Mildred Bailey

Mildred Bailey (born Mildred Rinker; February 27, 1907 – December 12, 1951) was an American jazz singer during the 1930s and 1940s, known as "The Queen of Swing", "The Rockin' Chair Lady", and "Mrs. Swing".

She recorded the songs "For Sentimental Reasons," "Georgia on my Mind," "St. Louis Blues," "It's So Peaceful in the Country," "Doin' The Uptown Lowdown," "Trust in Me," "Where Are You?," "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart," "Small Fry," "Please Be Kind," "Darn That Dream," "Rockin' Chair," "Blame It on My Last Affair," and "Says My Heart." She had three records that reached number one on the popular charts. The family moved to Spokane, Washington, when she was 13. Her younger brothers also became musicians. Her brother, Al Rinker, started to perform as a singer with Bing Crosby in Spokane and became a member of The Rhythm Boys. As adults, Charles Rinker was a lyricist, and Miles Rinker was a clarinet and saxophone player who later became a booking agent. Her mother Josephine was a citizen of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe and a devout Roman Catholic. Bailey's great-grandfather, Bazil Peone, was a head speaker and song leader of the Coeur d'Alene at the turn of the 20th century. His ability to create indigenized Catholic hymns helped guide the tribe during difficult times of active colonization by Jesuit missionaries.

Bailey and her siblings grew up near De Smet, Idaho, on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation. Her father played fiddle and called square dances. Her mother played piano every evening and taught her to play and sing. Her younger brothers included Miles, Al, a vocalist and composer, and Charles, a lyricist. The family often hosted Saturday night gatherings, creating small music and dance hall in the home for local ranchers with both Josephine and Mildred at the piano. Mildred also accompanied her mother to traditional native ceremonies, where she heard and practiced the traditional songs and lyrics that would later influence her unique singing voice. With the help of her second husband Benny Stafford, Bailey became an established blues and jazz singer on the west coast of the United States. According to Gary Giddins in his book Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams, The Early Years 1903–1940, she found work for her brother Al Rinker and Bing Crosby, who had started performing in Spokane, Washington. They had traveled from Spokane to join her in Los Angeles. Giddins says Crosby heard about Louis Armstrong from Bailey, who urged him to hear Armstrong if Crosby was to be a serious jazz singer. She also played Crosby records from her collection by Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith. favorable public reaction was immediate. However, Bailey's first recording with Whiteman did not take place until October 6, 1931, when she recorded a song called "My Goodbye to You". Her recording of "All of Me" with Whiteman the same year was a hit in 1932.

Her first two records had been as an uncredited vocalist for a 1929 session by the Eddie Lang Orchestra ("What Kind o' Man Is You?", a Hoagy Carmichael song that was issued only in the UK), and a recording on May 8, 1930, of "I Like to Do Things for You" for Frankie Trumbauer. She was Whiteman's female vocalist through 1932 (recording in a smooth, crooning style) but left the band later that same year over salary disagreements. She recorded four sides for Brunswick in 1931 with the Casa Loma Orchestra. and there were further recordings for the label in 1933 with the Dorsey Brothers as supporting musicians. Bailey was part of an all-star session with Benny Goodman's studio band in 1934 featuring Coleman Hawkins, Dick McDonough, and Gene Krupa. After leaving Whiteman, Bailey sang on the radio shows of George Jessel and Willard Robison.

In 1933, Bailey married Red Norvo, a xylophonist, improviser, and band leader who had also worked with Paul Whiteman. A dynamic couple, they remained married until 1942 and were known as "Mr. and Mrs. Swing". Her last major engagement was with Joe Marsala in Chicago in 1950.

Bailey suffered from diabetes. Due to her health, she was hospitalized in 1938, 1943, and 1949. She went into retirement for a time in 1949 on a farm she owned in Poughkeepsie, New York. Often in financial difficulties, she was bailed out several times by Bing Crosby. in St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York at the age of 44. it was designed by Howard Koslow, based on the photograph by jazz photographer William Gottlieb (at the head of this article) of Bailey performing at Carnegie Hall.

Bailey sang lead vocals on "Darn That Dream", recorded by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, which reached number one for one week in March 1940 on the U.S. pop chart.

Discography

Big City Blues (Regent, 1957)
Sweet Beginnings (The Old Masters, 1994)
Band Vocalist (The Old Masters, 1994)
The Rockin' Chair Lady (GRP, 1994)
The Blue Angel Years (Baldwin Street Music, 1999)
Me and the Blues (Savoy, 2000)
The Legendary V-Disc Sessions (Vintage Jazz, 1990)
The Complete Columbia Recordings of Mildred Bailey (Mosaic, 2000)

Hit singles

(Vocalion releases only)

{|class="wikitable"

!Year

!Single

!US

!Cat. No.

|rowspan="2"|1936

|"For Sentimental Reasons"

|18

|3367

|"More Than You Know"

|15

|3378

|rowspan="8"|1937

|"Trust in Me" (A-side)

|3449

|"My Last Affair" (B-side)

|10

|3449

|"Where Are You?"

|3456

|"Never in a Million Years"

|3508

|"Rockin' Chair"

|13

|3553

|"It's the Natural Thing to Do"

|14

|3626

|"Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight?)"

|14

|3712

|"Right or Wrong"

|19

|3758

|rowspan="6"|1938

|"Thanks for the Memory"

|11

|3931

|"Don't Be That Way"

|4016

|"I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart"

|4083

|"Small Fry"

|4224

|"So Help Me"

|4253

|"My Reverie"

|10

|4408

|rowspan="2"|1939

|"Blame It on My Last Affair"

|13

|4632

|"Moon Love"

|14

|4939

Other notable recordings

"Georgia on My Mind" (1931)
"I'll Never Be the Same" (1932)
"Lazy Bones" (1933)
"Heat Wave" (1933)
"Ol' Pappy" (1934)
"Miss Brown to you" (Sideman Teddy Wilson) (1935)
"I'd Love to Take Orders from You" (1935)
"Someday, Sweetheart" (1935)
"When Day Is Done" (1935)
"Honeysuckle Rose" (1935)
"Squeeze Me" (1935)
"A Porter%27s Love Song to a Chambermaid" (1936)
"'Long About Midnight" (1936)
"It Can Happen to You" (1936)
"I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (1937)
"Slumming on Park Avenue" (1937)
"Worried Over You" (1937)
"Love Is Here to Stay" (1938)
"Please Be Kind" (1938)
"It's So Peaceful in the Country" (1940)
"Wham (Re Bop Boom Bam) (1940)
"In Love in Vain" (1946)
"It's a Woman's Prerogative" (1946)
"Almost Like Being in Love" (1947)

The 2023 American historical drama miniseries "Lessons in Chemistry" used Bailey's 1940 recording of "Wham (Re Bop Boom Bam)" as its opening theme song.

References

External links

Mildred Bailey on encyclopedia.com

Discography

Hit singles

Other notable recordings

References

External links

Further reading