01 – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
02 – Runaway Blues
03 – Booze And Blues
04 – Prove It On Me Blues
05 – Stack O Lee Blues
06 – Chain Gang Blues
07 – Dead Drunk Blues
08 – Jealous Hearted Blues
09 – Sweet Rough Man
10 – Black Eye Blues
11 – Deep Moaning Blues
12 – Leaving This Morning
13 – Traveling Blues
14 – Sleep Talking Blues
15 – Blame It On The Blues
16 – Toad Frog Blues
17 – Farewell Daddy Blues
18 – See See Rider Blues
19 – Moonshine Blues
20 – Those All Night Long Blues
21 – Southern Blues
22 – Oh Papa Blues
23 – Ya Da Do
24 – Sissy Blues
25 – Bad Luck Blues
26 – Blues Oh Blues
27 – Titanic Man Blues
28 – Dream Blues
29 – Hear Me Talkin To You
30 – Cell Bound Blues
31 – Lucky Rock Blues
32 – Georgia Cakewalk.
33 – Big Boy Blues
34 – Counting The Blues
35 – Damper Down Blues
36 – Screech Owl Blues.
37 – Grieving Hearted Blues
38 – South Bound Blues
39 – Trust No Man.
40 – Wringing And Twisting
41 – Honey, Where You Been So Long
42 – Jelly Bean Blues
43 – Ma And Pa Poorhouse Blues
44 – Morning Hour Blues
45 – New Boll Weavil Blues.
46 – Oh My Babe Blues
47 – Slave To The Blues
48 – Soon This Morning
49 – Those Dogs Of Mine
50 – Yonder Come The Blues 

The Mother of the Blues was 38 when she finally began recording, but she'd incorporated the blues into her traveling stage shows since 1902. When she did hit the studio, the results were a high point of 1920s classic female blues. Rainey combined a husky voice with the songbook of a minstrel and a booming delivery. Her lyrics ranged from topical songs about Southern life to personal songs of loneliness and depression. Her original classic "See See Rider Blues," complete with rarely heard introduction, features jazz greats Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, and Buster Bailey, and the grim "Slave to the Blues" includes Joe Smith and Coleman Hawkins. Ragtime guitarist Blind Blake and hokum-blues duo Georgia Tom and Tampa Red also contribute. --Marc Greilsamer, Editorial Reviews

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01. Blame It on the Blues
02. Prove It on Me Blues
03. Black Bottom
04. Leaving This Morning
05. Black Eye Blues
06. See See Rider Blues
07. Hustlin' Blues
08. So Soon This Morning
09. Moonshine Blues
10. Bo Weavil Blues
11. No Easy Rider Blues
12. Big Boy Blues
13. Misery Blues
14. Travelling Blues
15. Blues Oh Blues
16. Down in the Basement
17. Toad Frog Blues
18. Stack O'lee Blues
19. Wringing and Twisting Blues
20. Yonder Comes the Blues
21. Shave 'Em Dry
22. Jealousy Blues
23. Black Cat Hoot Owl Blues
24. Ma Rainey's Mystery Blues
25. Barrel House Blues
26. Hellish Rag
27. Georgia Cake Walk

Buster Bailey 	Clarinet
Shirley Clay 	Cornet
Charlie Dixon 	Banjo
Charlie Green 	Trombone
Coleman Hawkins 	Sax (Bass)
Fletcher Henderson 	Piano
Ma Rainey 	Primary Artist, Vocals
Ike Rodgers 	Trombone
Joe "Fox" Smith 	Cornet
Tampa Red 	Kazoo, Piano 

Recorded in New York 1926 and Chicago 1927 & 1928. 

Gertrude Pridgett was born into a showbiz family that performed in minstrel shows. She first appeared onstage in 1900, singing and dancing in minstrel and vaudeville stage revues. In 1902 she married the song and dance man William "Pa" Rainey and from then on became known as Ma Rainey. The couple formed a song and dance act that included Blues and popular songs. They toured the country, but primarily the South and became a popular attraction as part of Tolliver's Circus, The Musical Extravaganza and The Rabbit Foot Minstrels, where Rainey befriended a young Bessie Smith. In the 1920s Rainey was a solo star of the T.O.B.A. vaudeville circuit. It was not until 1923 that Ma Rainey signed a recording contract with Paramount. She was billed as the "Mother of the Blues", which wasn't far off the mark. Few historians can point to any real Blues singers before Ma Rainey. She ended up recording 100 songs between 1923 and 1928 on Paramount Records. During that time she was accompanied by many noted jazz musicians such as, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Ladnier, Fletcher Henderson and Coleman Hawkins. She continued working until 1935 and retired to Columbus, Georgia. Ma had been smart with her money and managed to build and operate two theaters; she also owned her own home in Columbus. Ma Rainey died in 1939, of a heart attack. ---redhotjazz.com

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1 	Oh Papa Blues 	
2 	Black Eye Blues - Take 1 	
3 	"Ma" Rainey's Black Bottom 	
4 	Booze And Blues 	
5 	Blues Oh Blues 	
6 	Sleep Talking Blues - Take 1 	
7 	Lucky Rock Blues 	
8 	Georgia Cake Walk 	
9 	Don't Fish In My Sea 	
10 	Stack O' Lee Blues 	
11 	Shave 'Em Dry Blues 	
12 	Yonder Come The Blues - Take 1 	
13 	Screech Owl Blues 	
14 	Farewell Daddy Blues

Banjo – Charlie Dixon, Unknown Artist (7, 8)
Bass Saxophone – Coleman Hawkins 
Clarinet – Buster Bailey, Don Redman, Jimmy O'Bryant 
Clarinet [Possibly] – Artie Starks
Cornet – Joe Smith, Shirley Clay, Howard Scott, Tommy Ladnier
Drums – Kaiser Marshall, Unknown Artist (1, 12)
Guitar – Tampa Red, Unknown Artist (4, 9)
Piano – Claude Hopkins, Fletcher Henderson, Georgia Tom Dorsey, Lovie Austin, Unknown Artist (1,12)
Trombone – Charlie Green, Kid Ory
Trombone [Probably] – Al Wynn
Tuba – Unknown Artist
Twelve-String Guitar – Miles Pruitt
Vocals – Ma Rainey 

Appointed "Mother of the Blues" during her '20s heyday, singer Ma Rainey was one of the best of the many classic female blues singers of the period. An inspiration to the "Empress of the Blues," Bessie Smith, Rainey was a Georgia native who was discovered in Chicago during the early '20s. While not the possessor of a voice as powerful as Smith's, Rainey still cut a slew of strong sides featuring a fine blend of country blues intensity and jazz-band sophistication. This excellent Yazoo collection captures Rainey in her prime from 1924-1928. Backed by large combos and minimal guitar and piano tandems, Rainey shines on such highlights as "Booze and Blues," "Shave 'Em Dry," and "Lucky Rock Blues." Topped off with stellar contributions by blues and jazz luminaries like Don Redman, Coleman Hawkins, Kid Ory, and Georgia Tom Dorsey, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom makes for an excellent introduction to blues singer's small but potent catalog. ---Stephen Cook, AllMusic Review

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01.Ma Rainey - Farewell, Daddy Blues
02.Ma Rainey - Shave 'Em Dry Blues
03.Ma Rainey - Booze And Blues
04.Ma Rainey - Toad Frog Blues
05.Ma Rainey - Jealous Hearted Blues
06.Ma Rainey - See See Rider Blues
07.Ma Rainey - Jelly Bean Blues
08.Ma Rainey - Coutin' The Blues
09.Ma Rainey - Cell Bound Blues
10.Ma Rainey - Army Camp Harmony Blues
11.Ma Rainey - Explaning The Blues
12.Ma Rainey - Lousiana Hoo Doo Blues
13.Ma Rainey - Goosby Daddy Blues
14.Ma Rainey - Stormy Sea Blues
15.Ma Rainey - Rough And Tumble Blues
16.Ma Rainey - Night Time Blues

Ma Rainey, byname of Gertrude Malissa Nix Rainey, née Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett, (born April 26, 1886, Columbus, Ga., U.S.—died Dec. 22, 1939, Rome, Ga.), American singer, the “mother of the blues,” recognized as the first great black professional blues vocalist.

Gertrude Pridgett made her first public appearance about the age of 14 in a local talent show called “Bunch of Blackberries” at the Springer Opera House in her native Columbus, Georgia. Little else is known of her early years. In February 1904 she married William Rainey, a vaudeville performer known as Pa Rainey, and for several years they toured with African American minstrel groups as a song-and-dance team. In 1902, in a small Missouri town, she first heard the sort of music that was to become known as the blues.

Ma Rainey, as she was known, began singing blues songs and contributed greatly to the evolution of the form and to the growth of its popularity. In her travels she appeared with jazz and jug bands throughout the South. While with the Tolliver’s Circus and Musical Extravaganza troupe, she exerted a direct influence on young Bessie Smith. Her deep contralto voice, sometimes verging on harshness, was a powerful instrument by which to convey the pathos of her simple songs of everyday life and emotion.

In 1923 Ma Rainey made her first phonograph recordings for the Paramount company. Over a five-year span she recorded some 92 songs for Paramount—such titles as “See See Rider,” “Prove It on Me,” “Blues Oh Blues,” “Sleep Talking,” “Oh Papa Blues,” “Trust No Man,” “Slave to the Blues,” “New Boweavil Blues,” and “Slow Driving Moan”—that later became the only permanent record of one of the most influential popular musical artists of her time. She continued to sing in public into the 1930s. In 2008 a small museum opened in a house she had built in Columbus for her mother; she lived there herself from 1935 until her death. ---britannica.com

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1 	Jealous Hearted Blues 	3:10 	
2 	See See Rider Blues 	3:16 	
3 	Jelly Bean Blues 	3:10 	
4 	Countin' The Blues 	3:18 	
5 	Slave To The Blues 	2:38 	
6 	Chain Gang Blues 	3:05 	
7 	Bessemer Bound Blues 	2:44 	
8 	Wringin' And Twistin' Blues 	2:51 	
9 	Mountain Jack Blues 	2:38 	
10 	Trust No Man 	3:08 	
11 	Morning Hour Blues 	2:35 	
12 	Ma Raine's Black Bottom 	3:08 	
13 	New Boweavil Blues 	2:50 	
14 	Black Cat, Hoot Owl Blues 	2:27 	
15 	Hear Me Talking To You 	2:59 	
16 	Prove It On Me Blues 	2:41 	
17 	Victim Of The Blues 	2:32 	
18 	Sleep Talking Blues 	3:11 	
19 	Blame It On The Blues 	3:00 	
20 	Daddy, Goodbye Blues 	3:11 	
21 	Sweet Rough Man 	3:05 	
22 	Black Eye Blues 	3:09 	
23 	Leavin' This Morning 	3:06 	
24 	Runaway Blues 	2:26 	

Accompanied By – The Tub Jug Washboard Band (tracks: 20 to 24)
Banjo – Charlie Dixon (tracks: 1 to 8)
Bass Saxophone – Coleman Hawkins (tracks: 5 to 8)
Clarinet – Buster Bailey (tracks: 1 to 8)
Cornet – Howard Scott (tracks: 1), Joe Smith (tracks: 5 to A), Shirley Clay (tracks: 14 to 15, 17 to 19)
Drums – Kaiser Marshall (tracks: 4)
Guitar – Blind Blake (tracks: 11)
Guitar, Kazoo – Tampa Red (tracks: 20 to 24)
Piano – Claude Hopkins (tracks: 20 to 24), Fletcher Henderson (tracks: 1 to8), Jimmy Blythe (tracks: 17, 19),
 Lil Henderson (tracks: 18), "Georgia Tom" Dorsey (tracks: 20 to 24)
Trombone – Charlie Green (tracks: 1 to 8), Ike Rodgers (tracks: 17 to 19), Kid Ory (tracks: 13 to 16)
Trumpet – Louis Armstrong (tracks: 2 to 4)
Xylophone – Jimmy Bertrand 

Recorded October, 1924 - September, 1928

Ma Rainey wasn't the first blues singer to make records, but by all rights she probably should have been. In an era when women were the marquee names in blues, Rainey was once the most celebrated of all; the "Mother of the Blues" had been singing the music for more than 20 years before she made her recording debut (Paramount, 1923). With the advent of blues records, she became even more influential, immortalizing such songs as "See See Rider," "Bo-Weavil Blues," and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." Like the other classic blues divas, she had a repertoire of pop and minstrel songs as well as blues, but she maintained a heavier, tougher vocal delivery than the cabaret blues singers who followed. Rainey's records featured her with jug bands, guitar duos, and bluesmen such as Tampa Red and Blind Blake, in addition to the more customary horns-and-piano jazz-band accompaniment (occasionally including such luminaries as Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, and Fletcher Henderson).

Born and raised in Columbus, Georgia, Ma Rainey (born Gertrude Pridgett) began singing professionally when she was a teenager, performing with a number of minstrel and medicine shows. In 1904, she married William "Pa" Rainey and she changed her name to "Ma" Rainey. The couple performed as "Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues" and toured throughout the south, performing with several minstrel shows, circuses, and tent shows. According to legend, she gave a young Bessie Smith vocal lessons during this time. By the early '20s, Rainey had become a featured performer on the Theater Owners' Booking Association circuit. In 1923, Rainey signed a contract with Paramount Records. Although her recording career lasted only a mere six years -- her final sessions were in 1928 -- she recorded over 100 songs and many of them, including "C.C. Rider" and "Bo Weavil Blues," became genuine blues classics. During these sessions, she was supported by some of the most talented blues and jazz musicians of her era, including Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Coleman Hawkins, Buster Bailey, and Lovie Austin.

Rainey's recordings and performances were extremely popular among black audiences, particularly in the south. After reaching the height of her popularity in the late '20s, Rainey's career faded away by the early '30s as female blues singing became less popular with the blues audience. She retired from performing in 1933, settling down in her hometown of Columbus. In 1939, Rainey died of a heart attack. She left behind an immense recorded legacy, which continued to move and influence successive generations of blues, country, and rock & roll musicians. In 1983, Rainey was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame; seven years later, she was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. ---Jim O’Neal, allmusic.com

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01. Bad Luck Blues
02. Daddy Goodbye Blues
03. See See Rider		   play
04. Sleep Talking Blues
05. Yonder Come The Blues
06. Ma & Pa Poorhouse Blues
07. Jealous Hearted Blues
08. Trust No Man
09. Toad Frog Blues
10. Farewell Daddy Blues
11. Black Cat Hoot Owl
12. Morning Hour Blues
13. Dont Fish In My Sea	      play
14. Mountain Jack Blues No 1
15. Mountain Jack Blues No 3
16. Shave Em Dry
17. Big Feeling Blues
18. Little Low Mama
19. Black Eye Blues
20. Night Time Blues

Ma Rainey (vocals); 
Ma Rainey; Papa Charlie Jackson (vocals, banjo); 
George W. Williams, Martell Pettiford, Charlie Dixon (banjo); 
Herman Brown (kazoo, washboard); 
Jimmy O'Bryant (clarinet); 
Charles Harris (alto saxophone); 
Tommy Ladiner, Howard H. Scott (cornet); 
Charlie Green (trombone); 
Carl Reid (horns); 
Lovie Austin & Her Blue Serenaders, Lil Henderson, Georgia Tom Dorsey, Jimmy Blythe, Lovie Austin (piano); 
Happy Bolton (drums, chimes); 
Tampa Red, Blind Blake (guitar); 
Don Redman, Buster Bailey (clarinet); 
Coleman Hawkins (bass saxophone); 
Louis Armstrong (cornet); 
Fletcher Henderson (piano).

By no means a definitive compilation, Don't Fish in My Sea is nonetheless a fine one, offerings songs from all six of Ma Rainey's years as a recording artist -- 1923-1928 (she had been a performer for a decade before she ever recorded and continued performing six years after putting her last side on cylinder). All of these sides were recorded for Paramount and contain some of her finest moments -- an early, pre-Lucille Bogan version of "Shave 'Em Dry," "Bad Luck Blues," "Hoot Owl," and 14 more. The sound quality here is acceptable and the performances are among the most vital of the early recorded blues records by artists of either gender. This is a fine introduction to one of the 20th century's most fabled blues practitioners. ---Thom Jurek, allmusic.com

Ma Rainey (April 26, 1886 - December 22, 1939) was one of the earliest known American professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues.

She began performing at the age of 12 or 14, and recorded under the name Ma Rainey after she and Will Rainey were married in 1904. They toured with F.S. Wolcott’s Rabbit Foot Minstrels and later formed their own group called Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues. From the time of her first recording in 1923 to five years later, Ma Rainey made over 100 recordings. Some of them include, Bo-weevil Blues (1923), Moonshine Blues (1923), See See Rider (1924), Black Bottom (1927), and Soon This Morning (1927).

Ma Rainey was known for her very powerful vocal abilities, energetic disposition, majestic phrasing, and a ‘moaning’ style of singing similar to folk tradition. Though her powerful voice and disposition are not captured on her recordings, the other characteristics are present, and most evident on her early recordings, Bo-weevil Blues and Moonshine Blues. Ma Rainey also recorded with Louis Armstrong in addition to touring and recording with the Georgia Jazz Band. Ma Rainey continued to tour until 1935 when she retired to her hometown. Ma Rainey died in Rome, Georgia in 1939.

She was inducted into the Blues Foundation's Hall of Fame in 1983, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990.

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