Title Wild women don't have the blues / Calliope Film Resources, Inc. ; director, Christine Dall ; producers, Carole van Falkenburg, Christine Dall

Published [San Francisco, California, USA] : Kanopy Streaming, 2015

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Description 1 online resource (1 video file, approximately 58 min.) : sound, color and black and white Summary The lives, times and music of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Ethel Waters and other legendary women illustrate how the blues became a vital part of American culture. Wild Women Don't Have the Blues shows how the blues were born out of the economic and social transformation of African American life early in this century. It recaptures the lives and times of Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Ethel Waters and the other legendary women who made the blues a vital part of American culture. The film brings together for the first time dozens of rare, classic renditions of the early blues. What we call the blues can be traced back to the work songs of generations of Black fieldhands. Ma Rainey, "Mother of the Blues," first put this folk idiom on stage in 1902. Others, like Ida Cox and Bessie Smith, took songs like "Downhearted Blues" and "Jailhouse Blues" on the road with traveling vaudeville and minstrel shows. The Blues performers provided cultural continuity for millions of blacks who migrated from the rural South to the industrial cities of the North during World War I. Mamie Smith broke new ground in the 1920s when she shouted out "Crazy Blues" - the first blues recording by a a black woman and one that opened up the recording industry to black artists. Bessie Smith brought black music to a national audience in the groundbreaking early "talkie" St. Louis Blues. Survivors of the blues era remind us that celebrity status offered little protection against segregation and economic exploitation. Few of these women received much financial reward from their popularity. With the Depression, American musical taste shifted towards the upbeat sounds of swing, and the classic blues died out. Yet as contemporary Chicago blues artist Koko Taylor reminds us, the blues and their legacy continue. "You get up in the morning and go to work and your boss tells you you been laid off. Your got the blues. Believe it or not, even the President's got the blues." Notes Title from title frames Credits Edited by Jeanne Jordan ; cinematography, Steven Ascher Performer Narrator, Vinie Burrows ; with: Koko Taylor, Danny Baker, Mae Barnes, Doll Thomas, Chris Albertson, Sammy Price, Ida Goodson, Blue Lu Barker Event Originally produced by California Newsreel in 1989 Notes In English Audience Senior high school through college students and adults Subject Rainey, Ma, 1886-1939. Waters, Ethel, 1896-1977. Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937. Hunter, Alberta. Cox, Ida, 1889-1967. SUBJECT Cox, Ida, 1889-1967. fast (OCoLC)fst00160607 Hunter, Alberta. fast (OCoLC)fst00064976 Rainey, Ma, 1886-1939. fast (OCoLC)fst00019370 Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937. fast (OCoLC)fst00113246 Waters, Ethel, 1896-1977. fast (OCoLC)fst00155432 Subject African American women singers -- Biography Blues (Music) African American women musicians -- Biography African Americans -- Music. Music -- 20th century. African American women musicians. African American women singers. African Americans. Blues (Music) Music. Genre/Form History. Documentary films. Biographies. Feature films. Music. Musical films. Nonfiction films. Documentary films. Feature films. Nonfiction films. Internet videos. Documentaires. Films autres que de fiction. Vidéos sur Internet. Form Streaming video Author Dall, Christine, film director, film producer. Valkenburgh, Carol Doyle Van, film producer. Burrows, Vinie, narrator. Ascher, Steven, director of photography. Taylor, Koko, performer. Berry, Charley, performer. Hunter, Alberta, performer. D'Alvarez, Marguerite, 1886-1953, performer. Smith, Trixie, 1895-1943, performer Waters, Ethel, 1896-1977, performer. Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937, performer. Smith, Mamie, performer. Smith, Clara, performer. Morris, Elida, 1886-1977, performer. Ash, Samuel, performer. Jazz Hounds, performer. Butterbeans & Susie (Musical group), performer. Birmingham Jubilee Singers, performer. Calliope Film Resources, Inc., production company. California Newsreel (Firm), film distributor. Kanopy (Firm), publisher.

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