Bertha Idaho

Last updated

Bertha Idaho
Also known asBertha Jordan
Bornc. 1895
Georgia, United States
DiedUnknown
Genres Classic female blues
Occupation(s)Singer
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active1920s
Labels Columbia

Bertha Idaho (born c. 1895; date of death unknown) [1] was an American classic female blues singer. [2] She recorded four songs in 1928 and 1929. Little is known of her life outside music.

Contents

Idaho's work might have remained obscure but for two factors: she was mentioned by John Fahey in the liner notes for his influential debut album, Blind Joe Death , and her recordings were reissued by Rosetta Reitz.

Career

Idaho may have been born in Georgia about 1895. [1] Her singing career commenced in the 1910s, in a traveling song and dance act with her husband, John. [3] In 1915, they appeared with the Florida Blossom Minstrels and, in Milledgeville, Georgia, performed "Jelly Roll" and "Brother Low Down". [4]

She recorded four songs: "Graveyard Love" and "You've Got the Right Eye, but You're Peeping at the Wrong Keyhole" on May 2, 1928, and "Down on Pennsylvania Avenue" and "Move It On Out of Here" on May 25, 1929, all of which were recorded in New York City. [2] [5]

Tom Delaney wrote "Down on Pennsylvania Avenue", with lyrics referring to his own bad luck: "Now if you want good lovin' and want it cheap, just drop around about the middle of the week, when the broad is broke and can't pay rent, get good lovin' boys, for 15 cents." [6] There is some dispute about whether the piano accompaniment on Idaho's recordings was by Delaney or by Clarence Williams. [7] The labels on the records state that three of the songs were composed by Delaney; Idaho is credited as the writer of "You've Got the Right Eye, but You're Peeping at the Wrong Keyhole". [8]

Her stage career was contemporary with her recordings. In 1928, she starred in Mississippi Steppers, a touring review in the vaudeville style, and the following year in Georgia Peaches, which she co-produced. [9] By 1930, she was known as Bertha Jordan and was based in Baltimore, Maryland. [1] No details of her death have been recorded.

Legacy

Fahey's album Blind Joe Death was originally released by Takoma Records in 1959, in a pressing of fewer than one hundred copies. [10] Fahey mentioned Idaho in the liner notes for the album, [2] which gained significance with later reissues. [11]

Reitz's music collections were built on old 78-rpm records of lesser-known performers, including Idaho, Valaida Snow, Georgia White, Bessie Brown, and Maggie Jones, and long-forgotten songs from better-known artists, such as Ida Cox, Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith and Mae West. Reitz's collection particularly featured classic female blues singers of the 1920s. [12] [13] She reissued early recordings on her own label, Rosetta Records. [14]

Compilation discography

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ma Rainey</span> American blues singer (1886–1939)

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was an American blues singer and influential early-blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of southern blues, influencing a generation of blues singers. Rainey was known for her powerful vocal abilities, energetic disposition, majestic phrasing, and a "moaning" style of singing. Her qualities are present and most evident in her early recordings "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sister Rosetta Tharpe</span> American gospel musician (1915–1973)

Sister Rosetta Tharpe was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. She gained popularity in the 1930s and 1940s with her gospel recordings, characterized by a unique mixture of spiritual lyrics and electric guitar. She was the first great recording star of gospel music, and was among the first gospel musicians to appeal to rhythm and blues and rock and roll audiences, later being referred to as "the original soul sister" and "the Godmother of rock and roll". She influenced early rock-and-roll musicians including Little Richard, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, and also later guitarists, such as Eric Clapton.

Mable John was an American blues vocalist and was the first female artist signed by Berry Gordy to Motown's Tamla label.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delaney & Bonnie</span> American husband and wife music duo

Delaney & Bonnie was an American duo of singer-songwriters Delaney Bramlett and Bonnie Bramlett. In 1969 and 1970, they fronted a rock/soul ensemble, Delaney & Bonnie and Friends, whose members at different times included Duane Allman, Gregg Allman, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Leon Russell, Bobby Whitlock, Dave Mason, Steve Howe, Rita Coolidge, and King Curtis.

<i>The Voice of the Turtle</i> (album) 1968 studio album by John Fahey

The Voice of the Turtle is the seventh album by American guitarist John Fahey. Recorded and released in 1968, it is considered one of his more experimental albums, combining elements of psychedelia, early blues, country fiddles, ragas, and white noise with folk music. The album had many reissues with various track listings, jacket designs and mismatched titles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertha Hill</span> American singer and dancer

Bertha "Chippie" Hill, was an American blues and vaudeville singer and dancer, best known for her recordings with Louis Armstrong.

Margaret Johnson was an American blues and early jazz vocalist and pianist.

Document Records is an independent record label, founded in Austria and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the Blues Alive Award in 2018. Document Records is the only UK-based recipient of the award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trouble in Mind (song)</span> Early blues standard written by Richard M. Jones

"Trouble in Mind" is a vaudeville blues-style song written by jazz pianist Richard M. Jones. Singer Thelma La Vizzo with Jones on piano first recorded it in 1924 and in 1926, Bertha "Chippie" Hill popularized the tune with her recording with Jones and trumpeter Louis Armstrong. The song became an early blues standard, with numerous renditions by a variety of musicians in a variety of styles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosetta Reitz</span> American jazz historian, record label owner and feminist

Rosetta Reitz was an American feminist and jazz historian who searched for and established a record label producing 18 albums of the music of the early women of jazz and the blues.

<i>Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington</i> 1964 studio album by Aretha Franklin

Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington is the fifth studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. Released on February 18, 1964, by Columbia Records, the album is a tribute dedicated to the recently deceased singer Dinah Washington. The sessions were recorded in New York. A few tunes were cut with strings in order to bring out the essential ballad character of the songs ; most of the tracks, though, were made with the assistance of a small and sympathetic accompanying group for which Mersey supplied minimal written guidance.

<i>The Yellow Princess</i> (album) 1968 studio album by John Fahey

The Yellow Princess is the ninth album by American folk musician John Fahey. Released in 1968, it was his second and last release on the Vanguard label.

<i>The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites</i> 1965 studio album by John Fahey

The Dance of Death & Other Plantation Favorites is the third album by American fingerstyle guitarist and composer John Fahey, released in 1965. The 1999 reissue contained four previously unreleased tracks.

<i>America</i> (John Fahey album) 1971 studio album by John Fahey

America is an album by American folk musician John Fahey, released in 1971. Originally intended to be a double album, it was released as a single LP. The unreleased material was subsequently restored in later CD and vinyl reissues.

<i>Of Rivers and Religion</i> 1972 studio album by John Fahey

Of Rivers and Religion is an album by American folk musician John Fahey, released in 1972. It was his first recording on a major label and is credited to John Fahey and His Orchestra. It marked a significant change from Fahey's previous releases, incorporating a backing band and performing songs and arrangements in a Dixieland jazz style. Although Time picked it as one of the Top Ten albums of 1972, it was also a difficult album to market and had little enthusiasm at Reprise.

Mattie Delaney was an American Delta blues singer and guitarist active in the 1930s. Only two recordings by her are known: "Down the Big Road Blues" and "Tallahatchie River Blues".

Joseph M. Davis was an American music producer, publisher and promoter in jazz, rhythm and blues and pop music.

Thomas Henry Delaney was an American blues and jazz songwriter, pianist and singer, who wrote a number of popular songs, mainly in the 1920s. His work was recorded by many of the more fashionable singers and musicians of the period and later times, including Lillyn Brown, Lucille Hegamin, Original Dixieland Jass Band, Ethel Waters, Earl Hines, Count Basie, Bix Beiderbecke, Big Joe Williams, Clara Smith, Alberta Hunter, Clarence Williams, James P. Johnson, Woody Herman, Bukka White, Toots Thielemans, and Dinah Washington.

Helen Gross was an American classic female blues singer, active as a recording artist in the mid-1920s. Songs she recorded include "I Wanna Jazz Some More", "Bloody Razor Blues", and "Strange Man".

Fannie May Goosby also known as Fannie Mae Goosby was an American classic female blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Ten of her recordings were released between 1923 and 1928, one of which, "Grievous Blues", she recorded twice. Goosby was one of the first female blues musicians to record her own material. She also was one of the first two blues singers to be recorded in the Deep South, the other being the dirty blues singer Lucille Bogan.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 509. ISBN   978-0313344237.
  2. 1 2 3 Chadbourne, Eugene. "Bertha Idaho: Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Bertha Idaho, 'Down on Pennsylvania Avenue'". Baltimoreorless.com. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  4. ↑ Abbott, Lynn (2007). Ragged but Right: Black Traveling Shows, Coon Songs, and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz. University Press of Mississippi. p. 298. ISBN   978-1-57806-901-9.
  5. ↑ Laird, Ross (1996). Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920–1933. Greenwood Press. p.  278. ISBN   0-313-29241-8.
  6. ↑ "Bertha Idaho: Songs". AllMusic . Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  7. ↑ Bastin, Bruce (1995). Red River Blues: The Blues Tradition in the Southeast. Illini Books. p. 47. ISBN   0-252-06521-2.
  8. ↑ "John Tefteller's Museum 78's, by Label". Bluesimages.com. Retrieved September 7, 2014.
  9. ↑ Peterson, Bernard L. (1993). A Century of Musicals in Black and White. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. p.  143 & 237. ISBN   0-313-26657-3.
  10. ↑ According to The Rolling Stone Record Guide , first edition (1979), "there were only ninety-five copies of the record available for distribution." The Guide assigned the record 5 stars out of 5.
  11. ↑ "5-Star Albums Listing" (2nd ed.). Rolling Stone Record Guide. 1983. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  12. ↑ Martin, Douglas (November 14, 2008). "Rosetta Reitz, Champion of Jazz Women, Dies at 84". The New York Times . Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  13. ↑ Sutro, Dirk (April 12, 1992). "Ladies Sing the Blues: Rosetta Reitz Single-Handedly Runs the Only Label Devoted to Keeping Alive Rare Jazz and Blues Recordings by Female Artists". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on May 25, 2011. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Rosetta Records Illustrated Discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved September 6, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Bertha Idaho: Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved September 6, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.