Mamie Smith + Her Jazz Hounds 10" 78 OKEH 1920 The Road Is Rocky st vocal BLUES

$

40

This is a rare find by Mamie Smith who cut the very first vocal blues by an African American recording artist starting in August of 1920. These two sides ( 4194 A+B ) were cut the next month on September 12, 1920. The record is firm. I see no visible cracks. It has scuffs on it. I do not have a phonograph for 78 records. I am selling it "as is".  This is a real collectors item. Please check my other 78 records as well as LPs and CDs. This record can be heard on youtube.

Mamie Smith And Her Jazz Hounds ?– The Road Is Rocky (But I Am Gonna Find My Way) / Fare Thee Honey Blues

Mamie Smith (née Robinson) (May 26, 1883 – September 16, 1946) was an American vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress, who appeared in several films late in her career. As a vaudeville singer she performed a number of styles including jazz and blues. She entered blues history by being the first African-American artist to make vocal blues recordings in 1920. Willie "The Lion" Smith (no relation) explained the background to that recording in his autobiography, Music on My Mind.

Various recording lineups of her Jazz Hounds included (from August 1920 to October 1921) Jake Green, Curtis Moseley, Garvin Bushell, Johnny Dunn, Dope Andrews, Ernest Elliot, Porter Grainger, Leroy Parker, Bob Fuller, and (June 1922-January 1923) Coleman Hawkins, Everett Robbins, Johnny Dunn, Herschel Brassfield, Herb Flemming, Buster Bailey Cutie Perkins, Joe Smith, Bubber Miley and Cecil Carpenter.[13]

While recording with her Jazz Hounds, she also recorded as "Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Band", comprising George Bell, Charles Matson, Nathan Glantz, Larry Briers, Jules Levy, Jr., Joe Samuels, together with musicians from the Jazz Hounds, including Coleman, Fuller and Carpenter.[14]

On August 10, 1920, in New York City, Smith recorded a set of songs written by the African-American songwriter Perry Bradford, including "Crazy Blues" and "It's Right Here For You (If You Don't Get It, 'Tain't No Fault of Mine)", on Okeh Records.[4] It was the first recording of vocal blues by an African-American artist,[5][6] and the record became a best seller, selling a million copies in less than a year.[7] To the surprise of record companies, large numbers of the record were purchased by African Americans, and there was a sharp increase in the popularity of race records.[8] Because of the historical significance of "Crazy Blues", it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994,[9] and, in 2005, was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress.

Although other African Americans had been recorded earlier, such as George W. Johnson in the 1890s, they were African-American artists performing music which had a substantial following with European-American audiences. The success of Smith's record prompted record companies to seek to record other female blues singers and started the era of what is now known as classic female blues.[6] It also opened up the music industry to recordings by, and for, African Americans in other genres.