Gertrude Pridgett was born into a showbiz family that performed in minstrel shows. She first appeared onstage in 1900, singing and dancing in minstrel and vaudeville stage revues. In 1902 she married the song and dance man William “Pa” Rainey and from then on became known as Ma Rainey.
The couple formed a song and dance act that included Blues and popular songs. They toured the country, but primarily the South and became a popular attraction as part of Tolliver’s Circus, The Musical Extravaganza and The Rabbit Foot Minstrels, where Rainey befriended a young Bessie Smith.
In the 1920s Rainey was a solo star of the T.O.B.A. vaudeville circuit. It was not until 1923 that Ma Rainey signed a recording contract with Paramount. She was billed as the “Mother of the Blues”, which wasn’t far off the mark. Few historians can point to any real Blues singers before Ma Rainey.
She ended up recording 100 songs between 1923 and 1928 on Paramount Records. During that time she was accompanied by many noted jazz musicians such as, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Ladnier, Fletcher Henderson and Coleman Hawkins. She continued working until 1935 and retired to Columbus, Georgia. Ma had been smart with her money and managed to build and operate two theaters; she also owned her own home in Columbus. Ma Rainey died in 1939, of a heart attack.
Jazzology.com owns the rights to the Paramount catalog and has several collections of Ma Rainey material available.
| Title | Recording Date | Recording Location | Company |
| Black Dust Blues (Davis / Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12926 |
| Black Eye Blues (Thomas A. Dorsey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12963 |
| Blame It On The Blues (Thomas A. Dorsey / Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12760 |
| Daddy Goodbye Blues (Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12963 |
| Dead Drunk Blues Piano Acc. Hop Hopkins (Ma Rainey) | 8-1927 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12508-A |
| Don’t Fish In My Sea Piano Accompaniment James Blythe (Ma Rainey / Smith) | 12-1926 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12438-B |
| Farewell Daddy Blues (Ma Rainey) | 8-1924 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12222-B |
| Grievin’ Hearted Blues (unknown) | 12-1926 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12419-B |
| Hellish Rag (unknown) | 12-1927 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12612 |
| Ice Bag Papa (K. Mills) | 12-1927 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12612 |
| Leaving This Morning (Davis / Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12902 |
| Little Low Mama (Ma Rainey) | 12-1926 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12419-A |
| Misery Blues (Ma Rainey) | 8-1927 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12508-B |
| Morning Hour Blues (Ma Rainey / Smith) | 11-1926 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12455 |
| Mountain Jack Blues Jimmy Blythe – Piano (Sid Harris) | 3-1926 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12352-A |
| Runaway Blues (Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12902 |
| Screech Owl Man (Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12735-B |
| Shave ‘ Em Dry Blues (Ma Rainey / H. Jackson) | 8-1924 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12222-A |
| Sleep Talkin’ Blues (Randall / Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12760 |
| Sweet Rough Man (Randall / Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12926 |
| Tough Luck Blues (Ma Rainey) | 9-1928 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12735-A |
| Trust No Man (Lil Henderson) | 6-1926 | Chicago, Illinois | Paramount 12395 |
| Artist | Instrument |
| Blind Blake | Guitar |
| Jimmy Blythe | Piano |
| Shirley Clay | Cornet |
| Thomas A. Dorsey | Piano |
| Lil Henderson | Piano |
| Claude Hopkins | Piano |
| Leroy Pickett? | Violin |
| Kid Ory? | Trombone |
| Milas Pruitt | Guitar |
| Miles Pruitt | Guitar |
| Artie Starks? | Clarinet |
| Tampa Red | Guitar |
| Al Wynn? | Trombone |
| Ike Rodgers | Trombone |
| unknown | Banjo, Tuba |
| Mother Of The Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey, by Sandra Lieb, University of Massachusetts Press, 1981 |
| Ma Rainey And The Classic Blues Singers, by Derrick Stewart-Baxter, Stein and Day Press, 1970 |
| Blues Legacies And Black Feminism, by Angela Davis, Pantheon Books, 1998 |
