Biography
Geeshie Wiley earned her lasting recognition through the haunting minor-key modal blues “Last Kind Word Blues,” cut for Paramount Records during the 1930s. On that track her singing moves fluidly among weariness, wisdom, rage, defiance, despair, and wistfulness, delivering what stands as one of the standout performances in early country blues. Details of her personal history remain sparse. Bluesman Ishman Bracey, whose account may or may not be accurate, placed her origins in Natchez, Mississippi, and claimed she was at one time romantically involved with Charlie McCoy. Separate reports suggest she performed with a medicine show in Jackson, Mississippi, throughout the 1920s. Evidence also indicates that, after Casey Bill Weldon’s divorce from Memphis Minnie, Wiley was married to him for a period. What is firmly documented is that, in March 1930 in Grafton, Wisconsin, she laid down “Last Kind Word Blues” and “Skinny Leg Blues” with Elvie Thomas supplying second-guitar support. At the same session Thomas cut her own “Motherless Child Blues” and “Over to My House,” on which Wiley added second guitar and vocal harmonies. The two women returned to Grafton the following year to record “Pick Poor Robin Clean” and “Eagles on a Half” before disappearing from the historical record.
Albums