Customer Reviews

Crazy Blues: Best of

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It is time for Mamie Smith fans and collectors to rejoice. Columbia Legacy has released a set of the best of her performances for the label and it is perfection! The remastering makes Mamie Smith's singing totally accessable for the first time and she was a powerful and expressive singer. This lady was the first vaudeville blues singer to record and she set the stage and standard for all who would follow her. These would include Bessie, Clara, Trixie, and Laura Smith (none related) as well as Rosa Henderson, Hazel Meyers, Ethel Waters, and many others.Mamie was a great entertainer and her recordings tend to feature "showstoppers" rather than strictly mournful blues. Buy this CD for the wonderful photographs of Mamie as well as the ads, some seen for the first time since original publication.If you have the four volume complete Mamie Smith released on Document, you will still need this set for the first rate booklet notes and superior sound.
Buy it and Mamie will help you "Keep A Song In Your Soul"!

MANY NELEIVE MAMIE'S HUGE HIT CRAZY BLUES, WAS THE 1ST BLUES EVER RECORDE, ALTHOUGH TAHT IS NOT TRUE, BECAUSE MARION HARRIS WAXED SOME BLUES IN THE TEENS, THIS ARTIST STILL DESERVES CREDIT FOR PUTTING BLUES ON THE MAP AND STARTING A NATIONAL BLUES CRAZE. AFTER MAMIE'S RECORDING, EVERYONE EVEN VAUDEVILE ENTERTAINERS LIKE EDDIE CANTOR BEGAB RECORDING BLUES.

ACTUALLY THE STORY GOES, THAT A PRODUCER WANTED MISS SOPHIE TUCKER TO SING SOEM BLUES SESSIONS AND MISS TUCKER RECOMENDED TAHT MAMIE RECORD THEM INSTEAD. THANSK SOPHIE, BECAUSE WE NOW CAN CELEBRATE THSI LEGENDARY BLUES ARTIST, ALTHOUGH SHE WAS MORE A CABARET SINGER, AND AS MUCH A "WHITE" SOUNDING SINGER AND AS MUCH A VAUDEVILLIAN AS SOPHIE TUCKER, SHE SINGS THE BLUES WITH CLASS AND ELEGANCE AND PERFECT DICTION(ACTUALLY SOPHIE TUCKER SOUNDS MORE BLACK THEN MAMIE SMITH, AND TUCKERS RECORDINGS FROM THSI ERS SHOUDL NOT BE OVERLOOKED EITHER).

THIS CD IS A GOOD SAMPLER, BUT SERIOUS FANS ALREADY OWN ALL HER CD'S ON DOCUMENT RECORDINGS IN THIER COMPLETE ENTIRETY, HOWEVER THE SOUDN ON THSI DISC IS MUCH BETETR THEN THE CLASSICS, BUT TRUE FANS WILL WANT ALL THAT 78 HISSING NOICE, AND WON'T LIEK THSI CD AS MUCH AS THE DOCUMENT CD'S. NONETHELESS CASUAL BLUES FANS SHOUDL LOVE THIS GREAT RE-ISSUE, IT'S ABOUT TIME WE SEE SOME MAMIE IN STORES ON MAJOR US RELEASES!

bUY IT

aLSO BUY: SOPHIE TUCKER: LAST OF TEH RED HOT MAMAS(TAKE TWO RECORDS)