Sippie Wallace

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Sippie Wallace, 1980

Sippie Wallace (born November 1, 1898 in Houston , Texas , † November 1, 1986 ), actually Beulah Thomas , was an American blues singer and pianist.

Sippie Wallace was born into a musical family; her brothers were George W. Thomas , a pianist, band leader and composer, and Hersal Thomas , her niece was Hociel Thomas , the daughter of George. At a young age Wallace sang in church and played the organ. She later performed in tent shows.

In 1915 she moved to New Orleans and married. In 1923 she moved to Chicago , where she made her first recordings as Sippie Wallace, the Texan Nightingale ("The Texas Nightingale"). In the 1920s she was one of the most popular blues singers. Between 1923 and 1927 she recorded over 40 titles, mostly written by herself and her brothers. She has performed with such well-known musicians as Louis Armstrong , Clarence Williams and King Oliver .

In the 1930s she retired from the music business and only performed in churches in Detroit . She made new recordings in the 1940s. In 1966 she brought out the album Sippie Wallace Sings the Blues as part of the blues revival and went on tour again. Bonnie Raitt , then a student, was so impressed with the album that she went to Wallace; the two became friends and recorded the album Sippie together in 1981 , which was nominated for a Grammy in 1983 and won a Handy Award in 1984.

Sippie Wallace performed well into the 1980s. She was in Germany a. a. through its cooperation with the Boogie Woogie - pianist Axel Zwingenberger known. Zwingenberger dedicated his composition "Blues for Sippie Wallace" to her.

She died in 1986. In 1993 she was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame, and in 2003 into the Blues Hall of Fame .

Discography (selection)

  • (With C. Williams) Caldonia Blues Okeh, 1924
  • Special Delivery Blues , Okeh, 1926
  • The Flood Blues , Okeh, 1927
  • I'm a Mighty Tight Woman , Victor, 1929
  • Bedroom Blues , Mercury, 1945.
  • (With LB Montgomery and R. Sykes) Sippie Wallace Sings the Blues , Storyville, 1966
  • Sippie, Atlantic, 1982
  • Axel Zwingenberger & The Friends of Boogie Woogie Vol. 1: Sippie Wallace Vagabond, 1983
  • Axel Zwingenberger & The Friends of Boogie Woogie Vol. 3: An Evening with Sippie Wallace Vagabond, 1986
  • Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1923-1925) Document Records 1995
  • Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1925-1945) Document Records 1995

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wallace, Sippie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Thomas, Beulah (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues musician
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1898
PLACE OF BIRTH Houston , Texas
DATE OF DEATH November 1, 1986