Gertrude Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (Columbus, Georgia, Apr… Read Full Bio ↴Gertrude Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (Columbus, Georgia, April 26, 1886 – Columbus, Georgia, December 22, 1939), was one of the earliest known professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. She was billed as The Mother of the Blues. She did much to develop and popularize the form and was an important influence on younger blues women, such as Bessie Smith, and their careers.

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.

Bo Weavil Blues
Ma Rainey Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Hey, hey, bo-weevil, don't sing them blues no more
Hey, hey, bo-weevil, don't sing them blues no more
Bo-weevil here, bo-weevils everywhere you go

I'm a lone bo-weevil, been out a great long time
I'm a lone bo-weevil, been out a great long time
I'm gonna sing these blues to ease a bo-weevil lonesome mind

I don't want no man to put no sugar in my tea
I don't want no man to put no sugar in my tea
Some of them's so evil, I'm afraid they might poison me

I went downtown and bought me a hat
I brought it back home, I laid it on the shelf

And looked at my bed
I'm getting tired of sleeping by myself

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Ma Rainey's Bo-Weavil Blues speak to the experience of the bo-weevil, a destructive pest that plagued cotton crops in the American South in the early 20th century. The bo-weevil is personified as a lone, lonesome figure who has been out for a "great long time" and who sings the blues to ease his mind. The repetition of "bo-weevil here, bo-weevils everywhere you go" underscores the widespread impact of the pest on communities throughout the region.

The second stanza introduces a note of caution and distrust, as the bo-weevil declares, "I don't want no man to put no sugar in my tea / Some of them's so evil, I'm afraid they might poison me." This line reveals the deep-seated fear and suspicion that African Americans held towards white people at the time, especially in the context of the Jim Crow South where segregation and discrimination were rampant.

The final stanza of the song shifts the focus to the singer's personal life and desires, as she expresses a longing for companionship and intimacy. The lines "I went downtown and bought me a hat / I brought it back home, I laid it on the shelf / And looked at my bed / I'm getting tired of sleeping by myself" convey a sense of loneliness and isolation, as well as a desire for connection and love.

Line by Line Meaning

Hey, hey, bo-weevil, don't sing them blues no more
Bo-weevil, please do not sing the blues anymore

Bo-weevil here, bo-weevils everywhere you go
There are many bo-weevils across the land

I'm a lone bo-weevil, been out a great long time
I have been wandering alone for quite some time as a bo-weevil

I'm gonna sing these blues to ease a bo-weevil lonesome mind
I sing to comfort my own loneliness as a bo-weevil

I don't want no man to put no sugar in my tea
I do not want anyone to tamper with my tea

Some of them's so evil, I'm afraid they might poison me
I am concerned that some people may want to harm me

I went downtown and bought me a hat
I purchased a hat in the city

I brought it back home, I laid it on the shelf
I returned home and placed the hat on a shelf

And looked at my bed
I looked at my bed

I'm getting tired of sleeping by myself
I am growing weary of sleeping alone

Writer(s): Charley Patton, Ma Rainey

Contributed by Lauren H. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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Comments from YouTube:

Subhan Amjad

4y↑21

This song got started it all, this was one of the first major Blues hits and Blues gave birth to every major genre today, it sits at the top of the family tree of western music