The first ''blues recording was ''crazy ''blues''!
Question: Mamie Smith
Answers: Mamie Smith
Mamie Smith is correct.
Mamie Smith
On August 10 of 1920, Smith recorded the Bradford-penned "Crazy Blues" which in 2005 was selected for permanent preservation in the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress, and "It's Right Here For You, If You Don't Get It, 'Tain't No Fault of Mine". These were the first recordings of vocal blues by an African American singer, and the record became an explosive best seller, selling a million copies in one year. To the surprise of record companies, large numbers of the record were purchased by African-Americans, a market the record industry had hitherto neglected. "Crazy Blues" in particular was noted as a distinctively "colored" number performed by a "colored" performer. Because of the historical significance of "Crazy Blues", it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1994.
Although other African-Americans had been recorded earlier, such as George W. Johnson in the 1890s, they were all black artists who had a substantial following with white audiences. The success of Smith's record prompted record companies to seek to record other female blues singers and started the era of what is now known as classic female blues. It also opened up the record industry to recordings by and for African Americans in other genres.