Bertha Henderson
Bertha Henderson (* around 1900, † after 1928) was an American blues singer and songwriter .
Live and act
Henderson was active in the St. Louis area ; her first recordings were made in 1925 for Okeh ("Discouraged Blues" and "Jamboree Blues"), then in 1927 and 1928 for Paramount Records . Her accompanists included Leonard Davis , Will Ezell , Tiny Parham and Blind Blake . She also recorded in 1926 with trumpeter Ham Davis ("Jamboree"). Well-known titles were "Leavin 'Gal Blues", and the "Lead Hearted Blues" from May 1928:
- Baby, baby: I am so lonesome for you
- Can't war you off my mind: don't care what I do
- When I wake up in the morning: My hart it feels like lead
- When I go to bed at midnight: sometimes I wish I was dead
- You told me baby: Before you left my door
- Some day I'd be sorry: that I told you to go
- Lord, Lord, can't rest no place to go;
- blues is driving me crazy,
- must be reaping what I sow.
Also known from her are "Six Thirty Blues", "That Lonesome Rave", "Terrible Murder Blues" (with Blind Blake) and "Voice Throwin 'Blues". The New York Times described her singing style as "lamenting self-talk" ( slow-moan soliloquies ).
The blues singer Bertha Henderson should not be confused with the rhythm & blues and jump blues singer "Big" Bertha Henderson, who worked with Red Holloway and Sax Mallard in 1953 for Chance Records ("Rock Bertha Rock") and in 1954 for Savoy Records ("Little Daddy" / "Love Is a Crazy Thing").
Web links
- Bertha Henderson at Discogs (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Kevin Belford: Devil at the Confluence: The Pre-War Blues Music of Saint Louis Missouri . 2009, p. 77
- ^ Discography of OKeh Records, 1918–1934
- ↑ With the Leonard Davis Trio. Leonard "Ham" Davis (1905–1957) came from St. Louis; see. Dennis Owsley: City of Gabriels: The History of Jazz in St. Louis, 1895-1973 . 2006
- ↑ a b c Michael Taft: Talkin 'to Myself: Blues Lyrics, 1921-1942 . 2013, p. 228.
- ^ Steven Carl Tracy, Hot Music, Ragmentation, and the Bluing of American Literature . 2015
- ↑ Jon Michael Spencer: Blues and Evil . 1993
- ↑ Moanin 'Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920-1933
- ^ Living Blues 2001- issues 155-160 - page 61.
- ^ The Hearing Eye: Jazz & Blues Influences in African American Visual Art , edited by Graham Lock, David. 2008, p. 35
- Jump up ↑ Margo Jefferson: Critic's Notebook - Recalling the Musical Matriarchs Who Gave Birth to the Blues (1997)
- ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed August 24, 2015)
- ^ Billboard October 17, 1953
- ^ Billboard January 2, 1954
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Henderson, Bertha |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American blues musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | around 1900 |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 1928 |