She first appeared on stage in Columbus in "A Bunch of Blackberries" at the age of 14. She then joined a traveling vaudeville troupe, the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. After hearing a blues song at a theater in St. Louis sung by a local girl in 1902, she started performing in a blues style. She claimed at that time that she was the one who coined the name "blues" for the style that she specialized in. Musicians and singers who had sang and played in the style said there were no such origins and that the blues had always been. A pioneer in the style, Bunk Johnson said that in the 1880s the blues had already been developed.
She married fellow vaudeville singer William 'Pa' Rainey in 1904, changing her name to Ma Rainey. The pair toured with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels as Rainey & Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues, singing a mix of blues and popular songs. In 1912, she took the young Bessie Smith into the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, trained her, and worked with her until Smith left in 1915.
Also known, though less discussed, is the fact that she was bisexual. Rainey never shied away from her feelings in her music, as is apparent in the lyrics of "Prove It On Me":
"Went out last night with a crowd of my friends,
They must have been women, 'cause I don't like no men.
Wear my clothes just like a fan, Talk to gals just like any old man
'Cause they say I do it, ain't nobody caught me, Sure got to prove it on me."
Rainey was outspoken on women's issues and a role model for future women entertainers who took control of their own careers.
Ma Rainey was already a veteran performer with decades of touring with African-American shows in the U.S. Southern States when she made her first recordings in 1923. Rainey signed with Paramount Records and, between 1923 and 1928, she recorded 100 songs, sometimes accompanied such jazz notables as Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory, Fletcher Henderson and others. Rainey was extremely popular among southern blacks in the 1920s, but the Great Depression and changing tastes ended her career by 1933, when she retired.
Rainey died of a heart attack in 1939.
The 1982 August Wilson play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom was based on her.
Bessemer Bound Blues
Ma Rainey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Because mama's going home : singing the Bessemer blues
Apple sugar papa : how come you do me like you do
I've done everything you asked me : trying to get along with you
I went in the water : walked through ice and snow
But from now on papa : I won't be your dog no more
Electric all right and light shine nice and bright
But I'd rather be in Memphis : reading by a candle light
In Ma Rainey's Bessemer Bound Blues, the singer wakes up in the morning searching for her shoes as she is ready to go back home and sing about the Bessemer blues. As the song progresses, she questions her partner with whom she has been trying to get along for some time. She becomes even more resolute as she declares that she will never again be his dog. Ma Rainey also contrasts the electric lights and modernity with the simple life in Memphis where she would prefer to read by candlelight.
Line by Line Meaning
Woke up this morning : looking for my darn old shoes
I woke up this morning in search of my missing shoes
Because mama's going home : singing the Bessemer blues
I am heading back home, singing the Bessemer blues
Apple sugar papa : how come you do me like you do
Dear lover, why do you treat me this way?
I've done everything you asked me : trying to get along with you
I have made an effort to comply with all your wishes in the hopes of getting along with you
I went in the water : walked through ice and snow
I have gone through tough situations, braving even water and snow
But from now on papa : I won't be your dog no more
However, going forward, I refuse to be your submissive dog any longer
Electric all right and light shine nice and bright
Although electricity is convenient and bright
But I'd rather be in Memphis : reading by a candle light
I prefer to be in Memphis, reading by the soft glow of candlelight
Contributed by Brayden V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.