Sippie Wallace interview (part 2) / Texas compilation T12

Duration: 2:01:23

Tape containing the second part of an interview with the Texas-born Blues singer Sippie Wallace (née Beulah Belle Thomas, 1898-1986) conducted by John Norris and Marlene Norris, as well as a Texas blues research compilation featuring music by Wallace and her brother Hersal.

Side 1:

[0:00:05] Sippie explains her ideas about the importance of storytelling in songwriting (with reference to ‘Shorty George’). How she got the idea for ‘I’m a Mighty Tight Woman’. The experience of recording. [0:04:30] Sippie reads down a discographical list of her recordings, adding commentary. Working with Perry Bradford (who had to use a pseudonym after leaving prison). Writing ‘The Flood Blues’ to emulate the success of Bessie Smith’s ‘Back Water Blues’. The importance of sensitive accompaniment. [0:09:40] Discussion of accompanists, including Louis Armstrong. Sings an excerpt from ‘Suitcase Blues’. Performing on other artists’ recordings. [0:13:20] How she once got paid $158 for singing ‘Black Snake Blues’ at a club in Flint, Michigan. Sings an excerpt from ‘Let My Man Alone’. Talks about performing to white audiences. The popularity of Ida Cox’s ‘Graveyard Blues’. [0:19:37] Going to New York in 1927 to make records. Venues she performed at. Playing with Clarence Williams. Why she rarely performed in Houston. Playing in Galveston instead. [0:25:40] Working for the TOBA. Losing out on a job because of her brother’s burial. Other cabaret work. Adjusting to playing for churches, which is very time-consuming. Why she abandoned her car and stopped driving. [0:31:45] More about her niece Hociel Thomas. Contact with other singers. About Tiny Franklin. Sippie’s objections to Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s performing gospel songs in a blues style. [0:39:40] Details of her family’s Houston addresses. Her mother’s property purchases, and how she operated a restaurant. How the house was eventually demolished to make way for a highway. The deaths of Sippie’s other siblings in infancy. Her father’s work in an engine room and later a lumber yard. [0:47:33 - tape cuts] Her mother’s work as a cook. Her husband’s jobs and taste for gambling. Her mother’s ignorance of public holidays, which Sippie took advantage of. Leaving school to marry at 14 or 15 years old. [0:53:20] Being the ‘pet of the show’ on stage. Tells a story about a man forgetting the name of the Lord when called upon to lead a prayer in church. Talks about how she liked playing with Sidney Bechet. Tells a story of performing as the featured act for a big crowd at the Coliseum [in Chicago], and how one of the Whitman sisters stepped on to the stage drunk without being introduced.

Side 2 - Texas blues compilation T12: ‘Thomas Family and Others’ (including records from the collection of Brian Rust):

[1:04:51] 01. Sippie Wallace - Just a Servant in God’s Kingdom [apparently recorded during interview session]
[1:07:50] 02. Clay Custer - The Rocks (composed by George W. Thomas)
[1:10:44] 03. Hersal Thomas - Suitcase Blues
[1:13:22] 04. Hersal Thomas - Hersal Blues
[1:16:21] 05. Sippie Wallace - Bedroom Blues
[1:19:38] 06. Sippie Wallace - Mighty Tight Woman
[1:22:51] 07. Sippie Wallace - The Flood Blues
[1:26:02] 08. Sippie Wallace - Lazy Man Blues
[1:29:15] 09. Sippie Wallace - Morning Dove Blues
[1:31:54] 10. Sippie Wallace - Every Dog Has His Day
[1:34:52] 11. Sodarisa Miller - Lonesome Room Blues
[1:38:01] 12. Sodarisa Miller - I Keeps My Kitchen Clean (George Thomas)
[1:41:05] 13. Troy Floyd - Shadowland Blues - Part 1
[1:44:13] 14. Troy Floyd - Shadowland Blues - Part 2
[1:47:22] 15. Ida Cox - Coffin Blues
[1:50:39] 16. Ida Cox - Rambling Blues
[1:53:19] 17. Ollie Rose - Broad Road Blues
[1:56:17] 18. Ollie Rose - Ox-Meat Blues

[1:59:07] Fragment of home recording of a German couple [perhaps the previous owners of the tape?] talking to their child.

Original file name: POAAAM - T12

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