Catherine "Katie" Crippen (November 17, 1895 – November 25, 1929), also billed as Little Katie Crippen or Ella White, was an American entertainer and singer.
Career
Crippen was born in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
to an
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
family. She performed at Edmond's Cellar in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
about 1920.
[Harris 1994, p. 137.] In 1921, she recorded four
side
Side or Sides may refer to:
Geometry
* Edge (geometry) of a polygon (two-dimensional shape)
* Face (geometry) of a polyhedron (three-dimensional shape)
Places
* Side (Ainis), a town of Ainis, ancient Thessaly, Greece
* Side (Caria), a town of ...
s for
Black Swan Records
Black Swan Records was an American jazz and blues record label founded in 1921 in Harlem, New York. It was the first widely distributed label to be owned, operated, and marketed to African Americans. (Broome Special Phonograph Records was the firs ...
in the
classic female blues
Classic female blues was an early form of blues music, popular in the 1920s. An amalgam of traditional folk blues and urban theater music, the style is also known as vaudeville blues. Classic blues were performed by female singers accompanied by ...
style under her name and one under the pseudonym of Ella White, accompanied by
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 ...
's Orchestra.
[Allen 1973, pp. 18, 576.] She toured in 1922–23 as the star of a revue, "Liza and Her Shuffling Sextet", which included
Fats Waller
Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...
.
She subsequently formed a revue, "Katie Crippen and Her Kids", in which she was accompanied by a teenaged
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
. She was managed by her husband and musician Lou Henry.
["Allen" 1973, p. 576]
In the later 1920s she appeared in revues at the Lafayette Theater in New York City and toured the RKO theater circuit with Dewey Brown as Crippen & Brown.
After a long illness, Crippen died of cancer in New York City on November 25, 1929. She is buried in Merion Memorial Park, in
Bala Cynwyd
Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two separa ...
,
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
, outside of
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
Crippen's complete recordings have been reissued in
CD format by
Document Records
Document Records is an independent record label, founded in Austria and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the ...
on ''Fletcher Henderson and the Blues Singers: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order Volume 1 (1921–1923)'' (DODC-5342).
Notes
References
*
Harris, Sheldon (1994). ''Blues Who's Who'' (Rev. ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. .
*Magee, Jeffrey (2005). ''The Uncrowned King of Swing: Fletcher Henderson and Big Band Jazz''. Oxford University Press. .
*Shipton, Alyn (1988). ''Fats Waller: His Life and Times''. Universe Books. .
*Allen, Walter C. (1973). ''Henderson – The Music of Fletcher Henderson and His Musicians''. Walter C. Allen. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 72-85818.
*Murray, Albert (1985). '' Good Morning Blues. The Autobiography of Count Basie as told to Alter Murray''. Primus, Donald I. Fine .
External links
*
1895 births
1929 deaths
Musicians from Philadelphia
Classic female blues singers
American blues singers
Vaudeville performers
Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
Singers from Pennsylvania
20th-century African-American women singers
{{US-singer-stub