Irene Scruggs
Encyclopedia
Irene Scruggs was an American
Piedmont blues
and country blues
singer, who was also billed as Chocolate Brown and Dixie Nolan. She recorded songs such as "My Back to the Wall" and "Good Grindin", and variously worked alongside Clarence Williams, Joe "King" Oliver, Lonnie Johnson
, Little Brother Montgomery
, Albert Nicholas
, and Kid Ory
. Scruggs achieved some success but today remains largely forgotten.
, but it is believed that she was raised in St. Louis, Missouri
. Mary Lou Williams
recalled Scruggs being a singer of some standing when Williams travelled to St. Louis in vaudeville
. Scruggs was hired by the revue company, and her career there sometimes outshone her work as a recording artist and nightclub
singer. Nevertheless, Scruggs got to sing with a number of Joe "King" Oliver's bands that played in St. Louis in the mid 1920s. Scruggs was later accompanied by Blind Blake
. In her live shows her song, "Itching Heel", provided the platform for interplay between the Scruggs' singing and Blake's guitar work. "He don't do nothing but play on his old guitar," Scruggs sangs, "While I'm busting suds out in the white folks' yard."
She first recorded
in 1924, utilising Clarence Williams as her pianist on Okeh Records
. In 1926 she reignited her working association with Oliver. Two of the songs that Scruggs wrote, "Home Town Blues" and "Sorrow Valley Blues", were both recorded by Oliver. She recorded again for Okeh in 1927, this time with Lonnie Johnson
. Scruggs formed her own band in the late 1920s, and appeared regularly performing around the St. Louis area.
Using the pseudonym, Chocolate Brown, she recorded further tracks with Blind Blake, and to avoid contractual problems also appeared billed as Dixie Nolan. By the early 1930s, Little Brother Montgomery
took over as her accompanist on both recordings and touring work.
Scruggs also sang and recorded more sexually explicit material. "Good Grindin'" and "Must Get Mine in Front" (1930) were the better known examples of her dirty blues
, and some of her work appeared in The Nasty Blues, published by the Hal Leonard Corporation. Scruggs only recorded a small batch of songs, and her recording career finished around 1935. In the 1940s, Scruggs left the United States
for Europe
, first settling in Paris
, and later relocating to Germany
. In the 1950s, Scruggs undertook a number of BBC Radio
broadcasts.
It is thought that she died in Germany, although no definitive information has been unearthed.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues
Piedmont blues refers primarily to a guitar style, the Piedmont fingerstyle, which is characterized by a fingerpicking approach in which a regular, alternating thumb bass string rhythmic pattern supports a syncopated melody using the treble strings generally picked with the fore-finger,...
and country blues
Country blues
Country blues is a general term that refers to all the acoustic, mainly guitar-driven forms of the blues. It often incorporated elements of rural gospel, ragtime, hillbilly, and dixieland jazz...
singer, who was also billed as Chocolate Brown and Dixie Nolan. She recorded songs such as "My Back to the Wall" and "Good Grindin", and variously worked alongside Clarence Williams, Joe "King" Oliver, Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie Johnson
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson was an American blues and jazz singer/guitarist and songwriter who pioneered the role of jazz guitar and is recognized as the first to play single-string guitar solos...
, Little Brother Montgomery
Little Brother Montgomery
Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and blues pianist and singer....
, Albert Nicholas
Albert Nicholas
Albert Nicholas was an American jazz reed player.Nicholas's primary instrument was the clarinet, which he studied with Lorenzo Tio in his hometown of New Orleans. Late in the 1910s he played with Buddy Petit, King Oliver, and Manuel Perez...
, and Kid Ory
Kid Ory
Edward "Kid" Ory was a jazz trombonist and bandleader. He was born in Woodland Plantation near LaPlace, Louisiana.-Biography:...
. Scruggs achieved some success but today remains largely forgotten.
Biography
Scruggs originated in rural MississippiMississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, but it is believed that she was raised in St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis is an independent city on the eastern border of Missouri, United States. With a population of 319,294, it was the 58th-largest U.S. city at the 2010 U.S. Census. The Greater St...
. Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams
Mary Lou Williams was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. Williams wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements, and recorded more than one hundred records...
recalled Scruggs being a singer of some standing when Williams travelled to St. Louis in vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
. Scruggs was hired by the revue company, and her career there sometimes outshone her work as a recording artist and nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
singer. Nevertheless, Scruggs got to sing with a number of Joe "King" Oliver's bands that played in St. Louis in the mid 1920s. Scruggs was later accompanied by Blind Blake
Blind Blake
"Blind" Blake was an American blues and ragtime singer and guitarist.-Biography:...
. In her live shows her song, "Itching Heel", provided the platform for interplay between the Scruggs' singing and Blake's guitar work. "He don't do nothing but play on his old guitar," Scruggs sangs, "While I'm busting suds out in the white folks' yard."
She first recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
in 1924, utilising Clarence Williams as her pianist on Okeh Records
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
. In 1926 she reignited her working association with Oliver. Two of the songs that Scruggs wrote, "Home Town Blues" and "Sorrow Valley Blues", were both recorded by Oliver. She recorded again for Okeh in 1927, this time with Lonnie Johnson
Lonnie Johnson
Alonzo "Lonnie" Johnson was an American blues and jazz singer/guitarist and songwriter who pioneered the role of jazz guitar and is recognized as the first to play single-string guitar solos...
. Scruggs formed her own band in the late 1920s, and appeared regularly performing around the St. Louis area.
Using the pseudonym, Chocolate Brown, she recorded further tracks with Blind Blake, and to avoid contractual problems also appeared billed as Dixie Nolan. By the early 1930s, Little Brother Montgomery
Little Brother Montgomery
Eurreal Wilford "Little Brother" Montgomery was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and blues pianist and singer....
took over as her accompanist on both recordings and touring work.
Scruggs also sang and recorded more sexually explicit material. "Good Grindin'" and "Must Get Mine in Front" (1930) were the better known examples of her dirty blues
Dirty blues
Dirty blues encompasses forms of blues music that deal with topics that are sometimes considered taboo in society, including sexual metaphors and/or references to drug use of some kind. Due to the sometimes graphic subject matter, such music was often banned from radio and only available on a jukebox...
, and some of her work appeared in The Nasty Blues, published by the Hal Leonard Corporation. Scruggs only recorded a small batch of songs, and her recording career finished around 1935. In the 1940s, Scruggs left the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, first settling in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and later relocating to Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. In the 1950s, Scruggs undertook a number of BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
broadcasts.
It is thought that she died in Germany, although no definitive information has been unearthed.