Dorothea Trowbridge (born c. 1914),
first name also spelled Dorthea,
Doretha, was an American
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
singer active in
St. Louis
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
in the 1930s. A few recordings by her remain, at least one of which includes lyrics on the theme of "grinding".
Career
Trowbridge is thought to have been born in
Dublin, Georgia
Dublin is a city in Laurens County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,074. It is the county seat of Laurens County.
History
The original settlement was named after Dublin, Ireland.
Dublin, accordi ...
.
She became a singer in St. Louis in the early 1930s, and she was taken to Chicago in 1933 to record a number of songs.
One of her recording sessions was with
James "Stump" Johnson
James "Stump" Johnson (January 17, 1902 – December 5, 1969) was an American blues pianist and singer from St. Louis.
Biography
James "Stump" Johnson was the brother of Jesse Johnson, "a prominent black business man," who around 1909 had moved ...
on August 2, 1933,
during which she recorded a version of the raunchy "Steady Grinding".
It is likely that she is identical with Dorothy Baker,
who recorded the song "Steady Grinding Blues" with
Roosevelt Sykes
Roosevelt Sykes (January 31, 1906July 17, 1983) was an American blues musician, also known as "the Honeydripper".
Career
Sykes was born the son of a musician in Elmar, Arkansas. "Just a little old sawmill town", Sykes said of his birthplace. The ...
[ in 1930 and/or 1934 (Decca 7080).
She is credited for the words and music of the song "Bad Luck Blues", which she recorded in 1933; it is registered in the US ]Copyright Catalog United States copyright registrations, renewals, and other catalog entries since 1978 are published online at the United States Copyright Office website. Entries prior to 1978 are not published in the online catalog. Copyright registrations and rene ...
for January 24, 1935.
In his memoir, Henry Townsend Henry Townsend may refer to:
*Henry Townsend (Norwich) (1626–1695), early American colonist born in Norwich, Norfolk, England
*Henry Townsend (Oyster Bay) (1649–1703), American colonist born in Oyster Bay
*Henry Townsend (missionary) (1815–18 ...
recalled that she was at one time the girlfriend of pianist Roosevelt Sykes and that she got to record through Sykes, or possibly through Jesse Johnson, the brother of "Stump" Johnson; he also mentioned that in the early 1930s she was singing in many places around town, and had recorded with St. Louis pianist Pinetop Sparks
Aaron "Pinetop" Sparks (born Aaron Gant, May 22, 1910 – November 5, 1935) was an American blues pianist active in St. Louis in the early 1930s. He died in his twenties from either poisoning or exhaustion.
Career
Aaron and his twin brother, Mari ...
("Slavin' Mama Blues").Barrelhouse blues
Boogie-woogie is a genre of blues music that became popular during the late 1920s, developed in African-American communities since 1870s.Paul, Elliot, ''That Crazy American Music'' (1957), Chapter 10, p. 229. It was eventually extended from pian ...
, ''Barrelhouse women 1925-1933'' (1984). In recent scholarship, the explicit lyrics for "Steady Grinding" (and those for "Steady Grinding Blues", "grind" meaning "to copulate") have drawn attention for the statements they make about female sexuality
Human female sexuality encompasses a broad range of behaviors and processes, including female sexual identity and sexual behavior, the physiological, psychological, social, cultural, political, and spiritual or religious aspects of sexual ac ...
and empowerment among African American women of the early 20th century; among those early blueswomen scholars find "numerous open declarations of erotic desire".
Recordings
*August 2, 1933, Chicago: "Grinding Blues", with James "Stump" Johnson, Bluebird
The bluebirds are a North American group of medium-sized, mostly insectivorous or omnivorous birds in the order of Passerines in the genus ''Sialia'' of the thrush family (Turdidae). Bluebirds are one of the few thrush genera in the Americas.
...
B-5159[
*August 2, 1933, Chicago: "Slavin' Mama Blues"/"Bad Luck Blues", with Pinetop Sparks, Bluebird 5431][
*1933: "Bad Luck Blues", with Pinetop Sparks]
See also
* St. Louis blues (music)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trowbridge, Dorothea
1910s births
Year of birth uncertain
Possibly living people
American blues singers
American women singers
St. Louis blues musicians
Bluebird Records artists