1920s

Ma Rainey – See See Rider (1924)

Gertrude “Ma'' Rainey has been called the “Mother of the Blues” for her tremendous influence on the wave of Blues singers that would follow in her powerful wake. Her early years as a performer were spent in minstrel shows, but she eventually struck out on her own, signing a contract with Paramount Records to record “See See Rider” alongside Louis Armstrong. Rainey’s music often alluded to themes that were deemed raunchy at the time (e.g., alcohol and bisexuality) but she was a constant presence, recording much music and operating several theaters until her death in 1939, after which her legacy faded into obscurity for decades. In 1982, August Wilson’s play, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,'' highlighted Rainey’s powerful personality and the struggles she navigated and survived. Rainey’s home  has been preserved as a museum that houses her memorabilia in Columbus, Georgia.


Bessie Smith – BackWater Blues (1927)

“BackWater Blues” is associated with the Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927, but it has been suggested that Smith wrote the song about an earlier natural disaster, as the recording pre-dates the flood. Regardless of its historical context, Smith expresses the impact the event has on African Americans, destroying their homes and uprooting them to refugee camps. It also acknowledges that this was a crucial time in which African Americans migrated north to seek a more prosperous life.


Sara Martin – Georgia Stockade Blues (1927)

The song sheds light on the practice of using prisoners and impoverished people for labor to build infrastructure, a system that has long affected the Black community. Little biographical information is available about Martin or her career or why she wrote this song that speaks to the many Black artists that were oppressed and erased from history.