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She began her career as a vaudeville and minstrel entertainer who performed as a comedian, dancer, actress, and singer in traveling shows. Between 1916 and the early 1920s, she worked in minstrel shows and toured as a featured singer. She performed on
Broadway using the name Bessie Lee and recorded
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in 1922, among which was "My Man Rocks Me (With One Steady Roll)" (1922), written by J. Berni
Barbour, of historical interest as the first record to refer to "rocking" and "rolling" in a secular context. Her
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in 1924 and 1925. By the late 1930s her formerly girlish voice became more full-bodied, and her performance style more direct and sexual. Later rhythm-and-blues and soul singers would adopt this approach.
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Also in 1922, billed as the "southern nightingale," Smith won first place and a silver cup in a blues singing contest in which she sang her own composition, "Trixie's Blues", competing against
141:, in Alabama, before moving to New York City at the age of twenty around 1915. Soon after, she began working in a number of different cafés and theaters in Harlem and Philadelphia.
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189:. She is best remembered for "Railroad Blues" (1925), which features one of her most inspired vocal performances on record, and "The World Is Jazz Crazy and So Am I" (1925).
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Smith was a polished performer, and her records include several outstanding examples of the blues, on which she is accompanied by artists such as
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As her career as a blues singer waned, she sustained herself mostly by performing in cabaret revues and starring in musical revues such as
137:, Georgia, Smith came from a middle-class background. Various years are given for her birth including 1885, 1888, and 1895. She attended
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Known in later life as Trixie Muse, she died in New York in 1943, after a brief illness, at the age of 48.
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285:, in 1938. She recorded seven titles in 1938 and 1939. Most of her later recordings were with
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In 2017, her song "Jack I'm Mellow" was featured as the theme song for the TV comedy sitcom,
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Two years later, Smith was elevated to the stage of the
Theatre Guild for its production of
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A Century of
Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works
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103:
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Vaudeville, Old and New: An
Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America
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Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female
Popular Vocal Recordings, 1920–1933
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185:, at the Inter-Manhattan Casino in New York, sponsored by the dancer
641:. Lebanon, New Hampshire: University Press of New England. page 77.
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inspired various lyrical elaborations, such as "Rock That Thing" by
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in 1938. In 1939 she cut "No Good Man" with a band including
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vaudeville circuit before making her first recordings for
117:(c.1885/1895 – September 21, 1943), was an American
480:Wintz, Cary D.; Finkelman, Paul (January 1, 2004).
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460:The Big Book of Blues: A Biographical Encyclopedia
418:. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. 509.
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582:All Shook Up: How Rock 'n' Roll Changed America
558:. Journalofamericanhistory.org. Archived from
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359:Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order
342:Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order
532:The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray
121:singer and film actress. She made four dozen
743:with audio of some of her vintage recordings
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271:(1932). Two of these films were directed by
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483:Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: K-Y
660:The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music
556:"Teaching the Journal of American History"
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741:Trixie Smith in the Red Hot Jazz Archive
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767:20th-century African-American actresses
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610:. Greenwood Publishing Group. p.
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391:Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance
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414:Eagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S. (2013).
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236:'s short-lived 1931 Broadway show,
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584:. Oxford University Press. p. 23.
151:Theater Owners Booking Association
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626:moanin'%20blues%20trixie%20smith.
516:. London: Macmillan. p. 620.
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393:. Taylor & Francis. p. 1129.
193:played the cornet on both songs.
514:The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz
772:20th-century American actresses
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602:Laird, Ross (January 1, 1996).
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275:. She appeared at the concert
57:September 21, 1943 (age 47–58)
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782:20th-century American singers
679:Peterson, Bernard L. (1993).
580:Altschuler, Glenn C. (2003).
416:Blues – A Regional Experience
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247:She appeared in five movies:
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125:and appeared in five films.
59:New York City, United States
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683:. Greenwood Press. p. 250.
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449:. Retrieved 16 April 2012.
443:Biography for Trixie Smith
802:Paramount Records artists
458:Santelli, Robert (2001).
149:. She also worked on the
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512:Kernfeld, Barry (1988).
486:. Taylor & Francis.
278:From Spirituals to Swing
49:, Georgia, United States
389:Wintz, Cary D. (2004).
232:. She also appeared in
792:American blues singers
704:. Routledge. p. 1051.
700:Cullen, Frank (2006).
658:Larkin, Colin (1995).
639:The Story of the Blues
530:Russell, Tony (1997).
166:and "Rock Me Mama" by
662:. Guinness. p. 3851.
807:Singers from Atlanta
361:, vol. 2: 1925–1939
344:, vol. 1: 1922–1924
238:The Constant Sinner.
204:. She recorded with
757:19th-century births
254:God's Step Children
222:Next Door Neighbors
175:Alice Leslie Carter
133:Born and raised in
562:on August 30, 2012
441:Yanow, Scott.
206:Fletcher Henderson
155:Black Swan Records
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210:Paramount Records
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179:Daisy Martin
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83:Years active
25:Trixie Smith
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762:1943 deaths
317:Discography
220:(1928) and
164:Lil Johnson
44:c.1885–1895
36:Trixie Muse
751:Categories
566:August 30,
374:References
310:Disjointed
249:Birthright
147:Silvertone
123:recordings
96:Black Swan
367:Document
350:Document
295:Red Allen
242:Louisiana
129:Biography
100:Paramount
447:AllMusic
261:(1938),
257:(1938),
251:(1938),
234:Mae West
135:Atlanta
47:Atlanta
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364:Blues
347:Blues
333:Label
330:Genre
327:Title
259:Swing!
230:Harlem
200:, and
160:record
92:Labels
64:Genres
355:1939
338:1924
324:Year
119:blues
104:Decca
68:Blues
726:IMDb
706:ISBN
685:ISBN
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643:ISBN
616:ISBN
586:ISBN
568:2015
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420:ISBN
395:ISBN
297:and
289:for
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54:Died
41:Born
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