Mary Stafford (ca. 1895 – ca. 1938) was an American cabaret singer in the classic blues style. In January 1921, she became the first African-American woman to record for Columbia Records. She toured widely throughout the mid-Atlantic states in the 1920s and into the 1930s. She performed at the Lafayette Theater in New York City, where she appeared in Rocking Chair Revue in 1931 and Dear Old Southland in 1932. After 1932 she worked outside the music industry in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where she is thought to have died about 1938.
appeared on:
Female Blues Singers Vol. 13 R/S (1997) 1921-1931
Gertrude Saunders United States Classic female blues
Gertrude Saunders (born March 25, 1903—April 1991) was a singer, actress, comedian, and producer of musicals and vaudeville shows. Her most notable role was the original star of the groundbreaking production of Shuffle Along (1921).
appeared on:
Female Blues Singers Vol. 13 R/S (1997) 1921-1931
Evelyn Preer Vicksburg, Mississippi, U.S. Classic female blues
Evelyn Preer, born Evelyn Jarvis (July 16, 1896 – November 27, 1932), was a pioneering African-American stage and screen actress and blues singer of the 1910s through the early 1930s. Evelyn was known within the black community as "The First Lady of the Screen."
appeared on:
Female Blues Singers Vol. 12 M/O/P/Q/R (1997) 1922-1935
Bertha Idaho Georgia, United States Classic female blues
Bertha Idaho (born c. 1895; date of death unknown) was an American classic female blues singer. She recorded four songs in 1928 and 1929. Little is known of her life outside music.
appeared on:
Female Blues Singers Vol. 10 H/I/J (1997) 1923-1929
Edmonia Henderson Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States (possible) Classic female blues
Edmonia Henderson (c. 1898 or 1900 – February 17, 1947) was an African-American classic female blues singer. She was active as a recording artist in the mid-1920s, recording at least 14 songs between 1924 and 1926. She later became an evangelist. At various times, Henderson sang accompanied by Jelly Roll Morton, Tommy Ladnier, Lovie Austin, Eddie Heywood, and Johnny Dodds.
appeared on:
Female Blues Singers Vol. 9 H2 (1997) 1923-1930
Helen Gross Manhattan, New York, United States Classic female blues
Helen Gross (born Hellen R. Gross, May 1896 – unknown) was an American classic female blues singer, active as a recording artist in the mid-1920s. Songs she recorded include "I Wanna Jazz Some More", "Bloody Razor Blues", and "Strange Man".
appeared on:
Female Blues Singers Vol. 7 G/H (1997) 1922-1929
Fannie May Goosby Possibly Pinehurst, Georgia, United States Classic female blues
Fannie May Goosby (1902 – after 1934) also known as Fannie Mae Goosby was an American classic female blues singer, pianist and songwriter. She had ten songs released between 1923 and 1928, one of which, "Grievous Blues", she recorded twice. Goosby was one of the first female blues musicians to record her own material. She also was one of the first two blues singers to be recorded in the Deep South, the other being the dirty blues singer Lucille Bogan. Details of her life outside the recording studio are minimal.
appeared on:
Female Blues Singers Vol. 7 G/H (1997) 1922-1929