Biography
Madlyn Davis stood among the commanding blues vocalists of her era alongside Ma Rainey, Bessie Smith, Alice Moore, Clara Smith, Mozelle Alderson, Victoria Spivey, Sippie Wallace, and Bertha Chippie Hill. Only ten sides ever appeared under her name, all issued by Paramount in Chicago. What set her apart from many peers was her readiness to abandon the standard slow drag approach and push toward greater intensity, though just a handful of releases preserve that impulse.
Her debut session arrived in June 1927. On “Worried Down with the Blues” and “Climbing Mountain Blues” she was supported by her Red Hot Shakers, a quartet believed to have featured pianist Cassino Simpson. In September 1927 a comparable lineup, now augmented by kazoo and slide whistle, accompanied her on “Hurry Sundown Blues” and “Landlady’s Footsteps.” November 1927 brought two further titles with her Hot Shots, a trio that included Richard M. Jones. “Kokola Blues” follows the pattern later popularized as “Sweet Home Chicago.” The reverse, “Winter Blues,” opens in the manner of a Bessie Smith performance before erupting into a full stomp in its final chorus, with Davis urging the players forward in the jovial style associated with Louis Armstrong and soon typical of Fats Waller & His Rhythm; even in 1927 she can be heard using the word “swing” to spur the band.
Her last date took place in October 1928, with pianist Georgia Tom Dorsey and guitarist Tampa Red listed as her Hot Shots. The threesome recorded “Gold Tooth Mama Blues,” “Death Bell Blues,” “It’s Red Hot,” and “Too Black Bad,” the latter sharing its title with a separate piece by Blind Lemon Jefferson. On “It’s Red Hot” she is billed as Red Hot Shakin’ Davis and recalls the sound of Bertha Chippie Hill on Scrapper Blackwell’s “Non Skid Tread.”
It remains unfortunate that Madlyn Davis never returned to the studio during the 1930s and 1940s, when she might have carved out a place in the swing and rhythm & blues markets and left behind clearer traces of her life and identity.
Her debut session arrived in June 1927. On “Worried Down with the Blues” and “Climbing Mountain Blues” she was supported by her Red Hot Shakers, a quartet believed to have featured pianist Cassino Simpson. In September 1927 a comparable lineup, now augmented by kazoo and slide whistle, accompanied her on “Hurry Sundown Blues” and “Landlady’s Footsteps.” November 1927 brought two further titles with her Hot Shots, a trio that included Richard M. Jones. “Kokola Blues” follows the pattern later popularized as “Sweet Home Chicago.” The reverse, “Winter Blues,” opens in the manner of a Bessie Smith performance before erupting into a full stomp in its final chorus, with Davis urging the players forward in the jovial style associated with Louis Armstrong and soon typical of Fats Waller & His Rhythm; even in 1927 she can be heard using the word “swing” to spur the band.
Her last date took place in October 1928, with pianist Georgia Tom Dorsey and guitarist Tampa Red listed as her Hot Shots. The threesome recorded “Gold Tooth Mama Blues,” “Death Bell Blues,” “It’s Red Hot,” and “Too Black Bad,” the latter sharing its title with a separate piece by Blind Lemon Jefferson. On “It’s Red Hot” she is billed as Red Hot Shakin’ Davis and recalls the sound of Bertha Chippie Hill on Scrapper Blackwell’s “Non Skid Tread.”
It remains unfortunate that Madlyn Davis never returned to the studio during the 1930s and 1940s, when she might have carved out a place in the swing and rhythm & blues markets and left behind clearer traces of her life and identity.