She was born Victoria Regina Spivey in Houston, Texas, United States, the daughter of Grant and Addie (Smith) Spivey. Her father was a part-time musician and a flagman for the railroad; her mother was a nurse. Her sisters were Addie "Sweet Peas" Spivey (1910–1943), also a singer and musician, who recorded for several major record labels between 1929 and 1937, and Elton Island Spivey (1900–1971), who also followed a professional singing career as The Za Zu Girl.
Spivey's first professional experience was in a family string band led by her father in Houston. After Grant Spivey died, the seven-year-old Victoria played on her own at local parties and, in 1918, was hired to accompany films at the Lincoln Theater in Dallas. As a teenager, she worked in local bars, nightclubs, and buffet flats, mostly alone, but occasionally with singer-guitarists such as Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1926, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she was signed by Okeh Records. Her first recording, "Black Snake Blues", did well, and her association with the record label continued. She made numerous Okeh sides in New York until 1929, then switched to the RCA Victor label. Between 1931 and 1937, more recordings followed on the Vocalion and Decca labels, and, working out of New York, she maintained an active performance schedule. Spivey's recorded accompanists included King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, and Red Allen. She recorded many of her own songs, which dwelt on disease, crime and outré sexual images.
The Depression did not put an end to Spivey's musical career; she found a new outlet for her talent in the year of the crash, when film director King Vidor cast her to play "Missy Rose" in his first sound film, Hallelujah! (1929). Through the 1930s and 1940s, Spivey continued to work in musical films and stage shows, often with her husband, vaudeville dancer Billy Adams, including the Hellzapoppin' Revue.
In 1951, Spivey retired from show business to play the pipe organ and lead a church choir, but she returned to secular music in 1961, when she was reunited with an old singing partner, Lonnie Johnson, to appear on four tracks on his Prestige Bluesville album, Idle Hours. The folk music revival of the 1960s gave her further opportunities to make at least a semblance of a comeback. She recorded again for Prestige Bluesville, sharing an album Songs We Taught Your Mother with fellow veterans Alberta Hunter and Lucille Hegamin and began making personal appearances at festivals and clubs.
In 1962, Spivey and jazz historian Len Kunstadt launched Spivey Records, a low-budget label dedicated to blues and related music. They recorded prolifically such performers as Sippie Wallace, Lucille Hegamin, Otis Rush, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Turner, Buddy Tate and Hannah Sylvester, as well as newer artists including Luther Johnson, Brenda Bell, Washboard Doc, Bill Dicey, Robert Ross, Sugar Blue, Paul Oscher, Danny Russo and Larry Johnson.
In March 1962, Bob Dylan contributed harmonica and back-up vocals, accompanying Victoria Spivey and Big Joe Williams on a recording for Spivey Records. The recordings were released on Three Kings And The Queen (Spivey LP 1004) and Kings And The Queen Volume Two (Spivey LP 1014). (Dylan was listed under his own name on the record covers.) In 1964 Spivey made her only recording with an all-white band: the Connecticut based Easy Riders Jazz Band, led by trombonist Big Bill Bissonnette. It was released first on an LP and later re-released on compact disc.
Spivey married four times; her husbands included Ruben Floyd and Billy Adams.
Victoria Spivey died in New York on October 3, 1976, at the age of 69, from an internal haemorrhage.
Christmas Morning Blues
Victoria Spivey Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I woke up Christmas morning, went out to get my morning's mail
A letter sent from Georgia, the postmark said Atlanta Jail
In a mean old jailhouse 'cause he broke them Georgia laws
In a mean old jailhouse 'cause he broke them Georgia laws
New Year he won't be here, 'cause death will be his Santa Claus
My man's so deep in trouble the white folks couldn't get him free
He stole a hog the charge was murder in the first degree
I never had a Christmas with trouble like this before
I Ain't never had a Christmas with trouble like this before
Sleigh bells is my death bells, and hard luck's knocking at my door
Next Christmas I won't be here to get this bad bunch of news
I won't be here to get this bunch of bad news
Just mark on my tombstone, "Died with the Christmas Morning Blues"
The song "Christmas Morning Blues" by Victoria Spivey tells the tragic story of a woman who receives a letter on Christmas morning from her incarcerated lover who is in Atlanta Jail for breaking Georgia's laws. He is facing death as punishment for his crime. The woman laments how her man is deep in trouble and how the white folks couldn't get him free. He was charged with murder in the first degree for stealing a hog. She expresses her sadness at never having a Christmas with trouble like this before, and how the sleigh bells seem to symbolize death rather than joy. She concludes by saying she won't be around next Christmas to receive such bad news, and that the Christmas morning blues may well be the last song she ever hears.
The lyrics convey a strong sense of melancholy and despair at the injustice faced by the black community during segregation. The woman's lover is incarcerated for a petty crime and is facing disproportionate punishment. The lyrics highlight the difficult reality of many African Americans during that time. The song is a reminder of the struggles and hardships that people endured and how music often served as an escape from their painful realities.
Line by Line Meaning
I woke up Christmas morning, went out to get my morning's mail
On Christmas morning, Victoria set out to collect her mail
A letter sent from Georgia, the postmark said Atlanta Jail
The letter she received had been mailed from a jail in Atlanta, Georgia
In a mean old jailhouse 'cause he broke them Georgia laws
The person who wrote the letter is in jail because he violated state laws in Georgia
New Year he won't be here, 'cause death will be his Santa Claus
The person will not live to see the next year, as death is imminent
My man's so deep in trouble the white folks couldn't get him free
Victoria's loved one is in such deep trouble that even the intervention of white people could not secure his release
He stole a hog the charge was murder in the first degree
The person was charged with murder, despite the fact that he only stole a hog
I Ain't never had a Christmas with trouble like this before
Victoria has never experienced a Christmas that has been marred by trouble to this degree
Sleigh bells is my death bells, and hard luck's knocking at my door
Rather than the joyful sound of sleigh bells, Victoria feels that they herald her impending death, and that her circumstances are only going to get worse
I won't be here to get this bunch of bad news
Victoria is resigned to the fact that she will not be around to receive any further troubling news
Just mark on my tombstone, "Died with the Christmas Morning Blues"
Victoria anticipates that her death will be preceded by the deep sadness she feels on this Christmas morning
Contributed by Madison Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@1969mets
...with the great Lonnie Johnson on serious blues guitar
@richiehaggerty9113
Tune!!
@TheSpikehere
I love this. Thanks for posting it.
@Spiritree41
Beautiful...
@kevinmoody4151
Greatness now to find the lyrics...
@johnsutcliffe1293
Christmas morning blues Victoria Spivey
A
I woke up Christmas morning, went out to get my morning's mail
D A
I woke up Christmas morning, went out to get my morning's mail
E A
A letter sent from Georgia, the postmark said Atlanta Jail
In a mean old jailhouse 'cause he broke them Georgia laws
In a mean old jailhouse 'cause he broke them Georgia laws
New Year he won't be here, 'cause death will be his Santa Claus
My man's so deep in trouble the white folks couldn't get him free
My man's so deep in trouble the white folks couldn't get him free
He stole a hog the charge was murder in the first degree
I never had a Christmas with trouble like this before
I Ain't never had a Christmas with trouble like this before
Sleigh bells is my death bells, and hard luck's knocking at my door
Next Christmas I won't be here to get this bad bunch of news
I won't be here to get this bunch of bad news
Just mark on my tombstone, "Died with the Christmas Morning Blues"