Irene Scruggs

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Irene Scruggs

| image =

| caption =

| image_size =

| birth_name = Irene Smith

| alias = Chocolate Brown
Dixie Nolan

| birth_date = {{birth date|1901|12|7|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Lamont, Bolivar County, Mississippi, United States

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1981|7|20|1901|12|mf=y}}

| death_place = Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

| instrument = Vocals

| genre = Piedmont blues, country blues

| occupation = Musician, songwriter

| years_active = 1920s–1950s

| label =

| associated_acts = Blind Blake

| website =

}}

Irene Scruggs (born Irene Smith, December 7, 1901 – July 20, 1981){{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger| location= Santa Barbara, California| pages=516 | isbn= 978-0313344237}} was an American Piedmont blues and country blues singer, who was also billed as Chocolate Brown and Dixie Nolan. She recorded songs such as "My Back to the Wall" and "Good Grindin'" and worked with Clarence Williams, Joe "King" Oliver, Lonnie Johnson, Little Brother Montgomery, Blind Blake, Albert Nicholas, and Kid Ory.{{cite web|author=Doc Rock |url=http://thedeadrockstarsclub.com/deadrock.html |title=The Dead Rock Stars Club |publisher=TheDeadRockStarsClub.com |date= |accessdate=2015-10-03}} Scruggs achieved some success but today is largely forgotten.{{cite web |url=http://sundayblues.org/archives/tag/irene-scruggs|title=Irene Scruggs|author=|publisher=Sundayblues.org |accessdate=October 22, 2010}}

Biography

Born Irene Smith, she originated in rural Mississippi, but it is believed that she was raised in St. Louis, Missouri.{{Cite book|title=All music guide to the blues : the definitive guide to the blues|date=2003|publisher=Backbeat Books|others=Bogdanov, Vladimir, 1965-, Woodstra, Chris., Erlewine, Stephen Thomas.|isbn=0879307366|edition= 3rd|location=San Francisco, CA|oclc=51389035}} Mary Lou Williams recalled Scruggs being a singer of some standing when Williams traveled to St. Louis in vaudeville. Scruggs was hired by the revue company, and her career there sometimes outshone her work as a recording artist and nightclub singer. This led to opportunities to sing with a number of Joe "King" Oliver's bands, which played in St. Louis in the mid-1920s.{{cite web |url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=irene-scruggs-p123364/biography|pure_url=yes}} |title=Irene Scruggs: Biography|author=Chadbourne, Eugene |authorlink=Eugene Chadbourne |publisher=AllMusic.com |accessdate=October 22, 2010}} Scruggs was later accompanied by Blind Blake.{{cite book

| first= Tony

| last= Russell

| year= 1997

| title= The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray

| edition=

| publisher= Carlton Books

| location= Dubai

| isbn= 1-85868-255-X

| page= 94}} In her live shows her song "Itching Heel" provided the platform for interplay between the Scruggs's singing and Blake's guitar work. "He don't do nothing but play on his old guitar," Scruggs sang, "While I'm busting suds out in the white folks' yard."

She first recorded for Okeh Records in 1924, with the pianist Clarence Williams. In 1926 she renewed her working association with Oliver. Two songs written by Scruggs, "Home Town Blues" and "Sorrow Valley Blues", were recorded by Oliver.{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/irene-scruggs-mn0000771658/songs |title=Irene Scruggs: Songs |publisher=AllMusic.com |date= |accessdate=2015-10-03}} She recorded again for Okeh in 1927, this time with Lonnie Johnson. Scruggs formed her own band in the late 1920s and performed regularly in the St. Louis area.

Using the pseudonym Chocolate Brown she recorded further tracks with Blind Blake. To avoid contractual problems she was also billed as Dixie Nolan. By the early 1930s, Little Brother Montgomery took over as her accompanist on recordings and in touring.

Scruggs also sang and recorded sexually explicit material. "Good Grindin'" and "Must Get Mine in Front" (1930) were the better-known examples of her dirty blues, and some of her work appeared in The Nasty Blues, published by the Hal Leonard Corporation.{{cite book|title=The Nasty Blues|author=Tom Ball|publisher=Centerstream Publishing|date=1995|isbn=9780931759871}} Scruggs recorded only a small batch of songs, and her recording career finished around 1935. In the 1940s, she left the United States for Europe, first settling in Paris and later relocating to Germany. In the 1950s, she undertook a number of BBC Radio broadcasts.

She died in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, in 1981, aged 79.

References

External links

[https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:m7csfh-9xy4J:www.bluesandrhythm.co.uk/documents/BR254-Irene-Scruggs.pdf+irene+scruggs+good+grindin'&hl=en&gl=be&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESiMDe6hi1RVI_MIK82FB-NZucQmSDqKsncUsSq4jNCJA_2p3rVb7HOhfZTO_Iz0Co0Fss8qaPXhX3ooQ3f4e9u6BMjdKV-kWmG-EUZtyPzIdkO-iNmqibrvK1pMENN0y9umpgKz&sig=AHIEtbSwusBYuKo0HSCaLYG3PXkiYpE-3w Detailed information about her life and recordings]

Category:1901 births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:American blues singers

Category:American jazz singers

Category:Blues musicians from Mississippi

Category:Songwriters from Mississippi

Category:Piedmont blues musicians

Category:Country blues musicians

Category:Dirty blues musicians

Category:Singers from St. Louis

Category:20th-century American singers

Category:Classic female blues singers