Sippie Wallace
Sippie Wallace | |
---|---|
Sippie Wallace (born Beulah Belle Thomas, November 1, 1898 – November 1, 1986)[3] was an American blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Her early career in tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recorded over 40 songs for Okeh Records, many written by her or her brothers, George and Hersal Thomas.[4] Her accompanists included Louis Armstrong, Johnny Dodds, Sidney Bechet, King Oliver, and Clarence Williams. Among the top female blues vocalists of her era, Wallace ranked with Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, and Bessie Smith.
In the 1930s, she left show business to become a church organist, singer, and choir director in
Early life
Wallace was born in the Delta lowlands of
When she was a child her family moved to Houston, Texas.[7] In her youth she sang and played the piano in Shiloh Baptist Church, where her father was a deacon, but in the evenings she and her siblings took to sneaking out to tent shows. By the time she was in her mid-teens, they were playing in those tent shows. Performing in various Texas shows, she built a solid following as a spirited blues singer.[citation needed]
In 1915, Wallace moved to
Career
Wallace followed her brothers to
Wallace moved to
For some 40 years, Wallace was a singer and organist at the Leland Baptist Church in Detroit. Mercury Records reissued "Bedroom Blues" in 1945. Aside from an occasional performance or recording date, she did little in the blues until she launched a comeback in 1966, after her longtime friend Victoria Spivey coaxed her out of retirement, and Wallace toured on the folk and blues festival circuit.[10]
Wallace recorded an album, Women Be Wise, on October 31, 1966, in
Wallace contributed to
She appeared at the
With the German boogie-woogie pianist Axel Zwingenberger she recorded a studio album, Axel Zwingenberger and the Friends of Boogie Woogie, Vol. 1: Sippie Wallace, in 1983 (released in 1984), which included many of her own groundbreaking compositions and other classic blues songs. In 1984 she traveled to Germany to tour with Zwingenberger, where they also recorded her only complete live album, An Evening with Sippie Wallace, for Vagabond Records.
Death
In March 1986, following a concert at the Burghausen Jazz Festival in Germany, Wallace suffered a severe stroke and was hospitalized. She returned to the United States and died on her 88th birthday, at Sinai Hospital in Detroit.[19] She is buried at Trinity Cemetery, in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.[20]
Documentary
In 1986, Rhapsody Films and producer Roberta Grossman released the documentary Sippie Wallace: Blues Singer and Song Writer, in which Wallace is shown in concert footage, interviews, and photographs, with historic rare recordings.[21]
Discography
Albums
Year | Title | Genre | Label |
---|---|---|---|
1966 | Women Be Wise | Blues | Alligator |
1966 | Sings the Blues | Blues | Storyville |
1970 | Sippie Wallace and Victoria Spivey | Blues | Spivey |
1982 | Sippie | Blues | Atlantic |
1995 | Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 1, 1923–1925; vol. 2, 1925–1945 | Blues | Document |
78 RPM singles - Okeh Records
8106A | "Shorty George Blues" | 1923 |
8106B | "Up the Country Blues" | 1923 |
8144A | "Underworld Blues" | 1924 |
8144B | "Caldonia Blues" | 1924 |
8159A | "Can Anybody Take Sweet Mama's Place?" | 1924 |
8159B | "Stranger's Blues" | 1924 |
8168A | "Leaving Me, Daddy Is Hard to Do" | 1924 |
8168B | "Mama's Gone Goodbye" | 1924 |
8177A | "Wicked Monday Morning Blues" | 1924 |
8177B | "Sud Busting Blues" | 1924 |
8190A | "He's the Cause of Me Being Blue" | 1924 |
8190B | "Let My Man Alone Blues" | 1924 |
8197A | "Off and On Blues" | 1924 |
8197B | "I'm So Glad I'm Brownskin" | 1924 |
8205A | "Morning Dove Blues" | 1925 |
8205B | "Every Dog Has His Day" | 1925 |
8206A | "Walkin Talkin Blues" | 1924 |
8206B | "Devil Dance Blues" | 1925 |
8212A | "Baby I Can't Use You No More" | 1924 |
8212B | "Trouble Evrywhere I Roam" | 1924 |
8232A | "Section Hand Blues" | 1925 |
8232B | "Parlor Social Deluxe" | 1925 |
8243A | "Suitcase Blues" | 1925 |
8243B | "Murder's Gonna Be My Crime" | 1925 |
8251A | "The Man I Love" | 1925 |
8251B | "I'm Sorry for It Now" | 1925 |
8276A | "Advice Blues" | 1925 |
8276B | "Being Down Don't Worry Me" | 1925 |
8288A | "I'm Leaving You" | 1925 |
8288B | "I've Stopped My Man" | 1924 |
8301A | "A Man for Every Day of the Week" | 1926 |
8301B | "Jealous Woman Like Me" | 1926 |
8328A | "Special Delivery Blues" | 1926 |
8328B | "Jack of Diamond Blues" | 1926 |
8345A | "Mail Train Blues" | 1926 |
8345B | "I Feel Good" | 1926 |
8381A | "I Must Have It" | 1925 |
8381B | "Kitchen Blues" | 1926 |
8439A | "I'm a Mighty Tight Woman" | 1926 |
8439B | "Bedroom Blues" | 1926 |
8470 | "The Flood Blues" | 1927 |
8470 | "Lazy Man Blues" | 1927 |
8499 | "Have You Ever Been Down" | 1927 |
8499 | "Dead Drunk Blues" | 1927 |
References
- ^ "Sippie Wallace and Bonnie Raitt Prove That Blues Birds of a Feather Can Flock Together". People.com. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (6 June 1982). "Blues Singer: Sippie Wallace". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ISBN 0-14-100145-3.
- ^ "The Michigan Women's Hall of Fame - Virtual Gallery of Honorees". 4 June 2003. Archived from the original on 4 June 2003. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-673-1.
- ISBN 0-465-00071-1.
- ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ Santelli, Robert (2001). The Big Book of Blues. p. 486.
- ^ ISBN 0-85112-673-1.
- ISBN 978-0313344237.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ISBN 0-7864-0606-2.
- ^ "Sippie Wallace at All About Jazz". 1 September 2010. Archived from the original on 1 September 2010. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
- ^ "Late Night with David Letterman". imdb.com. 27 April 1982. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ "The Envelope". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
- ^ "Blues Foundation :: Past Handy Awards". 3 June 2004. Archived from the original on 3 June 2004. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
- ^ "Jammin' with the Blues Greats". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
- ^ "Wallace, Sippie". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2015-08-30.
- ISBN 9780313344244. Retrieved 29 December 2018 – via Google Books.
- ^ "MRC Video Tape Library". Archive.is. 20 August 2006. Archived from the original on 20 August 2006. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
- ^ "Sippie Wallace | Album Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
- ^ "Wallace, Sippie - Discography of American Historical Recordings". Adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved March 11, 2021.
External links
- Sippie Wallace (1898-1986) at Red Hot Jazz Archive, biography with audio files of some of her early recordings
- "Wallace, Beulah Tomas (Sippie)", Handbook of Texas Online
- Videos on YouTube
- Sippie Wallace at Find a Grave