Stomp Off 1001 - Dickbaker.org

South Frisco JB C/CD 1035Down Home JB 1241Grand Dominion JB 13781241 as Blue Mama’s Suicide Wail; rest asMountain Top Blues.Only rec. in Rust is Bessie Smith 7/22/24,Columbia 14031-D as Mountain Top Blues.No recordings in Rust of Blue Mama’s SuicideWail. So where’d it come from?Credit on Columbia 14031-D is SpencerWilliams. Aha, the copyright reg. isMountain top blues; blue mama's suicidewail, w and m Spencer Williams, of U.S. ©Aug. 6, 1924; 2 c. Aug. 5; E 596296; Maison-Blanche music co., New York.The copyright is oddly formed: Generally inthe copyright books, what we’d call a subtitleis separated from the main title by a comma; asemicolon after the main title usually meansthat what follows is a genre-marker. But “bluemama’s suicide wail” couldn’t conceivably bedescribed as a genre-marker, so we must treatit as a subtitle.Looks like Gene Mayl’s Dixieland RhythmKings recorded it as Blue Mama, which couldhave had a wide influence. I have severalother revival band recordings under that title,but all are later than Gene Mayl.We’ll change it to subtitle, but still have crossreffrom Blue Mama to here.Mournful Serenade (Joe Oliver)Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks 1260Pam Pameijer’s New Jazz Wizards 1335ASM confirms, 1928, Melrose Bros.Mournin’ Blues (Tony Sbarbaro)Down Home JB 1300Dan Levinson’s Roof Garden JB 13611300 just Sbarbaro, 1361 Sbarbaro-Robinson.