Artist Lounge: Ma Rainey
Moggers' favorites by Ma Rainey
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Gertrude Pridgett had a voice not easily forgotten. A giant of the early blues, Ma Rainey's voice could be heard, amplified or not. A controversial figure in her day, she "mentored" a young Bessie Smith, (rumors of an "affair" circulated as Ma never hid her sexual preferences.) and others, and she was instrumental in bringing the blues into the urban sensibilities via vaudville & minstrel shows. She could be as bawdy as Lucille Bogan, as intense as Son House, or as sul... MORE







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