Big Maybelle
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Big Maybelle | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mabel Louise Smith |
| Born | May 1, 1924 |
| Origin | Jackson, Tennessee, United States |
| Died | January 23, 1972 (aged 47) Cleveland, Ohio, United States |
| Genre(s) | R&B, Blues, Gospel |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1936 – 1972 |
| Label(s) | King Records, Okeh, Savoy, Epic, Brunswick, Scepter, Chess, Rojac, Encore |
Big Maybelle (May 1, 1924 — January 23, 1972[1]) was one of the premier R&B chanteuses of the 1950s.[1]
She was inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999, for her hit single "Candy".[2]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Born Mabel Louise Smith in Jackson, Tennessee, Big Maybelle sang gospel as a child, and by her teens had switched to rhythm and blues. She began her professional career with Dave Clark's Memphis Band in 1936, and also toured with the all female International Sweethearts of Rhythm. She then joined Christine Chatman's Orchestra as pianist, and made her first recordings with Chatman in 1944, and with the Tiny Bradshaw's Orchestra from 1947 to 1950.[3]
Her debut solo recordings, as Mabel Smith, came for King Records in 1947, backed by Oran "Hot Lips" Page, but she had little initial success. However, in 1952 she was signed by Okeh Records, whose record producer Fred Mendelsohn gave her the stage name Big Maybelle[4]. Her first recording for Okeh, "Gabbin' Blues", was a number 3 hit on the Billboard R&B chart, and was followed up by both "Way Back Home" and "My Country Man" in 1953. In 1955 she recorded "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", produced by Quincy Jones,[5] two years before Jerry Lee Lewis' version. More hits followed throughout the 1950s, mainly for Savoy Records, including "Candy" (1956), one of her biggest sellers.
She made the stage of the Apollo Theater in New York City; the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival; and she appeared in Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960), filmed at the Newport Jazz Festival, along with Mahalia Jackson and Dinah Washington.[6] After 1959 she recorded for a variety of labels but the hits largely dried up. She continued to perform in person into the early 1960s, when drug addiction and health problems took their toll on her. Her last hit single was in 1967 with a cover of "96 Tears" by Question Mark & the Mysterians[7]
Big Maybelle died in a diabetic coma in 1972, in Cleveland, Ohio.[1]
Cub Koda, the music critic wrote about Last of Big Maybelle, her last album released in 1973; "may be late in her career recordings, but make no mistake about it, this is Big Maybelle still singing her heart out on each and every track. Moving effortlessly between rockers, R&B ballads, pop lightweights, Hank Williams country, and the blues, Big Maybelle's voice inhabits this material with a warmth and husk that most female singers today can only hit at. Not the place to start, but a good place to end up".[8]
The album's songs include "See See Rider", "Big Sweet Daddy", "Cold, Cold, Heart", "Long Long Journey", "My Mother's Eyes", "What A Difference A Day Makes", "The Masquerade Is Over", "Maybelle Sings The Blues" and "This Bitter Earth".
Another album produced after her death, The Okeh Sessions - Big Maybelle on the Epic label, won the 1983 W. C. Handy Award, for "Vintage or Reissue Album of the Year (U.S.)"[9]
[edit] Selected discography
| Year | Title | Genre | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | I've Got a Feelin' - OKeh & Savoy Recordings 1952-56 | R&B | Rev-Ola Bandstand | |
| 1973 | The Last of Big Maybelle | R&B | Savory | |
| 1968 | The Gospel Soul of Big Maybelle | Gospel | Brunswick | |
| 1967 | Got a Brand New Bag | R&B | Rojac | |
| 1967 | Gabbin' Blues | R&B | Encore | |
| 1966 | Saga of the Good Life and Hard Times | R&B | Rojac | |
| 1964 | The Soul of Big Maybelle | R&B | Scepter | |
| 1962 | What More Can a Woman Do? | R&B | Brunswick | |
| 1958 | Blues, Candy and Big Maybelle | R&B | Savoy | |
| 1958 | Big Maybelle Sings | R&B | Savoy | |
| 1954 | Big Maybelle | R&B | Epic |
[edit] See also
- List of R&B musicians
- List of East Coast blues musicians
- List of East Coast blues musicians
- List of Jump blues musicians
- New York blues
[edit] References
- ^ a b c All Music Guide biography
- ^ Grammy Hall of Fame Database
- ^ Santelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues, Penguin Books, page 40, (2001) - ISBN 0141001453
- ^ Nigel Williamson, The Rough Guide To The Blues, (2007) - ISBN 1-84353-519-X
- ^ The Story of Big Maybelle
- ^ Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960)
- ^ Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, page 243, (1992) - ISBN 0851129390
- ^ Bogdanov, Vladimir. All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues, Backbeat Books, page 43, (2003) - ISBN 0879307366
- ^ The Blues Foundation database
