Songs of Ma Rainey
"Slow Drivin' Moan"; "Moonshine Blues"
Songs
By: Ma Rainey
Date: 1923
Source: Rainey, Ma. "Slow Drivin' Moan"; "Moonshine Blues." Reprinted in Lieb, Sandra. Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey. University of Massachusetts Press, 1998, 68, 91.
About the Author: Gertrude Pridgett (1886–1939) became known as "Ma Rainey" when she married performer William "Pa" Rainey in 1904. She was born in Georgia. By fourteen, she was already singing and dancing in minstrel and vaudeville stage revues. "Ma and Pa Rainey" went on tour together, calling themselves "The Assassinators of the Blues." Ma Rainey performed solo after her split with Pa Rainey, becoming the most influential female blues singer of her day.
Introduction
"The Assassinators of the Blues" performed mostly with tent shows in the South. These were popular with both black and white...
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1900's The Arts Primary Sources
The 1900's: Primary Sources
