Crazy Blues

"Crazy Blues"
Song by Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds
Released 1920 (1920)
Genre Blues
Writer(s) Perry Bradford
Crazy Blues
Mamie Smith's performance of Perry Bradford's "Crazy Blues" in 1920, the first commercial blues recording
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"Crazy Blues" is a song written by Perry Bradford. Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds recorded it on August 10, 1920, which was released that year by Okeh Records.[1] The stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith appeared in photographs associated with the recording session, although Bradford claimed to have played piano on the recording (albeit buried in the mix). Within a month of release, it had sold 75,000 copies.[2]

Although there were many recordings made of songs with blues in the title during the previous decade, this recording is considered a landmark as the first blues record ever issued.[3] Another claimed that it was the first recording with a blues title by a black artist.[4] However, "Crazy Blues" is not actually a blues tune in that it does not follow the harmonic structure generally associated with the blues. It was ushered into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994.

The 1920 Mamie Smith version of the song was used in episode 10 of season 1 of Boardwalk Empire.[5]

References

  1. ↑ Okeh Records catalogue 4169
  2. ↑ Gioia, Ted (2008). Delta Blues. New York: W.W. Norton and Company. p. 38. ISBN 978-0-393-33750-1.
  3. ↑ "The First Blues Records (1914–1916)". Redhotjazz.com. Retrieved 2015-08-29.
  4. ↑ Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books. p. 12. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
  5. ↑ "Boardwalk Empire: S 1 EP 10: Music". HBO. 2011-11-12. Retrieved 2015-08-29.


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