Nearly a century after Ma Rainey helped define the sound, language and attitude of recorded blues, there are still a few unheard gems out there. Like this previously unreleased alternate take of “Oh Papa Blues,” recorded in 1927. It’s one of 118 tracks on Mother Of The Blues: The Complete Paramount Recordings, 1923-1928, a definitive new five-CD collection from the Black Swan label and the George H. Buck Jazz Foundation.
Rainey was a formidable bandleader, songwriter, businesswoman and early feminist who managed her own career for nearly three decades and wrote or co-wrote at least a third of the material she recorded. Her sessions featured Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson and other future giants. Pianist Lovie Austin and Thomas A. Dorsey were among her frequent collaborators.
The compilation assembles Rainey’s complete Paramount output, dramatically improving the sound of recordings compromised by the poor quality of the original shellac pressings. One of four previously unreleased tracks, this version of “Oh Papa Blues” has been stripped of decades of accumulated sonic distance, with Rainey’s rough-hewn wonder of a voice coming through with startling clarity. Audio-restoration specialist Doug Benson sourced the best surviving 78s he could find, resisting modern de-mixing techniques and retaining surface noise when removing it would impact the music.
Mother Of The Blues also includes a booklet curated by Grammy-nominated blues/jazz historian David Sager. It features previously unpublished photographs, a detailed biography, contracts, copyrights, advertisements, complete lyrics, a discography and track-by-track notes.
We’re proud to premiere Ma Rainey’s previously unreleased version of “Oh Papa Blues.”
—Hobart Rowland
