Episode 129 Celebrate Ma Rainey: Singer, Songwriter, And Influential Figure In American Music

Today we're celebrating another birthday. You might not have heard of Ma Rainey, but she was a very influential singer and songwriter in the early 1900's in America. Today we'll learn a little about her background and her influence in American music. As I mentioned in the episode, Viola Davis recently portrayed Ma Rainey in the Netflix film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, named after one of her songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ord7gP151vk And here is Ma Rainey Singing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_QcVq3ksGg Vocabulary segregated - this is a form of separation based on skin colour, in South Africa it was called Apartheid, an Afrikaans word, in America it was called 'segregation'. It meant that black people couldn't use the same spaces as white people, for example black people were not allowed to sit at the front of the bus and couldn't sit next to white people in theatres or restaurants. blues - a form of music originating in the deep south of America, it came originally from the African style of singing slaves brought with them but evolved with time vaudeville - a kind of show you could go out and see. A wide variety of performers would come for the evening and you could watch them all, singers, dancers, acrobats, all kinds of entertainment. (UK - variety show) flashy clothing - 'flashy' means bright colours or expensive cue moaning style music - 'cue' means start or begin bisexual - a variation of sexual preference that means you can like both men and women expansively - in a large and expressive way