Madlyn Davis was an American

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 ...

singer, active as a recording artist in the late 1920s. Among her best-known tracks are "Kokola Blues" and "It's Red Hot". She was a contemporary of better-known recording artists, such as

Ma Rainey Gertrude "Ma" Rainey ( Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of s ...

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and ...

Clara Smith Clara Smith (March 13, 1894 – February 2, 1935) was an American classic female blues singer, billed as the "Queen of the Moaners", although she had a lighter and sweeter voice than many of her contemporaries. Clara Smith was not related to ...

Mozelle Alderson Mozelle Alderson (November 20, 1904 – February 15, 1994) was an American classic female blues singer. She recorded a small number of tracks for Black Patti Records in 1927 and for Brunswick Records In 1930. Her most regular pianist was Judson ...

Victoria Spivey Victoria Regina Spivey (October 15, 1906 – October 3, 1976), sometimes known as Queen Victoria, was an American blues singer and songwriter. During a recording career that spanned 40 years, from 1926 to the mid-1960s, she worked with Louis A ...

Sippie Wallace Sippie Wallace (born Beulah Belle Thomas, November 1, 1898 – November 1, 1986) 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 recor ...

, and

Bertha "Chippie" Hill Bertha "Chippie" Hill (March 15, 1905 – May 7, 1950), was an American blues and vaudeville singer and dancer, best known for her recordings with Louis Armstrong. Career Hill was born in Charleston, South Carolina, one of sixteen children ...

. Little is known of her life outside music.

Career

Davis made ten recordings in Chicago for

Paramount Records Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Early years Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...

. Her first session took place in June 1927. With accompaniment from the Red Hot Shakers, who likely included Cassino Simpson on piano, Davis recorded "Worried Down with the Blues" and "Climbing Mountain Blues." She recorded "Hurry Sundown Blues" and "Landlady's Footsteps" in September of that year, followed by another two songs in November. Her backing trio now included

Richard M. Jones Richard M. Jones, born Richard Marigny Jones (sometimes written Richard Mariney Jones), (June 13, 1892 – December 8, 1945) was an American jazz pianist, composer, band leader, and record producer. Numerous songs bear his name as author, includi ...

, and "Kokola Blues" laid part of the foundations for the more famous song "

Sweet Home Chicago "Sweet Home Chicago" is a blues standard first recorded by Robert Johnson in 1936. Although he is often credited as the songwriter, several songs have been identified as precedents. The song has become a popular anthem for the city of Chicago de ...

." The refrain of "Kokola Blues" includes these lyrics:

And it's hey, hey baby, baby don't you want to go
Back to that eleven light city, back to sweet Kokomo ic/blockquote> The other track recorded at the same session was "Winter Blues", noteworthy for Davis's spoken exhortation to her musicians to "swing", as they duly increased the tempo of the song. In October 1928, Davis had her final recording session, with backing by
Georgia Tom Dorsey Thomas Andrew Dorsey (July 1, 1899 – January 23, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and Christian evangelist influential in the development of early blues and 20th-century gospel music. He penned 3,000 songs, a third of them gospel, i ...
on piano and
Tampa Red Hudson Whittaker (born Hudson Woodbridge; January 8, 1903March 19, 1981), known as Tampa Red, was a Chicago blues musician. His distinctive single-string slide guitar style, songwriting and bottleneck technique influenced other Chicago blues gui ...
on guitar. They recorded four songs: "Gold Tooth Mama Blues," "Death Bell Blues," "Too Black Bad," and "It's Red Hot." On the latter she was billed as Red Hot Shakin' Davis. However, her propensity to speed up the tempo on recordings did not continue, and she missed out on the subsequent development of
swing Swing or swinging may refer to: Apparatus * Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth * Pendulum, an object that swings * Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus * Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse * Swing rid ...
and
rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...
, which may have better suited her style. Two alternate versions of "Worried Down with the Blues" plus her "Hurry Sundown Blues," "Climbing Mountain Blues," "Landlady's Footsteps," "Winter Blues," and "Kokola Blues" were included on the
compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...
''Female Blues Singers, Vol. 5: C/D/E (1921–1928)'', released in 1997 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 ...
.

See also
*
List of classic female blues singers The following is a list of classic female blues singers. A * Mozelle Alderson * Ora Alexander B * Mildred Bailey * Blue Lu Barker * Gladys Bentley * Esther Bigeou * Lucille Bogan * Ada Brown * Bessie Brown * Eliza Brown * Kitty Brown ...

References

External links

Madlyn Davis on the Skip James discography – Wirz.de
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Madlyn Place of birth missing Year of death missing Place of death missing African-American women singers American blues singers Classic female blues singers Paramount Records artists Year of birth uncertain