So you had to claim your power. They started touring together, billing themselves as " Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues," joining up with many different groups, such as the Tolliver Circus and F. S. Wolcott's Rabbit Foot Minstrels. While Ma did live in Chicago in 1927, had relationships with women, and traveled with a band, all of the characters in the play — Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige), Butler (Colman Domingo), Slow Drag (Michael Potts), Toledo (Glynn Turman), Sylvester (Dusan Brown), Sturdyvant (Jonny Coyne), and Levee (Chadwick Boseman) — are fictional. Sadly, just years after her retirement began, Ma died of a heart attack on December 22, 1939. “Ma” Rainey gained immense popularity on the Southern Theater Circuit. The fact that there were any was remarkable, given the times. She eventually married again to a younger man, but his name is unknown and other details are scarce. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. At the age of eighteen, she married William “Pa” Rainey, who went on to become her manager and mentor. "Sexuality is the last thing that [matters]—Ma is a woman, and she happens to sleep with who she wants to sleep with, just like any man does. Ma Rainey was the real-life "Mother of the Blues," whose cabaret-style tent shows in the 1920s South led her to a lucrative recording career. "I had decided that Ma is her lover, her friend, her mother that she didn't have.". Though her music temporarily fell out of print when the Great Depression hit and Paramount closed down, her catalog was revived in the 1960s when the songs were picked up by Milestone and Biograph labels, per the New York Times. In 1923, Ma became one of the first Black artists signed to Paramount, and she made her first of roughly 100 recordings. Well I done learned that, and they gonna treat me the way I wanna be treated no matter how much it hurt them."). It doesn't get any better than that. Ma was still performing in the early 1930s, but after officially quitting show business in 1935, she returned to Columbus, Georgia to run two entertainment venues and participate in church activities. Though Ma Rainey's lovers aren't documented, she was arrested for hosting an orgy with female members of her chorus, according to PBS, and may have had a relationship with her protegé and fellow Blues pioneer Bessie Smith, per Billboard. Soon after, in 1904, Ma married her husband, William "Pa" Rainey. (Denzel … This content is imported from {embed-name}. Ma Rainey came to love the genre so much that she soon started performing blues songs. The True Story Of 'Mother Of The Blues' Ma Rainey, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. To depict the Black experience throughout the 20th century, August penned a play for each decade — Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was set in the 1920s, The Piano Lesson was in the '30s, and Fences (both Denzel and Viola starred in the 2016 film version of the play) was in the '50s. They would travel from town to town with the popular Rabbit Foot Minstrels (around this time, famous blues singer Bessie Smith got her start singing as one of Ma's performers). Produced by Denzel Washington and starring Viola Davis, the movie centers around real-life blues pioneer Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, on the day that she and her band record a song called "Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.". After a year packed with Mank, The Trial of the Chicago Seven and Da Five Bloods, Netflix is ending 2020 with another hit original film, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Ma was born Gertrude Pridgett in the South under Jim Crow laws to her mother, Ella, and father, Thomas. Even during the 1980s, white male performers like George Michael and Freddie Mercury struggled to come out as queer, so it was pretty revolutionary for a Black woman to be singing about queer love in the 1920s. Viola reveals her favorite Christmas song, and talks about the moment she realized she was going to be an actress, her mom inviting 40 extra people to her wedding, her new movie Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, the late great Chadwick Boseman, getting an amazing note and gifts from Oprah, her ten-year-old daughter's Christmas list, and her husband's birthday falling on December 24th. ", The actress explains that she put herself in the mindset of someone whose parents or grandparents were slaves, and who was promised a better life up north. "That they put it in my hands, the estate, and trust me. Viola Davis stars as the blues pioneer and queer icon in the film adaptation of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. She’d been a popular solo performer before she teamed with her husband William “Pa” Rainey, forming together the “Assassinators of the Blues.” In … Wait, Did 'The Masked Dancer' Reveal Cotton Candy? For instance, the song Ma is seen recording with her band, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom," was an actual number written in response to the 1920s dance craze known as the black bottom, which originated in the Southern Black community (and was reportedly named after a predominantly Black neighborhood in Detroit). Though, per The Guardian, records suggest Ma was born in Alabama in September of 1882, the singer herself often said she was born on April 26, 1886 in Columbus, Georgia. At the age of 18, she married William “Pa” Rainey, which is when she adopted the name “Ma.” And, later the couple went on to adopt a son named Danny. This content is imported from {embed-name}. Three of Ma's hundreds of songs contain references to her bisexuality. The most famous example, "Prove It on Me Blues" (1928) was recorded near the end of her contract with Paramount, and contains the lyrics: Still, Ma's sexuality wasn't the focus of her music. Postal Service commemorative stamp in 1994. She was inducted into both the Blues Hall of Fame in 1983 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1990, and honored with a U.S. Per Rolling Stone, Ma is hailed as a queer icon for being so open about her attraction to both men and women in her songs, though she never publicly identified as bisexual. The couple adopted a son named Danny. You certainly never saw it in any other part of American culture. Who Was Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey's Protégé? Inspired by the performer, she allegedly started singing the same song as an encore at her own shows. In 1916, Rainey separated from her husband and toured her band … Ma Rainey may not have been the first woman to sing the blues, but she might as well have. In 1904, Rainey married the comedian, dancer and vocalist Will Rainey, and they toured as a duo with a variety of minstrel troupes, billing themselves as Ma and Pa Rainey. Where Is Tiger Woods' Ex-Wife Elin Nordegren Now? She was a popular solo performer before teaming up with her husband William “Pa” Rainey to form the “Blues Assassin”. Over their marital years, both husband and wife traveled together in minstrel shows. In 1904, she married comedian, dancer, and singer Will Rainey; together they toured the South with a variety of minstrel groups, billing themselves as Ma and Pa Rainey. ... Ma Rainey … Ma separated from Pa in 1916 and went on to have her own successful solo career, playing with greats like Louis Armstrong and releasing her first record with Paramount Records in 1923. "There was no one person that I picked to really [base her character off of]," Taylour tells Women's Health. Her legacy as an LGBTQ pioneer also continues to be celebrated. "For me, it's just like there are an infinite amount of ways to be a woman and none of the ways make you less than the other, just because it's different than some heteronormative consciousness," Taylour says. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, a movie adaptation of August Wilson's play starring Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman, came to Netflix on December 18.; Set in 1920s Chicago, the play follows a day in the life of Ma Rainey, a blues singer, and her band. ", Why the Mayo Clinic Diet Is One of 2021's Best, 7 Major Reasons You Should Try Dry January. She began her career as a performer at a talent show in Columbus, Georgia, when she was about 12 to 14 years old. Why Sharing Chores Really Matters in a Relationship, Kit Harington And Rose Leslie's Relationship Story, Gabrielle Union And Dwyane Wade’s Relationship. "You're banging on a door, and it's going to lead to something, and you finally get what you think is a key to a door, and you open the door and you're trapped in a closet," she describes. A member of the First African Baptist Church, she began performing in black minstrel shows. I asked for Ma and August Wilson's blessing, and I just asked for all the powers of the universe to come into me to lend myself to the story—because it's not about me. She is also rumoured to have had relationships with women including Smith. "But in terms of Dussie, I actually just reached from the bottom of me—personalizing someone who wants to be loved, validated, seen, wants to find a way out, wants to be around exciting people and energy and spontaneity.". Her sturdy, tough vocals wiped away any memory of other blues singers. That said, there are some real historical elements highlighted in the play. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom is actually one of several works included in August's American Century Cycle collection. Together, as “Ma and Pa Rainey,” the couple travelled around Georgia, performing and making a name for their act. While Ma Rainey was married to William, her lyrics were heavy on lesbian content. ", Instead, to create the character of Dussie Mae, Taylour says, "I just zoomed in on Ma and her world and what it would be like to be Black in America in 1920. Although Viola worried she wouldn't be able to sing well enough to play the iconic "Mother of Blues," after reading the script she knew she had to get involved. Women's Health may earn commission from the links on this page, but we only feature products we believe in. Danny joined their act as well. She was with her first husband, Will Rainey, for at least 10 years before separating, according … Her performances thrilled audiences, putting her on the path to become one of the early blues greats. (One scene shows Ma refusing to sing unless the producers buy her a Coca-Cola. Does Height Really Matter in Relationships? Inside Viola Davis's Marriage to Julius Tennon, This content is created and maintained by a third party, and imported onto this page to help users provide their email addresses. In the 1920s, there was a real risk of being arrested and jailed for homosexuality, and even this year, there's been a disconcerting rise in hate crimes against LGBTQ people, according to the Human Rights Campaign. The New York Times reports that the duo eventually became known as "Ma and Pa Rainey, the Assassinators of the Blues." Around the same time, Sandra R. Lieb published a book about Ma's life titled Mother of the Blues: A Study of Ma Rainey. Women's Health participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites. After this, The Guardian reports that Paramount ended up canceling her recording contract "because her style of blues was no longer deemed fashionable.". You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Ma Rainey and her husband formed their own group with the name Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues. Reflecting on Ma Rainey's personal life, she was a married woman. She married again to a younger man, but there are very few details about his name or who he was. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom will stream on Netflix later this month. Netflix's new film, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom—based on August Wilson's play of the same name (and the playwright's first Broadway hit)— follows the "Mother of Blues" and her band in during a recording session on one sweltering Chicago afternoon. One of Ma's songs, "Prove It on Me Blues" (recorded in 1928) is believed to be a proclamation of her sexual identity: "If you were a Black woman, if you waited around for somebody to acknowledge your power, it was never going to happen. Rainey is believed to have remarried, though little is known about her second husband. In the film, Ma Rainey (a striking Viola Davis) is gathered with her band by her manager to record some of her most popular tracks for distribution. Whatever you heard before, it was not the blues—because no one else sang the blues like Ma Rainey. And when somebody lives outside the rules, it becomes very clear what the rules are," director George C. Wolfe told The New York Times. On February 2, 1904, Pridgett married comedy songster William "Pa" Rainey. "I don’t want to overplay the significance of the three songs that Ma Rainey wrote and recorded that had some references to lesbianism and homosexuality," Robert Philipson, who directed the 2011 documentary, T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s, told Collector's Weekly. "That’s a handful out of hundreds and hundreds of blues songs that were recorded. You may be able to find more information about this and similar content at piano.io. In his play, August made sure to celebrate Ma's sexuality (including her rumored relationships with her female dancers and with Bessie Smith) with the inclusion of the fictional character Dussie Mae, portrayed by Taylour Paige in the Netflix movie. Throughout her career, Ma Rainey recorded over 90 albums. Ma Rainey net worth before her death was around $2 million. ", The excellently-cast ensemble film largely centers on the struggle for power between Ma Rainey's blues band and the white record producers who profit from her music. ), "I think one of the reasons that August was drawn to her is [that] she lived outside the rules. What The Heck Is Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy? "We're going to do one a year for the next nine years. She formed the Alabama Fun Makers Company with her husband, Will Rainey, but in 1906 they both joined Pat Chappelle's much larger and more popular Rabbit's Foot Company, in which they were billed together as "Black Face Song and Da… To Dussie Mae, Ma represents the possibility of being successful as a Black woman. But there's a dark side to Ma's rise in the music industry—her inability to read meant that white managers took advantage of her. In 2004, her hit "See See Rider" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame and added to the Library of Congress National Recording Registry. That's good enough for me. 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