Biography
Blues singer Mary Dixon earned widespread recognition for “Dusty Stevedore,” one of her signature recordings, yet the title referred to anything but waterfront labor. Like numerous other women who recorded classic blues in the 1920s, she specialized in raw, sexually candid material whose frankness rivaled later rap releases. Because her repertoire stayed confined to that single theme, later scholars rarely uncovered biographical details such as her birthplace, information that surfaced more readily in the broader narratives of country blues performers. Her sessions usually featured a compact backing ensemble, at times reduced to boogie-woogie pianist James P. Johnson at the keys and Ed Allen supplying horn obbligati. The enduring demand for risqué blues anthologies, together with the absence of copyright protection on many of her sides, has resulted in numerous reissues across several nations, although most anthologies contain only a single Dixon selection. The largest concentration of her work appears on the second volume of Document Records’ Blue Girls series. Additional titles she recorded include “Daddy You’ve Got Everything” and “You Can’t Sleep in My Bed,” the latter an admonition rendered largely unnecessary by the nonstop carnal activity her lyrics portray.
Singles
