Katie Crippen

Catherine "Katie" Crippen (November 17, 1895 – November 25, 1929), also billed as Little Katie Crippen or Ella White, was an African-American entertainer and singer.

Crippen was born in Philadelphia. She performed at Edmond's Cellar in New York City about 1920.^[1] In 1921, she recorded four sides for Black Swan Records in the classic female blues style, accompanied by Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra.^[2] She toured in 1922–23 as the star of a revue, "Liza and Her Shuffling Sextet", which included Fats Waller.^[1][3] She subsequently formed a revue, "Katie Crippen and Her Kids", in which she was accompanied by a teenaged Count Basie.^[4] In the later 1920s she appeared in revues at the Lafayette Theater in New York City and toured the RKO theater circuit with Dewey Brown as Crippen & Brown.^[1]

After a long illness, Crippen died of cancer in New York City on November 25, 1929. She is buried in Merion Memorial Park, in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia.^[1]

Crippen's complete recordings have been reissued in CD format by Document Records on Fletcher Henderson and the Blues Singers: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 1 (1921–1923) (DODC-5342).

Notes

References

• Katie Crippen at AllMusic
• Harris, Sheldon (1994). Blues Who's Who (Rev. ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-80155-8.
• Magee, Jeffrey (2005). The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-509022-5.
• Shipton, Alyn (1988). Fats Waller: His Life and Times. Universe Books. ISBN 0-87663-687-3.