Maggie Jones (blues musician)

Maggie Jones (c. 1900—unknown) was an American blues singer and pianist, who recorded thirty-eight songs between 1923 and 1926. She was billed as "The Texas Nightingale".^[1] Jones is best remembered for her songs "Single Woman's Blues", "Undertaker's Blues", and "Northbound Blues".^[2]

Biography

She was born Fae Barnes in Hillsboro, Texas.^[2] Her year of birth is most regularly cited as 1900, although this has not been proven. She relocated to New York in 1922, where she performed in local nightclubs. She appeared at the Princess Theater in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1922, and toured the TOBA theater circuit until ca. 1926.^[3]

Her debut recording session was on July 26, 1923, for Black Swan Records, where she became the first singer from Texas to record a side. Her recording career saw Jones appear on several record labels including Black Swan, Victor, Pathé and Paramount, although the bulk of her work was released by Columbia. On Black Swan and Paramount she was billed as Fae (or Faye) Barnes; on Pathé and Columbia she recorded as Maggie Jones. It is unknown whether marriage played any part in her name change.^[4]

Over a three-year period, her accompaniment was variously supplied by notables such as Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, Charlie Green, and Elmer Snowden. Jones is especially noted for her six sides on which she was backed by Fletcher Henderson and Louis Armstrong; author Derrick Stewart-Baxter singled out "Good Time Flat Blues" as "her masterpiece".^[5] With Fletcher Henderson and Charlie Green she recorded "North Bound Blues", which contained trenchant references to the South's Jim Crow laws that are unusual for a classic female blues singer.^[5] In 1925, Jones recorded four songs written by Tom Delaney, including the track "If I Lose, Let Me Lose (Mamma Don't Mind)".^[6] By October 3, 1926, Jones had cut her final disc. In 1927, she performed with the Clarence Muse Vaudeville Company and sang in Hall Johnson's choir, at the Roxy Theater in New York City.^[3]

In 1928–1929, Jones appeared with Bill Robinson in the Broadway production of Lew Leslie's revue, Blackbirds of 1928, which toured the US and Canada.^[3] She often worked outside the music industry, including co-owning a clothes store in New York. By the early 1930s Jones moved on to Dallas, Texas, and ran her own revue troupe which performed in Fort Worth, Texas. In 1934, she appeared in the All American Cabaret in Fort Worth. She subsequently disappeared from the public eye.^[1][2]

Her total recording output is available on Maggie Jones, Vol. 1 (1923-1925) and Maggie Jones & Gladys Bentley: Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (May 1925-June 1926)/Gladys Bentley (1928-1929).

See also

• List of blues musicians
• Classic female blues

Notes

References

• Virginia L. Grattan, American Women Songwriters: A Biographical Dictionary (Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1993).
• Sheldon Harris, Blues Who's Who (New Rochelle, New York: Arlington House, 1979).
• Sheldon Harris, Blues Who's Who (Revised Ed.). (New York: Da Capo Press, 1994). ISBN 0-306-80155-8
• Colin Larkin, ed., The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (New York: Guinness, 1998).
• Derrick Stewart-Baxter, Ma Rainey and the classic blues singers (London: Studio Vista, 1970). OCLC 250212516
• John Wilby, Maggie Jones: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order. Volume 1: 1923–1925. Document Records DOCD-5348 (CD booklet, 1995).

External links

• "Barnes, Fae (Maggie Jones)" at the Handbook of Texas Online
• Book review mentioning some of Jones work
• The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide By Scott Yanow