Lucille Spann

Lucille Spann was born Mahalia Lucille Jenkins in Bolton, Mississippi, the ninth child of Gertrude and Sherman Jenkins.Cry Before I Go - sleeve notes, 1974 Her mother died before she was five, and she was brought up by her father and her sisters. She started out singing gospel music, and was banned from listening to the blues. Nevertheless, she developed a liking for Bessie Smith, T-Bone Walker and other blues singers. She moved to Chicago in her teens, where she met Otis Spann whilst working as a barmaid. Soon she started working with him musically and later married him in 1969.{{cite web|title=Lucille Spann|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lucille-spann-mn0001201279|website=All Music|publisher=All Media Network|access-date=9 April 2016}}

She became one of the musicians who recorded with Spivey Records alongside Otis, Muddy Waters, Luther Johnson, Sammy Lawhorn, Paul Oscher, Pee Wee Madison, S. P. Leary and Willie Smith.{{cite web|last1=Wirz|first1=Stefan|title=Lucille Spann Discography|url=http://www.wirz.de/music/spanlfrm.htm|website=American Music|publisher=Stefan Wirz|access-date=10 April 2016}}

After Otis Spann's death in 1970, she continued singing, making recordings with Mighty Joe Young. She also participated in a festival dedicated to Otis Spann on September 10, 1972, featuring John Sinclair, Sun Ra, Freddie King, Luther Allison, Johnny Shines, Otis Rush and Sippie Wallace.

She released two singles in 1972, "Womans Lib" b/w "What You Do To Your Woman", and "Country Girl Returns" (parts 1 and 2). She also released an album Cry Before I Go in 1974.

Spann died in August 1994 in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the age of 56.{{cite web|url=https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/lucille-spann/61688446|title=Lucille Spann|website=Ancientfaces.ocm|access-date=6 October 2018}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ZNfAQAAQBAJ&q=%22Lucille+Spann%22.+%22August+2%2C+1994%22&pg=PA232|title=Blues: A Regional Experience|first1=Bob L.|last1=Eagle|first2=Eric S.|last2=LeBlanc|page=232|date=1 May 2013|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=9780313344244|access-date=6 October 2018|via=Google Books}}

• Cry Before I Go (BluesWay, 1974)

With Otis Spann

• The Bottom of the Blues (BluesWay, 1968)
• Cryin' Time (Vanguard, 1969)

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• [http://www.wirz.de/music/spannluc.htm Lucille Spann discography]
• [https://mississippigravestones.org/view.php?id=24255 Gravestone image]

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Category:1938 births

Category:1994 deaths

Category:20th-century American singers

Category:20th-century African-American women singers

Category:American blues singers

Category:People from Bolton, Mississippi

Category:20th-century American women singers

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