There were two blues singers operating during the 20s using the name Bessie Brown and biographical details are slim for both. One, known to have worked as a male impersonator and speculated to have been born around 1895 in Cleveland or Marysville, Ohio, began her career on record in 1925, billed as 'The Original' Bessie Brown - probably indicating a conflict with her namesake who had issued records in the previous year. Just to confuse things further she also used the names Caroline Lee and Sadie Green, the latter also used by popular singer Vaughn De Leath. Brown was married to Clarence Shaw and appears to have retired from showbusiness in the early 30s. Her rival worked on the TOBA circuit with her husband George W. Williams in an act that at one time included a young Fats Waller. Her career on record seems to have been restricted to a brief period on the Columbia label during 1924.
Brown was born in Marysville, Ohio. She recorded between the dates of November 10, 1925 and April 1, 1929. Her concurrent vaudeville career, saw her appear sometimes as a male impersonator. She also appeared in revues including Moonshine Revue, The Whirl Of Joy and Dark-Town Frolics. In addition, Brown took to the stage as a cabaret performer, primarily on the East Coast. On her recordings she sang in a deepened tone, without any notable African American dialect. Thus, to more than one commentator, her style was similar to Sophie Tucker. Her recordings saw Brown backed by some of the best Harlem based musicians of the time. These included Thomas Morris and Rex Stewart (cornet); Charlie Irvis and Charlie Green (trombone); Coleman Hawkins and Buster Bailey (saxophone); Buddy Christian and Clarence Holiday (banjo); plus Porter Grainger, Clarence Williams and Fletcher Henderson (piano). She left the music industry in 1932, and married Clarence Shaw in the early 1930s. She had one child Helen Smith Mcreynolds from her first marriage, before dying of a heart attack in 1955. The bulk of her known recorded work, Complete Recorded Works (1925-29), was made available in 1996 by Document Records. Somewhat confusingly, the compilation album also included four October 1929 recordings by the unrelated comedienne, Eliza "Liza" Brown.
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By Eugene Chadbourne
The woman who threatened to "Put a spider in her dumplin', make her crawl all over the floor," was actually a pretty nice lady, but the consensus on her talent is divided. Perhaps it was poor material she was given by people named Williams. There was her husband, George W. Williams, who oversaw the duo recording enterprise which represents most of her discography. Then there was the famous songwriter Spencer Williams, who wrote the lyrics above, and much more, on one of her most popular records, "Hoodoo Blues." Bessie Brown at least had the advantage here of subject matter near and dear to blues fans, including gris-gris, black cat bones, threatening spells and something that was called "ding 'em dust," although maybe not. Apparently a debate over this substance is one of the hot topics revolving around this particular classic blues singer. "...If anyone can either improve on 'ding 'em dust' or corroborate its existence, so much the better! I'm deducing it from 'ding' as a euphemism for 'damn'," advises one blues scholar who goes on to quote the Dictionary of American Regional English as a source. It does not add much to a biography of Bessie Brown to suggest that "ding 'em dust" might have a connection with "git 'em dust" or "goofer dust" or "Love Potion Number Nine" for that matter, but it hardly seems fair to leave it out.
Sexual tension and innuendo between man and woman was probably even more popular in early blues recordings than hoodoo doodoo, and although Brown and partner Williams exploited the former subject to the max on recording, the results don't seem to please everyone. "The songs sucked and so did their singing but the titles were great," is the opinion of one blues disc jockey. Brown and hubbie were strictly in the tradition of acts such as Butterbeans & Susie, Coot Grant and Sox Wilson, and Bo Diddley and the Duchess. Each record was a sexual battle, and it is indeed hard to come up with better titles than "If You Hit My Dog I'll Kick Your Cat," "When You Go Hunting I'm Goin' Fishin'" and "Ain't Much Good in the Best of Men Now Days." The duo worked on the same vaudeville circuit as a greenhorn Fats Waller. Brown's career on record begins in 1924 and concluded in 1929. Her husband must have wanted the last word in their musical duel, since he arranged a final recording session for himself as a soloist.