1926 - 1984
Willie Mae Thornton toured the South as a blues singer in the 1940s, then settled in Texas. She wrote and sang blues songs, played the harmonica, and taught herself to play the drums.
Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton (December 11, 1926 – July 25, 1984) was an influential American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. She first recorded the hit song "Hound Dog" in [1952], which topped the Billboard R&B charts for seven weeks. The B-side was "They Call Me Big Mama," and the single sold nearly two million copies. Elvis Presley later recorded his version in [1956], based on Freddie Bell and the Bellboys' rendition. She also wrote and recorded "Ball 'n' Chain," which became a hit for her and was later covered successfully by Janis Joplin in the late 1960s.
Thornton was born in Ariton, Alabama. She was introduced to music at a Baptist church, where her father was a minister and her mother a church singer. She and her six siblings began singing at a very young age. Thornton left Montgomery at age 14 in 1941, following her mother's death. She joined Sammy Green's Georgia-based Hot Harlem Revue. Her seven-year tenure gave her valuable singing and stage experience and allowed her to tour the South. In 1948, she settled in Houston, Texas, hoping to further her career as a singer.
She was also a self-taught drummer and harmonica player and often played both onstage.
Thornton began her recording career in Houston, signing a recording contract with Peacock Records in 1951. While working with another Peacock artist, Johnny Otis, she recorded "Hound Dog", a song that composers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller had given her in Los Angeles. Johnny Otis produced the record, and it went to number one on the R&B chart. Although the record made her a star, she saw little of the profits. She continued recording for Peacock until 1957 and performed on R&B package tours with Junior Parker and Esther Phillips. In 1954, Thornton was one of the eyewitnesses to the accidental self-inflicted handgun death of blues singer Johnny Ace. Her career began to fade in the late 1950s and early 1960s. She left Houston and relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she mostly played local blues clubs.
In 1966, Thornton recorded Big Mama Thornton With The Muddy Waters Blues Band, with Muddy Waters (guitar), Sammy Lawhorn (guitar), James Cotton (harmonica), Otis Spann (piano), Luther Johnson (bass guitar), and Francis Clay (drums). Songs included "Everything Gonna Be Alright", "Big Mama's Blues", "I'm Feeling Alright", "Big Mama's Bumble Bee Blues", "Looking The World Over", "Big Mama's Shuffle", and "Since I Fell For You", among others.
Her Ball 'n' Chain album in 1968, recorded with Lightnin' Hopkins (guitar) and Larry Williams (vocals), included the songs "Hound Dog", "Wade in the Water", "Little Red Rooster", "Ball 'n' Chain", "Money Taker", and "Prison Blues".
One of Thornton's last albums, Jail (1975), was released on Vanguard Records. It captured her performances during a couple of mid-1970s concerts at two northwestern prisons. She became the leader of a blues ensemble featuring sustained jams with George "Harmonica" Smith, plus guitarists Doug Macleod, B. Huston, and Steve Wachsman; drummer Todd Nelson; saxophonist Bill Potter; bassist Bruce Sieverson; and pianist J.D. Nicholas.
Thornton performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1966 and 1968, and at the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1979. In 1965, she performed with the American Folk Blues Festival package in Europe. While in England that year, she recorded Big Mama Thornton and followed it up the next year in San Francisco with Big Mama Thornton and the Chicago Blues Band. Both albums came out on the Arhoolie label. Thornton continued to record for Vanguard, Mercury, and other small labels in the 1970s and to work the blues festival circuit until she died in 1984, the same year she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.
During her career, she appeared on stages from New York City's Apollo Theater in 1952 to the Newport Jazz Festival in 1980, and was nominated for the Blues Music Awards six times. In addition to "Ball 'n' Chain" and "They Call Me Big Mama," Thornton wrote twenty other blues songs.
In the 1970s, years of heavy drinking began to hurt Ms. Thornton's health. She was in a serious car accident and recovered to perform at the 1983 Newport Jazz Festival with Muddy Waters, B. B. King, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson; the recording is called The Blues—A Real Summit Meeting on Buddha Records. Ms. Thornton died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on July 25, 1984, at age 57.
In the 2007 movie Hound Dog, singer Jill Scott played Thornton.
Thornton is also the namesake of the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls.
Selective discography
Year Title Genre Label
2007 Big Mama Thornton Texas blues Vanguard
1994 The Complete OKeh Sessions 1952-55 Texas blues Sony
1975 Jail (Live) Texas blues Vanguard
1975 Sassy Mama! (Live) Texas blues Vanguard
1973 Saved Texas blues Backbeat
1970 The Way It Is Texas blues, Mercury
1969 Stronger Than Dirt Texas blues Mercury
1968 Ball 'n' Chain w/Lightnin' Hopkins Texas blues Arhoolie
1967 Big Mama Thornton Vol. 2 Texas blues Arhoolie
1966 Big Mama Thornton With The Muddy Waters Blues Band Texas blues Arhoolie
1966 Big Mama Thornton in Europe Texas blues Arhoolie
No comments :
Post a Comment