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.
Jelly Bean Blues
Ma Rainey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you ever wake up with your good man on your mind
My daddy left me this morning, that's why I moan and cry
He'll make you laugh, he'll make you cry, he'll drive those blues away
You'll sit right down and weep and moan and then you'll find he's went
Lord, I been wonderin' where my jelly bean
Has gone
I can see you rider, yea, helle loo, a thousand miles away
He said:
See see rider
, today I'm goin' away, and I won't be back until you change your way
So back and easy rider, today that mean' goodbye
You did not worry me, you had no right to lie
Ma Rainey's song "Jelly Bean Blues" is a melancholic ballad about heartbreak and loss. The opening lines suggest that the singer's mind is consumed with thoughts of her lover, who has just left her that morning. The repetition of the phrase "If you ever wake up with your good man on your mind" highlights the intensity of her emotions and her inability to think of anything else. The second line reveals her reason for lamentation - her father's departure, which has left her feeling abandoned and alone. The two different sources of grief are intertwined, suggesting that the singer has been dealt a series of blows that have left her reeling and needing comfort.
Line by Line Meaning
If you ever wake up with your good man on your mind
If you find that you're constantly thinking about your man when you wake up in the morning
My daddy left me this morning, that's why I moan and cry
I'm so sad and upset because my father left me this morning
He'll make you laugh, he'll make you cry, he'll drive those blues away
This man is skilled at bringing both joy and sadness, but he knows how to chase away feelings of sadness
You'll sit right down and weep and moan and then you'll find he's went
You'll probably cry and feel down, and then you'll realize he's already left
Lord, I been wonderin' where my jelly bean
I've been worried and wondering about where my lover has gone
Has gone
He left without telling me where he was going
I can see you rider, yea, helle loo, a thousand miles away
I can visualize you, my partner, so far away from me, probably thousands of miles away
I just can't remember what my baby had to say
I can't recall what my partner said to me, I'm too preoccupied with my worries
He said: See see rider, today I'm goin' away, and I won't be back until you change your way
My lover told me that he's leaving today, and he won't return until I change the way I act
So back and easy rider, today that mean' goodbye
So, my lover is leaving now, saying 'goodbye' to me
You did not worry me, you had no right to lie
You didn't scare me or worry me as much as you could have. Also, you had no justification to lie to me
Contributed by Tyler I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@palhacinho1985
100 anos
@gabrielmendivil2914
¡Qué hermosa joya! Una reliquia está grabación. 👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿👏🏿
@jazzguy1927
You have a lot of Ma Rainey recordings on your channel. I heard her as a kid on the Riverside and Biograph lp’s and once in a great while I would find one of her Paramount 78’s in my Salvation Army store. They were gold to me.
@josesanchezjr9052
Such beautiful blues music frm the past. Rather here this then today music.🎶
@jazzguy1927
No music today has this beauty and emotion. None I have heard. I have enjoyed the records of Ma Rainey since I was a kid hearing them on Riverside and Biograph lp’s.
@DanFrechette
This music is the deepest blues ever recorded.