Madlyn Davis
Encyclopedia
Madlyn Davis was an American
classic female blues
singer. She was active as a recording artist in the late 1920s, and her best known tracks were "Kokola Blues" and "It's Red Hot". Although Davis was a contemporary of better known recording artists of the time, such as Ma Rainey
, Bessie Smith
, Clara Smith
, Mozelle Alderson, Victoria Spivey
, Sippie Wallace
, and Bertha "Chippie" Hill, little is known of the life outside of her music.
, Illinois
for Paramount Records
, with her first session taking place in June 1927. With accompaniment from the Red Hot Shakers, who likely included Cassino Simpson
on piano, Davis recorded "Worried Down with the Blues" and "Climbing Mountain Blues." "Hurry Sundown Blues" and "Landlady's Footsteps," were the next in September that year, followed by another two efforts in November. Her backing trio
now incorporated Richard M. Jones
, and "Kokola Blues" laid part of the foundations for the more famous song, "Sweet Home Chicago
." On "Kokola Blues", the refrain
stated:
In October 1928, Davis had her final recording stint, with her backing musicians including Georgia Tom Dorsey
on piano and Tampa Red
on guitar. The four songs they recorded were "Gold Tooth Mama Blues," "Death Bell Blues," "Too Black Bad," and "It's Red Hot." On the latter she was billed as Red Hot Shakin' Davis. However, her propensity to up the pace on recordings did not continue, and Davis potentially missed out on the subsequent musical developments of swing and rhythm and blues
, which may have better suited her style.
Two alternate versions of "Worried Down with the Blues", plus her "Hurry Sundown Blues," "Climbing Mountain Blues," "Landlady's Footsteps," "Winter Blues," and "Kokola Blues," were included on the compilation album
, Female Blues Singers, Vol. 5: C/D/E (1921-1928), released in 1997 by Document
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
classic female blues
Classic female blues
Classic female blues was an early form of blues music, popular in the 1920s. An amalgam of traditional folk blues and urban theater music, the style is also known as vaudeville blues. Classic blues were performed by female vocalists accompanied by pianists or small jazz ensembles, and were the...
singer. She was active as a recording artist in the late 1920s, and her best known tracks were "Kokola Blues" and "It's Red Hot". Although Davis was a contemporary of better known recording artists of the time, such as Ma Rainey
Ma Rainey
Ma Rainey 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....
, Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American blues singer.Sometimes referred to as The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s...
, Clara Smith
Clara Smith
Clara Smith was an American classic female blues singer. She was billed as the "Queen of the Moaners", although Smith actually had a lighter and sweeter voice than her contemporaries and main competitors.-Career:...
, Mozelle Alderson, Victoria Spivey
Victoria Spivey
Victoria Spivey was an American blues singer and songwriter. She is best known for her recordings of "Dope Head Blues" and "Organ Grinder Blues", and Spivey variously worked with her sister, Addie "Sweet Pease" Spivey, and with Bob Dylan, Lonnie Johnson, Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence...
, Sippie Wallace
Sippie Wallace
Sippie Wallace was an American singer-songwriter. Her early career in local tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recorded over 40 songs for Okeh Records, many written by herself or her brothers, George and Hersal Thomas...
, and Bertha "Chippie" Hill, little is known of the life outside of her music.
Career
Davis made ten recordings in ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
for Paramount Records
Paramount Records
Paramount Records was an American record label, best known for its recordings of African-American jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey and Blind Lemon Jefferson.-Early years:...
, with her first session taking place in June 1927. With accompaniment from the Red Hot Shakers, who likely included Cassino Simpson
Cassino Simpson
Wendell "Cassino" Simpson was an American jazz pianist, best known for his associations on the Chicago jazz scene....
on piano, Davis recorded "Worried Down with the Blues" and "Climbing Mountain Blues." "Hurry Sundown Blues" and "Landlady's Footsteps," were the next in September that year, followed by another two efforts in November. Her backing trio
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
now incorporated Richard M. Jones
Richard M. Jones
Richard M. Jones, born Richard Marigny Jones, was a jazz pianist, composer, band leader, and record producer. Numerous songs bear his name as author, including "Trouble in Mind"....
, and "Kokola Blues" laid part of the foundations for the more famous song, "Sweet Home Chicago
Sweet Home Chicago
"Sweet Home Chicago" is a popular blues standard in the twelve bar form. It was first recorded and is credited to have been written by Robert Johnson...
." On "Kokola Blues", the refrain
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
stated:
And it's hey, hey baby, baby don't you want to goThe other track laid down at the same session was "Winter Blues", noteworthy for Davis' worded extortation to her musicians to "swing", as they duly upped the tempo of the song.
Back to that eleven light city, back to sweet Kokomo (sic)
In October 1928, Davis had her final recording stint, with her backing musicians including Georgia Tom Dorsey
Thomas A. Dorsey
Thomas Andrew Dorsey was known as "the father of black gospel music" and was at one time so closely associated with the field that songs written in the new style were sometimes known as "dorseys." Earlier in his life he was a leading blues pianist known as Georgia Tom.As formulated by Dorsey,...
on piano and Tampa Red
Tampa Red
Tampa Red , born Hudson Woodbridge but known from childhood as Hudson Whittaker, was an American Chicago blues musician....
on guitar. The four songs they recorded were "Gold Tooth Mama Blues," "Death Bell Blues," "Too Black Bad," and "It's Red Hot." On the latter she was billed as Red Hot Shakin' Davis. However, her propensity to up the pace on recordings did not continue, and Davis potentially missed out on the subsequent musical developments of swing and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, which may have better suited her style.
Two alternate versions of "Worried Down with the Blues", plus her "Hurry Sundown Blues," "Climbing Mountain Blues," "Landlady's Footsteps," "Winter Blues," and "Kokola Blues," were included on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, Female Blues Singers, Vol. 5: C/D/E (1921-1928), released in 1997 by Document
Document Records
Document Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945...
.