Edna Hicks (October 14, 1891 or 1895 – August 16, 1925) 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 and musician. Her recorded songs include "Hard Luck Blues" and "Poor Me Blues". She also recorded "Down Hearted Blues", and "Gulf Coast Blues" on the Brunswick label in 1923.

Biography

She was born in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, Louisiana. Although most sources state that her birth name was Edna Landreaux, the daughter of Victor Landreaux and Rena Moore, researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc suggest that her birth name was Lucille Landry, the daughter of Victor Landry and Rosa Moore. She was the half-sister of

Lizzie Miles Elizabeth Mary Landreaux (March 31, 1895 – March 17, 1963), known by the stage name Lizzie Miles, was an Afro- Creole blues singer in the United States. Biography Miles was born in the Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans, Louisiana, ...

. She is believed to have moved north in her mid-

teens Adolescence () is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with the ...

. In 1910 she is listed as working as a nurse and still living at home, but on 10 June 1912, as Edna Landry, she married

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

performer and touring company manager

Will Benbow William Fuse Benbow (October 15, 1881 or 1882 – November 18, 1950) was an American vaudeville entertainer who was the manager of the Alabama Chocolate Drops touring company and "a pioneer of black vaudeville entertainment in the southern state ...

, and performed in his shows, but they separated after a few years. William Benbow
''DoctorJazz.co.uk''. Retrieved 8 March 2017 She was popular in black

in the American Midwest in the late 1910s and 1920s, appeared often in Chicago and

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

, and made recordings for seven different record labels in 1923 and 1924:

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

Vocalion Vocalion Records is an American record company and label. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pianos and organs, as Aeolian-Vocalion; the company also sold phonographs under the Vocalion name. "Aeolian" was ...

, Columbia,

Gennett Gennett (pronounced "jennett") was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s. Gennett produced some of the earliest recordings by Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Bix Beiderbecke, and Hoa ...

, Brunswick,

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

, and

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

. Her most frequent accompanist was

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musi ...

; some of her recordings featured accompaniment by

Porter Grainger Porter Grainger ( Granger; October 22, 1891 − October 30, 1948) was an American pianist, songwriter, playwright, and music publisher. Biography When Grainger was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Granger family name did not include an "i". A ...

and Lemuel Fowler. In 1916, she appeared was in a show called ''Follow Me'' at Casino Theater in New York City. She also appeared in Billy King's musical comedy ''Over the Top'', and the musical comedies ''The New American'', ''A Trip Around the World'', and ''A Derby Day in Dixie'', all in The Lafayette Theatre in New York City. In August 1925, while assisting her husband in filling their automobile's gasoline tank, she was burned after splashed gasoline was ignited by a candle she was holding. She died in a Chicago hospital two days later, on August 16. She is buried at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in

Worth, Illinois Worth is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, a suburb of Chicago. Per the 2020 census, the population was 10,970. Geography Worth is located at (41.688827, -87.792659). According to the 2010 census, Worth has a total area of , o ...

Discography

References

Bibliography

* Harris, Sheldon (1994). ''Blues Who's Who'' (Revised Ed.). New York: Da Capo Press.

External links

Edna Hicks (1895-1925)
at Red Hot Jazz Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Hicks, Edna 1890s births 1925 deaths Blues musicians from New Orleans Classic female blues singers American blues singers Paramount Records artists Gennett Records artists Columbia Records artists Ajax Records artists Singers from Louisiana 20th-century African-American women singers African-American Catholics