Mamie Smith

Mamie Smith was born Mamie Robinson on May 26, 1891, in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was long believed that she entered this world in 1883 but her birth certificate (not discovered until 2018) states otherwise. She began in show business early as a singer and dancer. When she was just ten, she toured with the Four Dancing Mitchells and a few years later danced in Salem Tuft Whitney’s Smart Set, touring the Midwest. In 1913 she went out on her own, singing in Harlem clubs and marrying William “Smitty” Smith who was also a vocalist.

In 1920, Mamie Smith appeared in Maid Of Harlem. Sophie Tucker was the show’s star but, when she decided not to make it to a record date, the enterprising Perry Bradford, who was always eager to sell his songs, convinced the executives at Okeh to record Mamie Smith instead. Accompanied by a white orchestra, Smith sang “That Thing Called Love” and “You Can’t Keep A Good Man Now.” The records sold well, leading to Okeh asking for an encore. On August 10, Smith returned to the studio to record one of the songs from Maid Of Harlem, “Crazy Blues,” along with “It’s Right Here For You (If You Don’t Get It, ’Tain’t No Fault Of Mine).” Within a year, “Crazy Blues” had sold over a million copies. The blues craze was on.

Mamie Smith, the one who started it all, had a comeback but it was not on records. She had previously appeared in the lesser-known 1929 film Jailhouse Blues. After a period out of music, Smith acted and sang in four black movies: Paradise In Harlem (1939), Mystery In Swing (1940), Sunday Sinners (1941), and Murder On Lenox Avenue (1941). Mamie Smith is fairly prominent in some of these pictures, singing “Lawd Lawd” and “Harlem Blues” (the latter is really a retitled “Crazy Blues”) in Paradise In Harlem and sounding excellent while accompanied by a pianist on “I’ll Get Even With You” in Murder On Lenox Avenue.

Mamie Smith remained active until 1944. She died in New York City on October 23, 1946, at the age of 55. – Scott Yanow, with additional thanks to David McCain

In 1920 Mamie Smith’s Crazy Blues paved the way for Black Music

Mamie Smith: Always “The First Lady of the Blues”

Perry Bradford, Fred Hager, and Mamie Smith’s Crazy Blues