Chapter 02 of 5
The Blues Queens
The women who made the first blues records, and sold them by the hundred thousand.
- The Record
Crazy Blues
In 1920 a singer from Cincinnati, Mamie Smith, recorded "Crazy Blues" for OKeh Records in New York.
- The First
A breakthrough
It was the first blues recording by a Black singer. Record companies had assumed Black audiences wouldn't buy records.
- The Surprise
They were wrong
"Crazy Blues" sold in huge numbers, reportedly around 75,000 copies in its first month.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
Why was Mamie Smith's "Crazy Blues" (1920) important?
🎸 How the Blues Built Rock
- 01Born in the DeltaHow work songs, field hollers and a few bent notes became the blues.
- 02The Blues QueensThe women who made the first blues records, and sold them by the hundred thousand.
- 03The Crossroads LegendRobert Johnson: 29 songs, a mysterious death and a deal with the devil.
- 04Going Electric in ChicagoThe Great Migration, Muddy Waters and the record label that made the blues loud.
- 05The Blues Comes HomeHow British bands sold the blues back to America, and what they owed.