Page 2 - Will Rainey News Today

BAKER, La. (AP) — Members of a Louisiana State University fraternity chipped in more than $50,000 to pay off the mortgage of a woman who fed them when they were students.About a dozen member

Jessie Hamilton, seated, reacts as she is presented with a check to pay off her mortgage as LSU FIJI graduates gather to surprise their former house kitchen staff member, Saturday, April 3, 2021, and celebrate "Jessie Hamilton Day" in Baker, La. Behind her are, from left, FIJI graduate Andrew Fusaiotti, Hamiltons sons Andre Hamilton and Craig Hamilton, and her granddaughter, Jamiah Hamilton. (Hilary Scheinuk/The Advocate via AP) Wednesday, April 14, 2021 8:32 AM ES...

BAKER, La. (AP) — Members of a Louisiana State University fraternity chipped in more than $50,000 to pay off the mortgage of a woman who fed them when they were students.About a dozen member

Making Ma Rainey She changed popular music forever, but the “Mother of the Blues” is not the household name she deserves to be.   Netflix’s recent star-studded release, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, adapted from the Pulitzer-winning dramatist August Wilson’s 1982 play, brings one of the US’s first professional blues singers back into the cultural sphere. The larger than life, gold tooth-wearing Ma Rainey, famed “Mother of the Blues”, is played with regal poise by Viola Davis, ...

Based on August Wilson’s Tony-nominated 1982 play by the same title, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom draws inspiration from the life of Getrude “Ma” Rainey, the pioneering blues singer widely known as “The Mother of the Blues.” Rainey was among the first blues singers to record music; she also broke new ground for generations of blues singers to come by fusing vaudeville with southern blues. Wilson’s play depicts a fictionalized afternoon in Rainey’s life, set on a sweltering summer d...

Ma Rainey was also married twice—to two men. She was with her first husband, Will Rainey, for at least 10 years before separating, according to the New York Times. She eventually married again to a younger man, but his name is unknown and other details are scarce. Ma Rainey openly sang about her affairs with women. Three of Mas hundreds of songs contain references to her bisexuality. The most famous example, "Prove It on Me Blues" (1928) was recorded near the end of her contract with Paramo...

In Ma Raineys Black Bottom, the blues singer brings her lover, Dussie Mae, to the recording studio with her. In real life, Ma "proudly proclaimed her bisexuality," per the New York Times, as did her mentee and later "friendly" rival Bessie Smith. Ma Rainey also alluded to her bisexuality in her lyrics, most notably with "Prove it on Me Blues," which referenced a lesbian orgy she hosted that got her arrested, according to PBS. (Bessie bailed her out of jail the next morning.) They say I do it...