Esther Bigeou
Esther Bigeou (c.1892 – November 15, 1936)[1] was an American vaudeville and blues singer. Billed as "The Girl with the Million Dollar Smile", she was one of the classic female blues singers popular in the 1920s.
Biography
She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana around 1892. Several members of her extended family were musicians; the drummer
Legacy
The blues writer Chris Smith said that Bigeou was "a singer at the pop end of African-American entertainment" and that she "seems to have retired, aged only 35, to settle in New Orleans, where reports indicate that she died circa 1936".[4]
All of her recordings were reissued in 1996 by Document Records on Esther Bigeou: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order (1921–1923) (DODC-5489).
Recordings
Recorded in New York City for Okeh Records in October–November 1921:
- "The Memphis Blues"
- "The St. Louis Blues"
- "Stingaree Blues (A Down Home Blues)"
- "Nervous Blues"
- "If That's What You Want Here It Is"
Recorded in New York City for Okeh Records in March 1923:
- "Agrravatin' Papa (Don't You Try To Two-Time Me)
- "Four O'Clock Blues"
- "I'm Through With You (As I Can Be)"
- "Beale Street Mama"
- "Outside Of That, He's All Right With Me"
- "The Gulf Coast Blues"
- "Beale Street Blues"
- "The Hesitating Blues"
Recorded in New York City for Okeh Records in December 1923:
- "That Twa-Twa Tune"
- "Panama Limited Blues"
- "You Ain't Treatin' Me Right"
- "West Indies Blues"[5]
References
- ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ^ ISBN 0-306-80155-8.
- ^ Wintz, Cary D.; Paul Finkelman, Paul, eds. 2004. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: K–Y. Taylor & Francis. p. 793.
- ^ Esther Bigeou: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order (1921–1923). CD booklet. Document Records DODC-5489.
- ISBN 9780902391031.
External links
- Esther Bigeou Discography and photographs at Red Hot Jazz Archive