- Big Maybelle
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Big Maybelle Birth name Mabel Louise Smith Born May 1, 1924 Origin Jackson, Tennessee, United States Died January 23, 1972 (aged 47)
Cleveland, Ohio, United StatesGenres R&B, Blues, Gospel Occupations Vocalist Years active 1936–1972 Labels King Records, Okeh, Savoy, Epic, Brunswick, Scepter, Chess, Port, Rojac, Encore Mabel Louise Smith (May 1, 1924 – January 23, 1972),[1] known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer and pianist. Her 1956 hit single "Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999.[2]
Contents
Biography
Born in Jackson, Tennessee, United States, Big Maybelle sang gospel as a child and by her teens had switched to rhythm and blues. She began her professional career with Dave Clark's Memphis Band in 1936, and also toured with the all female International Sweethearts of Rhythm.[3] She then joined Christine Chatman's Orchestra as pianist, and made her first recordings with Chatman in 1944, and with the Tiny Bradshaw's Orchestra from 1947 to 1950.[4]
Her debut solo recordings, as Mabel Smith, came for King Records in 1947, backed by Oran "Hot Lips" Page, but she had little initial success. However, in 1952 she was signed by Okeh Records, whose record producer Fred Mendelsohn gave her the stage name Big Maybelle.[5] Her first recording for Okeh, "Gabbin' Blues", was a number 3 hit on the Billboard R&B chart, and was followed up by both "Way Back Home" and "My Country Man" in 1953. In 1955 she recorded "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On", produced by Quincy Jones,[6] two years before Jerry Lee Lewis' version. More hits followed throughout the 1950s, mainly for Savoy Records, including "Candy" (1956), one of her biggest sellers.
She made the stage of the Apollo Theater in New York City; the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival; and she appeared in Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960), filmed at the Newport Jazz Festival, along with Mahalia Jackson and Dinah Washington.[7] After 1959 she recorded for a variety of labels but the hits largely dried up. She continued to perform in person into the early 1960s, when drug addiction and health problems took their toll on her.[3] Her last hit single was in 1967 with a cover of "96 Tears" by Question Mark & the Mysterians[8]
Big Maybelle died in a diabetic coma in 1972, in Cleveland, Ohio.[1] Her final album, Last of Big Maybelle, was released posthumously in 1973.
The album The Okeh Sessions on the Epic label, won the 1983 W. C. Handy Award, for "Vintage or Reissue Album of the Year (U.S.)."[9] In 2011, she was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame.[10]
Selected discography
Year Title Genre Label 2007 I've Got a Feelin' - OKeh & Savoy Recordings 1952-56 R&B Rev-Ola Bandstand 2004 The Choronological Big Maybelle 1944-1953 R&B Classics R&B 2001 Maybelle's Blues R&B Sony Special Product 2001 Savoy Blues Legends: Candy!(Original recording remastered) R&B Savoy Jazz 2001 Half Heaven Half Heartache: The Brunswick Recordings R&B Westside UK 1998 Very Best of Big Maybelle: That's All R&B Collectables 1996 The Last of Big Maybelle R&B Muse Records 1995 Blues, Candy and Big Maybelle R&B Savoy Jazz 1994 Maybelle Sings the Blues R&B Charly UK 1994 The Complete OKeh Sessions 1952-55 R&B Sony 1973 The Last of Big Maybelle R&B Paramount 1968 The Gospel Soul of Big Maybelle Gospel Brunswick 1967 Got a Brand New Bag R&B Rojac 1967 Gabbin' Blues R&B Encore 1966 Saga of the Good Life and Hard Times R&B Rojac 1964 The Soul of Big Maybelle R&B Scepter 1962 What More Can a Woman Do? R&B Brunswick 1958 The Blues Mammy Webster sings W.C.Handy R&B CUB/Savoy 1958 Blues, Candy and Big Maybelle R&B Savoy 1958 Big Maybelle Sings R&B Savoy 1954 Big Maybelle R&B Epic See also
- List of R&B musicians
- List of East Coast blues musicians
- List of Jump blues musicians
- New York blues
References
- ^ a b Allmusic biography
- ^ Grammy Hall of Fame Database
- ^ a b Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues - From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited. pp. 92. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
- ^ Santelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues, Penguin Books, page 40, (2001) - ISBN 0-14-100145-3
- ^ Nigel Williamson, The Rough Guide To The Blues, (2007) - ISBN 1-84353-519-X
- ^ The Story of Big Maybelle
- ^ Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960)
- ^ Larkin, Colin. The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Guinness, page 243, (1992) - ISBN 0-85112-939-0
- ^ The Blues Foundation database
- ^ http://www.blues.org/halloffame/#ref=halloffame_inductees
External links
Categories:- 1924 births
- 1972 deaths
- American blues singers
- American female singers
- Savoy Records artists
- African American singers
- People from Jackson, Tennessee
- Chess Records artists
- King Records artists
- Okeh Records artists
- Deaths from diabetes
- New York blues musicians
- Jump blues musicians
- East Coast blues musicians
- Blues Hall of Fame inductees
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