[Dixielandjazz] Headstone for Mamie Smith

[Robert Ringwald]

Blues and jazz lovers unite to erect monument at unmarked grave of neglected blues
pioneer and Grammy winner Mamie Smith
When Mamie Smith recorded "Crazy Blues" in 1920, she broke the recording industry's
race barrier as the first African American female to sing blues on record. When "Crazy
Blues" sold an astounding 75,000 copies within a month of its release, major record
companies scouted the country for African American blues and jazz performers to record.
Thanks to Mamie's initial success, by 1926, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Louis Armstrong,
Robert Johnson, Blind Lemon Jefferson, and hundreds of others had become recording
industry stars.
With one song, Mamie had created the "race record" industry almost single handedly.
Despite great fame during her lifetime, Mamie's historical significance was never
properly acknowledged by the music industry or the public. When she died in 1946
in Harlem, her death was noted by the press, but her achievements were barely mentioned.
She was buried in unmarked cemetery ground and lay there in obscurity for 68 years
– a footnote in blues history.
To undo that injustice and commemorate her achievements, a group of blues aficionados,
musicians, and admirers led by New York blues journalist Michael Cala has joined
forces for a blues fundraiser on July 20. All proceeds will fund and maintain the
granite monument that will be unveiled at Ms. Smith's gravesite this Sept. 13. At
the same time, an Indiegogo "finishing funds" campaign has been launched to help
secure needed grounds maintenance funds for the Frederick Douglass Memorial Park,
where Ms. Smith is buried.
"This is our way of acknowledging how one woman threw open the doors so that posterity
could enjoy the thousands upon thousands of blues and jazz recordings that may never
have been made without Mamie," says Cala. The writer also notes that Mamie's recording
won a posthumous Grammy in 1994, and was selected in 2005 for permanent preservation
in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, in the so-called "National
Jukebox."
http://www.loc.gov/jukebox/recordings/detail/id/4900/
Hosted by WFDU-FM deejay and singer Nikki Armstrong, the July 20 fundraiser will
take place from 3pm to 9pm on Staten Island at Killmeyer's Old Bavaria Inn, 4254
Arthur Kill Road, Staten Island, NY 10309. The six-hour all-blues fundraiser features
some of the best known regional blues and jazz musicians including special guest
Queen Esther, and featuring Michael Hill, Rob Paparozzi, Dave Fields, Robert Ross,
Michael Packer, and other well-known blues acts. Spoken-word star Mo Beasley will
perform a tribute to Mamie Smith. Bassist/composer Pete Cummings is the event's musical
director. Contribution: $20 at the door.
For more information, go to
https://www.facebook.com/mamiespage
The live Indiegogo fundraising campaign is located at:
http://igg.me/at/mamie3


-Bob Ringwald K6YBV
www.ringwald.com
916/ 806-9551

"I always thought that record would stand until it was broken."
-- Lawrence Peter (Yogi) Berra