Mattie Dorsey 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 ...

and

country blues Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...

singer. She recorded four sides 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 ...

in mid-1927, and had a career in vaudeville in the 1910s and 1920s. Little is known of her life outside of the entertainment business.

Biography

No details appear to exist regarding her early life. It has been recorded that Mattie Dorsey had been active in black

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 ...

since 1910, perhaps earlier. There is some evidence that Dorsey was originally part of the

Whitman Sisters The Whitman Sisters were four African-American sisters who were stars of Black Vaudeville. They ran their own performing touring company for over forty years from 1900 to 1943, becoming the longest-running and best-paid act on the T.O.B.A. circu ...

act, although she left them in 1910. She retained the Whitman surname for publicity purposes for several more years. In 1919,

Pinetop Smith Clarence Smith (June 11, 1904 – March 15, 1929), better known as Pinetop Smith or Pine Top Smith, was an American boogie-woogie style blues pianist. His hit tune "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" featured rhythmic "breaks" that were an essential i ...

appeared alongside "Mattie Dorsey's Big Four" at a show in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. Another then stalwart of the black entertainment scene was the pianist Troy C(alvin) Snapp. He was an early accompanist of

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 ...

. From 1926 to 1929, he led the Whitman Sisters Musical Comedy Road Show. He also backed Dorsey on her four sides recorded in 1927. Those four tracks were released as two singles, for

, although details of her later life are unknown. "Oh Wasn't It Nice" and "Mattie Blues" were recorded at Marsh Laboratories, in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, around August, 1927. Mattie Dorsey, again with piano accompaniment from Troy Snapp supplied a two further tracks the next month – also released by Paramount – "Stingaree Blues" and "Love Me Daddy Blues". Her lengthy tenure in the business in 1927 saw her advertised as "an old time star". This is partly explained by the fact that Dorsey earned a living in the mid-1920s as a male impersonator. In addition, she was mentioned in the publication, ''The New Paramount Book of the Blues'' by Alex van der Turk, published by Agram Blues Books (2017).

Discography

Singles

Compilation albums

References

External links