Classic Blue Belles Trivia Quiz

Answer: Mamie Smith

"Crazy Blues" was a massive hit by 1920's standards. It sold over 75,000 copies in its first month in an age when a large portion of Smith's audience did not own a record player. Within the year it would sell in excess of a million copies. Its historical significance in opening the doors for African-American performers was recognised with its induction into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Mamie Smith was a vaudeville singer and dancer.

It is important to understand this because the early blues recordings sounded a lot more like a mix of vaudeville and jazz than the sound that is aligned with the genre today. With a backing band, known as 'Her Jazz Hounds' she became well known throughout the United States and gained great popularity in Europe where she was billed as 'The Queen of the Blues'.

The Depression saw her fortunes change until she passed away, penniless, in New York in 1946.

Answer: Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith, who has been an inspiration to the likes of Mahalia Jackson and Janis Joplin, had an amazingly powerful voice but struggled to get work because of the deep darkness of her skin. After being rejected by three recording studios she was signed to Columbia Records with whom she recorded 160 songs and worked alongside legends such as Louis Armstrong. "Downhearted Blues" sold over 750,000 copies and helped propel Smith to being the highest paid black artist of the 1920's. Tragically, she was killed in a car crash in 1937.

Answer: Bessie Brown

Brown's career was dogged by a domineering husband. In addition she was also presented with some material to record that could be best described as dubious. Titles such as "If You Hit My Dog I'll Kick Your Cat" and "Ain't Much Good in the Best of Men Now Days" were all too prominent in Bessie's catalogue.

Her songs were heavily infused with sexual tension that either turned audiences off or took them to a happy place. In the end this may have also served to divide opinions in respect to her talent.

Her career ended in 1929.

Answer: Memphis Minnie

Minnie was a larger than life performer who literally commanded your attention when she was on stage. Female 'Classic' blues singers dominated the 1920's but they fell out of favour during the 1930's. There were many reasons for this; the onset of the Depression, a change in musical trends toward more complicated, up-tempo rhythms and males who were champions of the guitar started to steal their limelight. Minnie's star continued to shine because her talents with the six string guitar were extraordinary.

She took on and defeated legendary Chicago guitarists Big Bill Broonzy and Tampa Red in a guitar competition. She then began to fuse country music with urban blues and became one of the first blues artist to use the electric guitar, influencing, in the process, the likes of Bo Diddley and Muddy Waters.

Answer: Victoria Spivey

Victoria came from a musical family in Houston and sang in bars and nightclubs during her early teens. Despite her tender years she generally worked alone though there are mentions of her singing alongside luminaries such as Blind Lemon Jefferson. Okeh Records signed her in 1926 and under their guidance she recorded "Black Snake Blues".

She would maintain her association with the label until 1929. Unlike most of her contemporaries, the Depression did not put a dampener on Victoria's career. Instead it steered her into other directions such as films and stage shows.

She also took the opportunity to play 'Missy Roe' in King Vidor's first sound film "Hallelujah" (1929). She became the only blues singer from the 'Classic' era to set up her own label recording the likes of Sippie Wallace (herself a 'Classic' blues singer), Willie Dixon and Big Joe Turner.

Answer: Alberta Hunter

Resourceful and determined Alberta managed to work her way through some of Chicago's poorest nightspots to headline the Dreamland Ballroom in 1917. She wrote "Downhearted Blues" while working with Ink Williams at Paramount Records. Unfortunately for Alberta, Williams secretly sold the rights to the song to Columbia Records and then pocketed the royalties. Once Bessie Smith released her version of the song in 1923 Columbia found themselves with a huge hit on their hands. Hunter's career, however, continued to grow, even during the tough times of the 1930's.

She was extremely well received in Europe, particularly in London and Paris where she was treated with near reverence. Remarkably, in 1950 she gave it all away and became a nurse. She then returned to singing in the 1970's performing in Greenwich Village at a club called 'The Cookery'. Reports were leaked to the media and 'The Cookery' soon became a sold out venue.

At the age of 83 Hunter's star had risen again.

Answer: Ida Cox

In a six year period with Paramount Records Ida Cox would record over seventy tracks, including the powerful "Wild Women Don't Have the Blues" which spoke out strongly about racial equality. Cox had a powerful voice yet it still possessed a highly emotive quality that was very well suited to a blues-woman.

Her career highlight was headlining the 81 Theatre in Atlanta. She also produced her own shows and managed her tour company 'Raisin' Cain'. Unfortunately for her, the Depression slowed her output considerably until a stroke in 1944 forced her into early retirement.

Answer: Sippie Wallace

Ranked as one of the finest blues singers of her era Sippie (born Beulah Thomas) was signed to Okeh Records in 1923 and released "Up the Country Blues". This was immediately followed by "Bedroom Blues" and "I'm a Mighty Tight Woman". In 1930 she left the circuit and became a church organist in Detroit. During the mid 1960's, at the age of 68, she was coaxed back into performing by her good friend Victoria Spivey.

Here she recorded the extraordinary "Women Be Wise" which has been cited as a major influence by Bonnie Raitt.

She continued to perform well into her 80's, passing away in 1986 after suffering a severe stroke.

Answer: Ma Rainey

While she was only a teenager, Gertrude 'Ma' Rainey was already seen as a seasoned professional, performing on the minstrel and medicine show circuits. At age eighteen she married William 'Pa' Rainey, performing as the combination 'Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues'.

She too possessed a strong and emotive voice which she used with great effect in her performances. She so impressed Paramount Records who signed her in 1923 in an association that would only last for six years. However, during that period she managed to wax over 100 songs including "Moonshine Blues", "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom".

She proved to be a major influence on an up and coming young talent named Bessie Smith. A heart attack saw her passing in 1939.

She would eventually be inducted in both the Blues Foundation and the Rock and Roll Hall's of Fame.

Answer: Ethel Waters

Waters, born into a poor and violent household, made ends meet as a young girl by singing in carnivals and the black vaudeville circuit. In her own words she declared that she worked 'from nine until unconscious'. In 1925 she signed with Columbia Records where she had a hit with the song "Dinah".

The track would be voted into Grammy's Hall of Fame in 1998. Ethel infused her blues with a vaudeville influence, in a similar fashion to that of Mamie Smith, and is held in high regard for the enriched warmth she bought to blues standards such as "Heebie Jeebies", "Sweet Georgia Brown" and "(What Did I Do to Be So) Black and Blue".

In 1929 she co-wrote and released what would become her signature tune, "Am I Blue", with Pearl White and Harry Akst. Despite the blues falling out of fashion during the Depression Waters continued to find work and began to branch out into movies.

At the 1949 Academy Awards she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her performance in the film "Pinky".