Elzadie Robinson

Elzadie Robinson (possibly April 24, 1897 – January 17, 1975)[2] was an American classic female blues singer and songwriter. She recorded 34 songs between 1926 and 1929.[3] Unusually for the time, she composed or co-composed most of her work. Details of her life outside the recording studio are sketchy.

Elzadie Robinson
Birth nameElzadie Wallace
Also known asBernice Drake
Blanche Johnson
Elzadie Henderson
Born(1897-04-24)April 24, 1897 (or 1900)
Logansport, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, United States
Died(1975-01-17)January 17, 1975 (age 74–77)
Flint, Michigan, United States
GenresClassic female blues[1]
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1926–1929
LabelsParamount, Broadway

AllMusic noted that "Robinson was a second-level blues singer whose voice seemed to get stronger with time".[4]

Biography

The music researchers Bob Eagle and Eric S. LeBlanc suggest that she was born Elzadie Wallace in Logansport, DeSoto Parish, Louisiana, in 1897, but 1900 is also possible.[2]

She relocated to Chicago to make her recordings and remained in the city for some while thereafter. Her recordings were made between 1926 and 1929. Robinson had different piano accompanists over that period, including Bob Call and her most regular accompanist, William Ezell.[5] Songs most associated with them are "Barrelhouse Man", "Sawmill Blues" and the Ezell-penned number, "Arkansas Mill Blues", which related the grim reality of lumber camp work and conditions.[5] Robinson chiefly recorded for Paramount Records but also cut several sides for Broadway Records using the alias Bernice Drake.[1] On two of her recordings, the pianist Bob Call or the guitarist Johnny St. Cyr replaced Ezell, and on two occasions in 1926, B. T. Wingfield or Shirley Clay played the cornet, with either Tiny Parham or Richard M. Jones on the piano. In 1928, she was backed by the clarinetist Johnny Dodds, the guitarist Blind Blake and either the pianist Jimmy Blythe or Jimmy Bertrand on xylophone.[3]

To add to the variation, two of her sides ("Galveston Blues" and "2:16 Blues") were released under the name of Blanche Johnson, another pseudonym.[6]

Little is known of her life after her recording career ended.[1] She is thought to have married Perry Henderson in Flint, Michigan, in 1928, and to have died there in 1975.[2]

In 1994, Document Records issued two anthologies incorporating all of her known recorded work.[3][4]

78 RPM Singles - Paramount Records

12417 BARREL HOUSE MAN 10/??/26
12417 SAW MILL BLUES 10/??/26
12420 HOUSTON BOUND 10/??/26
12420 HUMMING BLUES 09/??/26
12469 BALTIMORE BLUES 03/??/27
12469 TROUBLED WITH THE BLUES 03/??/27
12509 BACK DOOR BLUES 07/??/27
12509 WHISKEY BLUES 07/??/27
12544 TICK TOCK BLUES 10/??/27
12544 HOUR BEHIND THE GUN 10/??/27
12573 SANTA CLAUS CRAVE 11/??/27
12573 ST LOUIS CYCLONE BLUES 11/??/27
12627 YOU AIN'T THE LAST MAN 03/??/28
12627 LOVE CRAZY BLUES 03/??/28
12635 PAY DAY DADDY BLUES 04/??/28
12635 ELIZALDE POLICY BLUES 04/??/28
12573 SANTA CLAUS CRAVE 11/??/27
12573 ST LOUIS CYCLONE BLUES 11/??/27
12627 YOU AIN'T THE LAST MAN 03/??/28
12627 LOVE CRAZY BLUES 03/??/28
12635 PAY DAY DADDY BLUES 04/??/28
12635 ELIZALDE POLICY BLUES 04/??/28
12676 MAD BLUES 06/??/28
12676 PLEADING MISERY BLUES 06/??/28
12689 WICKED DADDY 07/??/28
12689 IT'S TOO LATE NOW 07/??/28
12701 ARKANSAS MILL BLUES 10/??/28
12701 GOLD MANSION BLUES 10/??/28
12724 GOING SOUTH BLUES 10/??/28
12724 ROWDY MAN BLUES 10/??/28
12745A UNSATISFIED BLUES 10/??/28
12745B NEED MY LOVIN' - NEED MY DADDY 10/??/28
12768A CHEATIN' DADDY 03/??/29
12768B THIS IS YOUR LAST NIGHT WITH ME 03/??/29
12795 MY PULLMAN PORTER MAN 03/??/29
12795B I AIN'T GOT NOBODY 03/??/29
12900A DRIVING ME SOUTH 03/??/29
12900B PAST AND FUTURE BLUES 03/??/29

78 RPM Singles - Broadway Records

5006 As BERNICE DRAKE HUMMING BLUES 09/??/26
5006 As BERNICE DRAKE HOUSTON BOUND 10/??/26
5037 As BERNICE DRAKE SAWMILL BLUES 10/??/26
5037 As BERNICE DRAKE BARREL HOUSE MAN 10/??/26
5038 As BERNICE DRAKE WHISKEY BLUES (736) 07/??/27
5038 As BERNICE DRAKE BACK DOOR BLUES (735) 07/??/27
gollark: It's some kind of ancient analog video system, it's been obsoleted several times over.
gollark: What are you even copying *from* onto VHS?
gollark: VHS? Isn't that... quite old?
gollark: Never mind, I used the "search" function and styro said it would be revisited "later on" back in February.
gollark: I think the flashlight thing was impractical somehow?

See also

References
  1. Layne, Joslyn. "Elzadie Robinson: Biography". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  2. Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013). Blues: A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. pp. 302–303. ISBN 978-0313344237.
  3. Yanow, Scott Yanow (1994-07-12). "Elzadie Robinson, Complete Works, Vol. 1 (1926–1928): Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  4. Yanow, Scott (1994-07-12). "Elzadie Robinson, Complete Works, Vol. 2 (1928–1929): Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
  5. Giles Oakley (1997). The Devil's Music. Da Capo Press. p. 73/4. ISBN 978-0-306-80743-5.
  6. "Elzadie Robinson [Blanche Johnson] Complete Works, Vol. 1: Galveston Blues". Artistdirect.com. Retrieved 2016-11-15.
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