"[...] Almost nothing seems to be known about Hazel Meyers." (Howard Rye, notes to Document DOCD-5430, 1996)
Hazel Meyers was a classic female blues and country blues singer. She spent most of her career in black vaudeville, but on recordings she was billed as a blues artist. Her more famous numbers included "Heartbreaking Blues" and "Blackville After Dark", both sung in her contralto voice. Meyers recorded a total of forty-one sides, most of them between September 1923 and August 1924, released by several record labels, including Ajax, Brunswick (on the Vocalion label) Pathe, Banner, Bell, Emerson, and (for her final couple of releases, in June 1926) Okeh. She had releases on six different labels in 1924. Her accompanists variously included Fletcher Henderson, Porter Grainger, James "Bubber" Miley, Leslie "Hutch" Henderson, Don Redman, and (on one recording) Fats Waller. She was the first female vaudeville artist to record the satirical song "Black Star Line", released in May 1924. The song was recorded by both Meyers and Rosa Henderson within a twenty-four-hour period. There has been speculation that Meyers also recorded under the pseudonyms Mae Harris for Domino and Louella Smith for Oriole. Meyers performed in vaudeville in the 1920s. She performed in Steppin' High, a variety show staged in Harlem, New York, backed by the orchestra of Fletcher Henderson. It is believed that she regularly appeared in theatrical productions until the early 1930s. Little is known of her life outside her professional engagements. Meyers's entire recorded work was issued by Document Records in 1996.
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By Uncle Dave Lewis
Hazel Meyers was a Black vaudeville artist in the 1920s who made records that were marketed as blues, and not an inconsiderable number of them. She made 41 titles in all between September, 1923 and August of 1924, primarily for Ajax, but also for Brunswick (issued on Vocalion), Pathe, Banner, Bell, and Emerson. Her last two sides were made for Okeh in June, 1926. She frequently worked with accompanists of outstanding quality, including Fletcher Henderson, Porter Grainger, Bubber Miley, Don Redman and even, on one occasion, Fats Waller.
About her career on stage, details are much more sketchy. She appeared in Steppin' High, a Harlem variety show for which Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra provided the music, and is known to have made other appearances in black vaudeville through 1930. Otherwise, nothing else is known about Hazel Meyers.