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These are the first recordings of the most important woman blues vocalist of the early twentieth century. Notice that I said "first," not "best." By the time Ma Rainey got to record, other African American women had been making blues records for three years. Even though Rainey was the mother of them all, she was following in their footsteps when it came to recording. On this disc, you hear her adjusting to a brandnew medium. This is definitely worth owning if you're a hardcore fan, but if you just want to get to know Rainey, the Fantasy/Milestone selection of her later tracks is probably your best bet.

Ma Rainey was one of the greatest blues singers of all time and everyone who really loves the blues should have this CD. The sound quality is fine when you consider that it was not recorded electrically. Those of us who enjoy listening to vintage recordings get used to sound quality that is not up to current standards. I'd much rather listen to Ma Rainey than Billie Holliday or Ethel Waters. As Memphis Minnie said of Ma Rainey, "She was the best blues singer I ever heard."

Enjoyable if you want to learn what early commerically made blues sounded like. It's importantto remember this is as primitive a recording as you will hear as recording was relativitly new. Moreover, Ma Rainey was more known for her vaudevillian showmanship than her recording. I say if you buy this then buy Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters and Billie Holiday as these were the three most importnat women of jazz/blues. And you can see just how far and fast blues eveolved in a relitively short period of time.