Smith, Mamie (Robinson)
Smith, Mamie (Robinson)
Smith, Mamie (Robinson) , blues singer; b. Cincinnati, Ohio, May 26, 1883; d. N.Y., Oct. 30, 1946. She moved to N.Y. in 1913 with a white vaudeville group, the Four Mitchells. Later she worked in the show The Smart Set and appeared at various N.Y. clubs, including Leroy’s and Barren Wilkins’s. In 1920 she became the first black blues singer to record solo; her version of “Crazy Blues” (musical director Perry Bradford) sold a million copies within six months of issue. Mamie began touring, accompanied by her Jazz Hounds. This group, originally directed by Ocey Williams, featured many jazz musicians in its fluctuating personnel: Coleman Hawkins, Joe Smith, Curtis Mosby, Amos White, etc. Her husband, William Smith, died on May 9, 1928. Smith toured regularly during the 1930s, occasionally accompanied by Fats Pichon’s Band, Andy Kirk, etc. She led her own group, the Beale Street Boys, at Town Casino, N.Y. (1936). During the late 1930s and early 1940s she appeared in several films, including Jail House Blues, Paradise in Harlem, Murder on Lenox Avenue, and Sunday Sinners. One of her last public appearances was at the Lido Ballroom, N.Y, on Aug. 19, 1944, where she took part in a benefit concert; also appearing on the same bill was Billie Holiday. Mamie suffered a long illness in the Harlem Hospital; her burial took place in the Frederick Douglass Memorial Park, Staten Island, N.Y.
—John Chilton , Who’s Who of Jazz/Lewis Porter