group; its rather staid accompaniments have led Brian Rust and others to conclude that it was really an unidentified white studio ensemble. Perhaps a more accurate assessment would take into account similar-sounding records made during this period by African American groups under the leadership of Wilbur Sweatman, W.C. Handy, James P. Johnson, and Fletcher Henderson.

Many of this singer's earliest recordings used material composed by Perry Bradford, a rather aggressive businessman who acted as her band's manager and conductor. It was Bradford who named them the Jazz Hounds. "Crazy Blues" has often been cited by jazz historians as the first record that proved to the people running the racially segregated recording industry that African American artists were capable of generating hit records; that a paying clientele existed for such stuff, and that money could apparently be made by selling any record with the word "blues" in the title. Within one month of its release "Crazy Blues" had sold 10,000 units and Mamie Smith had broken the color bar while helping Okeh get established as a viable recording enterprise. The melody was initially called "Harlem Blues," and like James P. Johnson's "Mama's and Papa's Blues" of 1916, had its roots in a bawdy old cathouse number called "Baby, Get That Towel Wet." The flipside, "It's Right Here for You" was revisited by young Tommy Dorsey in 1928 (on his first session as a leader, blowing trumpet) and by Eddie Condon's band in 1939. Smith's original vocal take stands as a pleasant prelude to those masterful cover versions. While Bradford and a pushy specimen named Ocie Wilson each tried to oust the other so as to prevail as Mamie Smith's manager, the Jazz Hounds were largely directed by Memphis cornetist Johnny Dunn throughout most of the period covered by this album, with appearances by clarinetist Buster Bailey, trombonist Herb Fleming, pianist Phil Worde, xylophonist Mort Perry, and tuba tackler Chink Johnson. Dunn conducted the Jazz Hounds at the Lafayette Theater while perched on a high stool with horn in hand. For those who would like to savor the sounds of the Jazz Hounds without Mamie Smith, the instrumental tracks on Volume 1 are "Royal Garden Blues," "Shim-Me-King's Blues," a remake of "That Thing Called Love," "Old Time Blues," "Baby, You Made Me Fall for You," and "You Can't Keep a Good Man Down." The final three tracks on this collection find Mamie Smith backed by a group of white men led by saxophonist Joseph Samuels, which accounts for the title "Sax-O-Phoney Blues." arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1    Mamie Smith–    That Thing Called Love (7275) 3:09
Bass Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Cornet – Ed Cox
Orchestra – Rega Orchestra
Piano – Willie "The Lion" Smith
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
2    Mamie Smith–    You Can't Keep A Good Man Down 3:15
Bass Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Cornet – Ed Cox (3)
Orchestra – Rega Orchestra
Piano – Willie "The Lion" Smith
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
3    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Crazy Blues 3:18
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Cornet [Either/Or] – Addington Major, Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Willie "The Lion" Smith
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
4    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    It's Right Here For You 2:50
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Cornet [Either/Or] – Addington Major, Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Willie "The Lion" Smith
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
5    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Fare Thee Honey Blues 2:42
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Cornet [Either/Or] – Addington Major, Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Willie "The Lion" Smith
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
6    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    The Road Is Rocky 3:01
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Cornet [Either/Or] – Addington Major, Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Willie "The Lion" Smith
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
7    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Mem'ries Of You Mammy 3:13
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Drums [Erroneous] – George Howell
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Porter Grainger
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
8    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    If You Don't Want Me Blues 3:15
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Drums [Erroneous] – George Howell
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Porter Grainger
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
9    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Don't Care Blues 2:57
Banjo – Unknown Artist
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Porter Grainger
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
10    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Lovin' Sam From Alabam 2:42
Banjo – Unknown Artist
Clarinet – Ernest Elliott
Clarinet, Alto Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Porter Grainger
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
11    Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds–    Royal Garden Blues 3:04
Clarinet – Garvin Bushell
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds
Piano – Unknown Artist
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin [Prob.] – Leroy Parker
Xylophone – Mort Perry
12    Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds–    Shim-Me-King's Blues 3:08
Clarinet – Garvin Bushell
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds
Piano – Unknown Artist
Trombone – Dope Andrews
Violin [Prob.] – Leroy Parker
Xylophone – Mort Perry
13    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Jazzbo Ball 2:56
Brass Bass [Either/Or] – Chink Johnson, Harry Hull
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Drums – Unknown Artist
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
14    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    What Have I Done? 2:59
Brass Bass [Either/Or] – Chink Johnson, Harry Hull
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Drums – Unknown Artist
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
15    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    That Thing Called Love (7790) 3:14
Brass Bass [Either/Or] – Chink Johnson, Harry Hull
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Drums – Unknown Artist
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Violin – Leroy Parker
16    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Old Time Blues 2:55
Brass Bass [Either/Or] – Chink Johnson, Harry Hull
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Drums – Unknown Artist
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Violin – Leroy Parker
17    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Baby, You Made Me Fall For You 3:24
Brass Bass [Either/Or] – Chink Johnson, Harry Hull
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Xylophone, Drums – Mort Perry
18    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    You Can't Keep A Good A Good Man Down 3:14
Brass Bass [Either/Or] – Chink Johnson, Harry Hull
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Xylophone, Drums – Mort Perry
19    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Frankie Blues 2:57
Brass Bass [Either/Or] – Chink Johnson, Harry Hull
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
Xylophone, Drums – Mort Perry
20    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    "U" Need Some Lovin' Blues 2:54
Brass Bass [Either/Or] – Chink Johnson, Harry Hull
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone – Unknown Artist
Violin – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
Xylophone, Drums – Mort Perry
21    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Dangerous Blues 3:13
Clarinet – Buster Bailey
Cornet – Johnny Dunn
Drums, Xylophone – Mort Perry
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band
Piano – Phil Worde
Trombone [Poss.] – Herb Flemming
Vocals – Mamie Smith
22    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Daddy, Your Mama Is Lonesome For You 2:54
Brass Bass – Unknown Artist
Clarinet – Unknown Artist
Cornet – Johnny Dunn, Unknown Artist
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band
Piano – Unknown Artist
Trombone [Poss.] – Herb Flemming
Violin [Poss.] – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
23    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    I Want A Jazzy Kiss 2:51
Brass Bass – Unknown Artist
Clarinet – Unknown Artist, Unknown Artist
Cornet – Johnny Dunn, Unknown Artist
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band
Piano – Unknown Artist
Trombone [Poss.] – Herb Flemming
Violin [Poss.] – Leroy Parker
Vocals – Mamie Smith
24    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Sax-O-Phoney Blues 2:51
Alto Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Bass Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Cornet – Unknown Artist, Unknown Artist
Orchestra – Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band
Piano – Unknown Artist
Soprano Saxophone, Alto Saxophone – Unknown Artist
Violin – Unknown Artist
Vocals – Mamie Smith

MAMIE SMITH — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 2 • 1921-1922 | DOCD-5358 (1995) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Volume two in the complete recordings of Mamie Smith as reissued by Document in 1995 follows her career as an Okeh recording artist from August 18, 1921 through early May of 1922. Although her groups were almost invariably billed as the Jazz Hounds, the band accompanying her on tracks 1-13 (listed as her Jazz Band) was really the Joseph Samuels Orchestra, a well-behaved but capably hot Caucasian unit that also recorded as the Synco Jazz Band and the Tampa Blue Jazz Band. During the provocatively titled "Mamma Whip! Mamma Spank!," Smith seems to have been able to relax and deliver an artful performance that conveys a taste of what she must have sounded like when caught live on-stage. Other delights from this portion of the timeline include enjoyable treatments of Perry Bradford's "Down Home Blues," the catchy "Arkansas Blues," and that essential vaudevillian and traditional jazz staple, the "Wang Wang Blues." During the winter of 1921, Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds (with young Bubber Miley temporarily replacing cornetist Johnny Dunn) toured the T.O.B.A. circuit, premiering at Pittsburgh's Pershing Theater as the last act in a vaudeville revue. Smith, who wore some of the fanciest and most rhinestone-encrusted outfits in the business, experienced unanticipated hook-and-eye trouble while attempting to execute one of her famous, lightning-quick off-stage costume changes. The band was told to keep playing "Royal Garden Blues" over and over again until she could get back on. As she became hopelessly entangled, Miley's lip gave out completely and the audience booed the band off the stage. Fortunately for those who value an opportunity to hear Miley years before his experiences with Duke Ellington, four instrumental selections from this period are included here. They are: "Rambling Blues," "Cubanita," "The Decatur Street Blues," and "Carolina Blues." Additionally, Smith tosses off a beautiful rendition of the old "Wabash Blues." The Jazz Hounds played the Avenue Theater in Chicago, where they were able to hear Freddie Keppard and King Oliver (major influences on Bubber Miley), followed by a series of engagements at the 12th Street Theater, a white burlesque house in Kansas City. Here the Hounds found themselves absorbed into a variety show billed as Mamie Smith and Company, with dancers, singers, comedians, and a prestidigitator. Soon the band was enlarged slightly by the addition of George Bell, a violinist from Detroit, and a very young C-Melody saxophonist from St. Joseph, MO named Coleman Hawkins who was already displaying unerringly fine musicianship. Deemed too young to leave home (according to his grandmother), Hawkins did not accompany the Jazz Hounds to Detroit, MI where they appeared with Smith at the S.H. Dudley and Copeland Theaters on Gratiot Avenue. The last three tunes on this second volume of vintage Mamie Smith date from May 1922 and feature Hawkins (now blowing tenor sax) alongside cornetist George Mullen, trombonist Cecil Carpenter, clarinetist Bob Fuller, the aforementioned fiddler Bell, pianist Charles Matson, and either Curtis Mosby or Cutie Perkins behind the drums. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Sweet Man O'Mine    3:15
2    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Mama Whip! Mama Spank!    3:12
3    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    I'm Free, Single, Disengaged, Looking For Someone To Love    2:50
4    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Weepin'    3:00
5    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    A Wearin' Away The Blues    3:08
6    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Down Home Blues    3:01
7    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Get Hot    3:04
8    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Oh, Joe (Please Don't Go)    3:07
9    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    A Little Kind Treatment    3:10
10    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Arkansas Blues (A Down Home Chant)    3:06
11    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    The Wang, Wang Blues    3:06
12    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Stop! Rest A While    2:56
13    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Band–    Sweet Cookie    3:06
14    Mamie Smith And Her Jazz Hounds–    Let's Agree To Disagree    2:44
15    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Rambling Blues    3:06
16    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Cubanita    2:47
17    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    The Decatur Street Blues    3:04
18    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Carolina Blues    3:05
19    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Dooh-Dah Blues    2:54
20    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    There's Only One Man (That Satisfies Me)    2:53
21    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Wabash Blues    3:04
22    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Mean Daddy Blues    2:54
23    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Dem Knock-Out-Blues    2:43
24    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Lonesome Mama Blues    2:57

MAMIE SMITH — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 3 • 1922-1923 | DOCD-5359 (1995) RM | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

 Mamie Smith's lavishly expensive wardrobe and over-the-top stage presence is reported to have been breathtaking, and a young aspiring blues woman named Victoria Spivey was so bowled over by the spectacle that it inspired her to pursue her own recording career. The third installment in Document's four-part chronological history of Mamie Smith brings together two-dozen sides dating from early May 1922 through mid-August 1923. This is a particularly rewarding collection as it combines instrumentals like "Stuttering," "Those Longing for You Blues," and "Strut Your Material," with songs destined to become warhorses in the barrelhouse and traditional jazz repertoire ( "That Da Da Strain," "Kansas City Man Blues," "You've Got to See Mama Ev'ry Night," and "I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jelly Roll"); in addition to three numbers perhaps best remembered among early jazz lovers for the piano roll versions by Fats Waller which appeared almost contemporaneously with Smith's phonograph recordings ("Got to Cool My Doggies Now," "You Can't Do What My Last Man Did," and "Do It, Mr. So-And-So"). These records also offer further proof that Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds were almost as important to rising young talent in its day as would be Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers during the '50s. Future stars heard on these ancient platters include cornetists Bubber Miley, Joe Smith, and Johnny Dunn, as well as reedmen Buster Bailey, Garvin Bushell, Coleman Hawkins, and Sidney Bechet. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    New Orleans    2:58
2    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Mamie Smith Blues    3:11
3    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Alabama Blues    3:03
4    Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds–    Stuttering    3:09
5    Mamie Smith's Jazz Hounds–    Those Longing For You Blues    2:54
6    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Got To Cool My Doggies Now    2:50
7    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    You Can Have Him, I Don't Want Him, Didn't Love Him Anyhow Blues    2:58
8    Mamie Smith And Her Jazz Hounds–    Strut Your Material    3:01
9    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Wish That I Could But I Can't Forgive You Blues    2:56
10    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Sighin' Around With The Blues    3:02
11    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    That Da Da Strain    2:49
12    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None O' This Jelly Roll    3:03
13    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Don't Mess With Me    3:09
14    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Mean Man    2:56
15    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    The Darktown Flappers Ball    2:55
16    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    I'm Gonna Get You    2:55
17    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    You've Got To See Mamma Ev'ry Night (Or You Can't See Mamma At All)    2:48
18    Mamie Smith–    You Can't Do What My Last Man Did 2:41
Piano [Prob.] – J.C. Johnson
19    Mamie Smith–    Good Looking Papa 2:54
Piano – Clarence Williams
20    Mamie Smith–    Lady Luck Blues 3:09
Banjo – Buddy Christian
Orchestra – The Harlem Trio
Piano – Clarence Williams
Soprano Saxophone – Sidney Bechet
21    Mamie Smith–    Kansas City Man Blues 3:20
Banjo – Buddy Christian
Orchestra – The Harlem Trio
Piano – Clarence Williams
Soprano Saxophone – Sidney Bechet
22    Mamie Smith–    Plain Old Blues 2:46
Piano – Porter Grainger
23    Mamie Smith–    Mistreatin' Daddy Blues 3:17
Piano – Porter Grainger
24    Mamie Smith–    Do it, Mr. So-and-So 3:06
Piano – Porter Grainger

MAMIE SMITH — Complete Recorded Works In Chronological Order ★ Volume 4 • 1923-1942 | DOCD-5360 (1995) RM | FLAC (tracks), lossless

Mamie Smith's approach to putting over a song was developed in vaudeville houses and theaters before microphones were used to amplify the human voice, a fact which places her in league with stentorian characters like Sophie Tucker, Ethel Merman, Al Jolson, and Jimmy Rushing. Her high-pitched, theatrically mannered delivery compares most accurately with that of Ethel Waters, Lucille Hegamin, Lavinia Turner, and Eva Taylor. The fourth and final volume in Document's complete Mamie Smith retrospective combines the last of her works from the 1920s with material from a little-known session that took place in 1931 and a couple of intriguing movie soundtracks, the last recorded during the spring of 1940. This stunningly beautiful woman was the primary star of Okeh Records from August 1920 through August of 1923. Partially eclipsed by the rise of young Bessie Smith, Mamie cut a half-dozen titles for the Ajax label in September of 1924 with members of the Choo Choo Jazzers (cornetist Louis Metcalf, pianist Louis Hooper, clarinetist Bob Fuller, and banjoist Elmer Snowden) and an expanded seven-piece edition of her Jazz Hounds. Her next recording dates took place in August 1926 with a similar unit that featured cornetist Tom Morris and trombonist Charlie Irvis. The remaining recorded evidence finds her singing in front of various orchestras and on vintage motion picture soundtracks. "The Jail House Blues", which features an unnamed single-string violinist backed by pianist Porter Grainger, comes from a Columbia short that was shot and released in 1929. Mamie's interpretation of Fats Waller's "Keep a Song in Your Soul" was waxed in 1931, right around the time she actually performed with Waller and some of his friends. "Harlem Blues" and "Lord! Lord!" were drawn from the soundtrack of the Jubilee motion picture Paradise in Harlem, directed by Joseph Seiden, with Lucky Millinder's orchestra and additional vocals by the Alphabetical Four. Mamie Smith's final years were a far cry from the prosperous luxury and fame of her heyday. Although she initially invested in quite a bit of real estate, a manipulative predatory louse by the name of Ocie Wilson weaseled practically every dollar out of her. Crippled with arthritis and virtually destitute, she passed away in a cheap boarding house on Eighth Avenue in 1946. Long ignored because her vocal style predated the vogue for gutsy blues and hot jazz, Mamie Smith's complete works have now been made available to those who are willing to listen with unbiased ears. arwulf arwulf
Tracklist :
1    Mamie Smith–    My Mammy's Blues 2:45
Piano – Porter Grainger
2    Mamie Smith–    My Sweet Man (Tickles The Ivories For Me) 2:40
Orchestra – Choo Choo Jazzers
Piano – Louis Hooper
3    Mamie Smith–    What You Need Is Me (And What I Need Is You) 2:57
Cornet [Prob.] – Louis Metcalf
Orchestra – Choo Choo Jazzers
Piano – Louis Hooper
4    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Just Like You Took My Man Away From Me 2:25
Alto Saxophone – Bob Fuller
Banjo – Elmer Snowden
Piano – Louis Hooper
5    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Remorseful Blues 2:43
Alto Saxophone – Bob Fuller
Banjo – Elmer Snowden
Drums – Norman Buster
Piano – Louis Hooper
6    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Lost Opportunity Blues 3:01
Banjo – Elmer Snowden
Bass Saxophone – Alex Jackson
Cornet – Gus Aiken, Horace Holmes
Drums – Norman Buster
Piano – Leslie A. Hutchinson ("Hutch")
Saxophone – Ernie Bullock, Percy Glascoe
Trombone – Jake Frazier
7    Mamie Smith, Acc. Her Jazz Hounds–    Good Time Ball 2:22
Banjo – Elmer Snowden
Bass Saxophone – Alex Jackson
Cornet – Gus Aiken, Horace Holmes
Piano – Leslie A. Hutchinson ("Hutch")
Saxophone – Ernie Bullock, Percy Glascoe
Trombone – Jake Frazier
8    Mamie Smith–    Goin' Crazy With The Blues (Take 1)    2:59
9    Mamie Smith–    Goin' Crazy With The Blues (Take 2)    3:11
10    Mamie Smith–    Sweet Virginia Blues    2:49
11    Mamie Smith–    What Have You Done To Make Me Feel This Way? (Take One)    2:47
12    Mamie Smith–    What Have You Done To Make Me Feel This Way? (Take Two)    2:55
13    Mamie Smith–    I Once Was Yours I'm Somebody Else's Now    3:18
14    Mamie Smith–    Wonderful Mammy 3:13
Orchestra – Billy Fowler Orchestra
15    Mamie Smith–    My Sportin' Man 2:56
Orchestra – Billy Fowler Orchestra
16    Mamie Smith–    The Lure Of The South 2:46
Orchestra – Billy Fowler Orchestra
Vocals [Vocal Group] – Unknown Artist
17    Mamie Smith–    The Jail House Blues 1:17
Piano – Porter Grainger
18    Mamie Smith–    Golfing Papa    2:44
19    Mamie Smith–    Jenny's Ball    3:12
20    Mamie Smith–    Keep A Song In Your Soul    2:49
21    Mamie Smith–    Don't You Advertise Your Man    3:16
22    Mamie Smith–    Harlem Blues 2:53
Orchestra – Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra
23    Mamie Smith–    Lord! Lord! 2:14
Orchestra – Lucky Millinder And His Orchestra