Sippie Wallace was born Beulah Thomas in Houston, Texas. By her teens, she was performing with other family members in New Orleans’ notorious Storyville District. After the authorities closed Storyville in 1917, Sippie went back to tent shows. She was one of the female vocalists who cashed in on recorded Blues, in the wake of Mamie Smith’s “Crazy Blues.” Signed by Smith’s label, Okey Records, Wallace soon became the company’s top-grossing singer. She not only wrote many of her songs, but she also played piano on some of her records. Like most of the Blues divas of the 1920s, Wallace stopped recording after 1929. Following a few years organizing her own tours of dance halls and gin joints, Wallace retired to a career teaching and performing church music. Ron Harwood, a 16-year old Blues researcher, brought Sippie out of retirement in 1965 and acted as her agent and manager for the next 22 years. One of those who admired–and covered–several of Wallace’s songs was Bonnie Raitt; in fact, one of those tunes, “Woman Be Wise,” became Raitt’s first major hit, and Wallace toured with Raitt between 1972 and 1985.
Don's Tunes
Now these two look like a whole heap o’trouble to me!
Source: George Lamplugh
Photo by Thomas Weschler
No comments:
Post a Comment