Lucille Bogan
Lucille Anderson Bogan, sometimes known as Bessie Jackson (born April 1, 1897 in Amory, Mississippi; died August 10, 1948 in Los Angeles, California) was one of the first female singers to record Blues music.
Though born in Mississippi, Lucille was raised in Birmingham. In 1914, she married Nazareth Lee Bogan, a railwayman, and gave birth to a son, Nazareth Jr, in either 1915 or 1916. At some point she began performing in juke joints, roadhouses and the Vaudeville circuit. In 1923, made her first recordings for Okeh Records in New York, New York with pianist Henry Callens. She recorded "Pawn Shop Blues" in Atlanta, Georgia later that year. And scored her first big hit with the release of a 1927 Paramount Recording of "Sweet Petunia". She also recorded for the Brunswick label with Tampa Red and Cow Cow Davenport.
Bogan's songs became progressively bawdier and by 1930, she was known for songs like "Sloppy Drunk Blues", "Tricks Ain't Walkin' No More", and "Black Angel Blues" with explicit references to drunkenness, prostitution and homosexuality. She relaunched her recording career, under the psuedonym "Bessie Jackson" on Banner Records in 1933. She recorded over 100 songs over the next two years, usually accompanied by pianist Walter Roland and guitarist Sonny Scott. Her most popular hits from that period included "Seaboard Blues", "Troubled Mind" and "Superstitious Blues". Her final recordings were made on March 5, 1935, including a notoriously uncensored take of "Shave 'Em Dry".
After that session, Bogan returned to Birmingham and focused on managing her son's jazz ensemble, Bogan's Birmingham Busters. Following her divorce from Nazareth Sr, Lucille married the much-younger James Spencer. She moved to Los Angeles, California in the late-1940s and died there, of coronary sclerosis, in 1948. She is buried at Lincoln Memorial Park in Compton, California.
References
- Russell, Tony (1997) The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Ltd, p. 94 ISBN 185868255X
External links
- Lucille Bogan at AllMusic.com
- Lucille Bogan music catalog
- Lucille Bogan at Find-A-Grave