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.
Cell Bound Blues
Ma Rainey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Standing in the door
When I got back he said
I don't want you no more
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
Can't always tell
Your man go out from you
Stay out all day and night
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
My Daddy wrote me a letter
Said Mama please come home
When I got home last night
Found my man had gone
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
Ain't got nobody
To tell my troubles to
Lay down in my bed
And cried the whole night 'bout you
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
Oh goodbye Daddy
Daddy please tell me goodbye
If you don't want me, Daddy
Mama'll sure lay down and die
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
Hey, hey, jailer, tell me what have I done? (2)
You've got me all bound in chains, did I kill that woman's son?
All bound in prison, I'm bound in jail, (2)
Cold iron bars all around me, no one to go my bail
I've got a mother and father, livin' in a cottage by the sea, (2)
Got a sister and brother, wonder do they think of poor me?
I walked in my room, the other night
My man walked in and begin to fight
I took my gun in my right hand, said
"Hold him, folks, I don't wanta kill my man."
When I did that he hit me 'cross my head
First shot I fired, my man fell dead
The paper came out and told the news
That's why I said I got the cell bound blues
Hey, hey, jailer, I got the cell bound blues
In Cell Bound Blues, Ma Rainey sings about heartbreak and betrayal. She meets her man in the morning but when she comes back home, he tells her he doesn't want her anymore. She can't always tell if she treats her man right, but when she doesn't, her man goes out and stays out all day and night. Her daddy writes her a letter asking Mama to come home, but when she gets back, she finds out her man has already left. She laments that she has nobody to tell her troubles to and cries all night long. In desperation, she tells her daddy to say goodbye to her and that she would rather die than be left alone.
The second half of the song is sung in a call-and-response style in which the singer, who is now in jail, asks the jailer what she has done to be locked up. She is bound in chains with no one to bail her out. She thinks of her mother, father, sister and brother who live in their cottage by the sea and wonders if they are thinking of her. Then she tells the story of how she killed her man in self-defense when he began to fight her. She laments that the news has been spread around and now she has the "cell bound blues".
Line by Line Meaning
Met my man this morning
Standing in the door
When I got back he said
I don't want you no more
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
I met my man this morning, he was standing in the door. When I returned home later, he said he didn't want me anymore. I bid farewell to him, saying goodbye forever, Daddy.
Can't always tell
You treat 'em right
Your man go out from you
Stay out all day and night
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
It's difficult to know if you're treating your man right or not. They might leave you and stay out all day and night. I bid farewell to him, saying goodbye forever, Daddy.
My Daddy wrote me a letter
Said Mama please come home
When I got home last night
Found my man had gone
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
My Daddy wrote me a letter, asking me to come home. When I arrived there last night, my man was nowhere to be found. I bid farewell to him, saying goodbye forever, Daddy.
Ain't got nobody
To tell my troubles to
Lay down in my bed
And cried the whole night 'bout you
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
I don't have anyone to confide in about my problems. I lay on my bed all night and cried about you. I bid farewell to him, saying goodbye forever, Daddy.
Oh goodbye Daddy
Daddy please tell me goodbye
If you don't want me, Daddy
Mama'll sure lay down and die
Goodbye Goodbye
Daddy, Goodbye
Oh, goodbye Daddy. Please tell me goodbye. If you don't want me, Mama will surely lay down and die. I bid farewell to him, saying goodbye forever, Daddy.
Hey, hey, jailer, tell me what have I done? (2)
You've got me all bound in chains, did I kill that woman's son?
Hey, jailer! Please tell me, what have I done? You've got me bound in chains, did I kill that woman's son?
All bound in prison, I'm bound in jail, (2)
Cold iron bars all around me, no one to go my bail
I'm in prison, I'm locked up in jail. Cold iron bars surround me, and no one has posted my bail.
I've got a mother and father, livin' in a cottage by the sea, (2)
Got a sister and brother, wonder do they think of poor me?
My mother and father live in a cottage by the sea, and I have a sister and brother. I wonder if they ever think of me and my sad state.
I walked in my room, the other night
My man walked in and begin to fight
I took my gun in my right hand, said
"Hold him, folks, I don't wanta kill my man."
When I did that he hit me 'cross my head
First shot I fired, my man fell dead
I walked into my room one night, and my man started to fight with me. I picked up my gun and said, "Hold him, folks. I don't want to kill him." But he hit me across the head, and so I fired. The first shot killed him.
The paper came out and told the news
That's why I said I got the cell bound blues
Hey, hey, jailer, I got the cell bound blues
The paper came out and reported the news about me. That's why I am singing about having the cell bound blues. Hey, jailer, I've got the cell bound blues.
Writer(s): Rainey, Gertrude
Contributed by Adalyn D. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Marina Diez
Its a pity that there is no version with good audio