Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (c.1886-1939) was known as the Mother of the Blues. With her full, deep throated voice and lyrics that celebrated the liberation of Black women, this musician influenced the genre of blues for generations to come.
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (c.1886-1939) was known as the Mother of the Blues. With her full, deep throated voice and lyrics that celebrated the liberation of Black women, this musician influenced the genre of blues for generations to come.
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Today’s musician was known as the Mother of the Blues. With her full, deep throated voice and lyrics that celebrated the liberation of Black women, this musician was a pioneer in her field, and influenced the genre of blues for generations to come. Let’s talk about Ma Rainey.
Ma Rainey was born Gertrude Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia in 1886 - although some sources say she may have been born in Alabama in 1882.
Gertrude’s parents were minstrel performers. Gertrude herself first performed when she was fourteen years old in a local talent show, in a piece called ‘A Bunch of Blackberries’.
Soon afterwards, Gertrude began a career traveling across the South and midwest with a variety of minstrel shows and vaudeville performance troupes. The shows were usually made up of a varied collection of short performances - skits, dance numbers, and songs. While on the road, Gertrude was introduced to Southern country blues, and she started incorporating the musical style into her performances.
In 1904, when she was 18, Gertrude married a fellow performer William Rainey - or “Pa” Rainey. They formed a double act, going by ‘Ma and Pa Rainey’. Together, they toured with many famous groups for over a decade.
Then, in 1916, the couple separated. Ma started her own show - Madame Gertrude Ma Rainey and her Georgia Smart Set. Parts of the show were traditionally vaudeville - it included jazz numbers by her band, a chorus girl performance, and comedy routines.
And then, Ma Rainey would sing. Her music was inspired by authentic, Black Southern blues. She became known for her full, strong voice, her ‘moaning’ style of singing, and the content of her lyrics. Her songs were honest depictions of Black female life. Ma, who was openly bisexual, sang about women who were were attracted to women and men. She sang about women who were defiant and independent even in the midst of sadness or heartbreak. Women who were sometimes vengeful and violent.
Angela Davis wrote that the women in Ma’s songs “explicitly celebrate their right to conduct themselves as expansively and even as undesirably as men”.
On stage, Ma wore flashy clothing and bright jewelry - sometimes even a necklace made out of real twenty dollar bills. When she opened her mouth to sing, audiences would see the gold in her teeth sparkling. Her show was a huge success, popular among Black and white audiences.
In 1923, Ma signed a recording contract with Paramount Records. In the span of five years, she recorded nearly one hundred songs, making her one of the earliest recorded blues musicians. She also was a mentor to many young musicians, like the legendary blues singer Bessie Smith, who occasionally toured with Ma and was also rumored to be her romantic partner.
But by the late 1920s, Ma’s popularity had begun to wane. Paramount dropped her from their label. In the 1930s, Paramount went bankrupt, and stopped all production on her records.
In 1935, Ma returned to Columbus, Georgia to live with her brother. She used her earnings to start two theaters in the city. Four years later, on December 22, 1939, she died at age 53 of heart failure.
Today, Ma Rainey’s story is still being remembered. In 2004, the Library of Congress added her 1924 recording of “See See Rider Blues” - which featured a young Louis Armstrong on the trumpet - to their National Recording Registry. And she was the inspiration behind August Wilson’s 1982 play Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom - and the 2021 Netflix film of the same name.