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.

Louisiana Hoo Doo Blues
Ma Rainey Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Going to the Louisiana bottom to get me a hoodoo hand
Going to the Louisiana bottom to get me a hoodoo hand
Gotta stop these women from taking my man

Down in Algiers where the hoodoos live in their den
Down in Algiers where the hoodoos live in their den
Their chief occupation is separating women from men

The hoodoo told me to get me a black cat bone
The hoodoo told me to get me a black cat bone
And shake it over their heads, they'll leave your man alone

Twenty years in the bottom, that ain't long to stay
Twenty years in the bottom, that ain't long to stay
If I can keep these tush-hog women from taking my man away

So I'm bound for New Orleans, down in goofer dust land

So I'm bound for New Orleans, down in goofer dust land
Down where the hoodoo folks can fix it for you with your man

Overall Meaning

In the song Louisiana Hoo Doo Blues, Ma Rainey speaks about her journey to the Louisiana bottom, where she plans to get herself a hoodoo hand to stop women from taking her man away. Hoodoo, also known as rootwork, is a form of African American spiritual practice that uses natural ingredients such as roots, herbs, and stones to cast spells and perform rituals. The Louisiana bottom, mentioned in the first verse, refers to the swampy and marshy area in southern Louisiana where many people practiced hoodoo during the early 20th century.

The second verse talks about Algiers, a neighborhood of New Orleans that was known for its hoodoo practitioners. The hoodoos are described as having the chief occupation of separating women from men, suggesting that they're often sought out by women who want to break up romantic relationships. Ma Rainey reveals that a hoodoo told her to get a black cat bone and shake it over the heads of the women who are trying to take her man away. The black cat bone was a common ingredient in hoodoo spells, believed to bring good luck, protection, and the ability to control others.

In the last verse, Ma Rainey talks about spending twenty years in the bottom and her determination to keep her man. She plans to head to New Orleans, where the "hoodoo folks can fix it for you with your man." This line emphasizes the significance of hoodoo in African American culture and how it was used to solve problems and achieve desired outcomes.

Line by Line Meaning

Going to the Louisiana bottom to get me a hoodoo hand
I'm headed to Louisiana to get a magical hoodoo charm to protect my man

Gotta stop these women from taking my man
I need to prevent these other women from stealing my partner away

Down in Algiers where the hoodoos live in their den
In Algiers, there are practitioners of magic called hoodoos

Their chief occupation is separating women from men
The hoodoo's main focus is to break couples apart, particularly separating women from their men

The hoodoo told me to get me a black cat bone
The hoodoo instructed me to get a black cat bone to use as a charm against those trying to take my man

And shake it over their heads, they'll leave your man alone
If I shake the black cat bone over the heads of those trying to interfere, they'll be scared off and won't pursue my man

Twenty years in the bottom, that ain't long to stay
Coping with danger for twenty years in Louisiana is not really that long

If I can keep these tush-hog women from taking my man away
As long as I'm able to prevent these greedy women from getting my man, I'll be alright

So I'm bound for New Orleans, down in goofer dust land
I'm headed to New Orleans, which is known as goofer dust land, where magic such as hoodoo is prevalent

Down where the hoodoo folks can fix it for you with your man
I'll be in the place where hoodoo practitioners can help me keep my man with me and keep those other women away

Contributed by Adeline N. Suggest a correction in the comments below.

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