Bea Booze (March 23, 1912 – November 11, 1986), often credited as Wee Bea Booze, was an American R&B and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

singer most popular in the 1940s. She was one of the few female blues guitarists of that time.

Biography

She was born Beatrice BoozePaulus, George; Campbell, Robert; Pruter, Robert
Ebony, Chicago, Southern, and Harlem: The Mayo Williams Indies
Retrieved September 22, 2014 in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, the daughter of Phillip and Lydia Booze. She made her name as a singer in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

, New York. Booze was signed by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. ...

to cover the songs and emulate the style of Lil GreenHarris, Sheldon (1994). ''Blues Who's Who'' (rev. ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. p. 61. . and, under the guidance of

Sammy Price Samuel Blythe Price (October 6, 1908 – April 14, 1992) was an American jazz, boogie-woogie and jump blues pianist and bandleader. Price's playing is dark, mellow, and relaxed rather than percussive, and he was a specialist at creating the ...

, first recorded in 1942. Her version of "

See See Rider Blues "See See Rider", also known as "C.C. Rider", "See See Rider Blues" or "Easy Rider", is a popular American 12-bar blues song that became a standard in several genres. Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was the first to record it on October 16, 1924, at Par ...

", first recorded by

Ma Rainey Gertrude "Ma" Rainey ( Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of ...

, reached number 1 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' R&B chart, after which she was billed as the "See See Rider Blues Girl". In addition to singing, she played guitar in performance and on many of her recordings. Later in the 1940s, Booze recorded as a jazz vocalist with the Andy Kirk band, which featured the trumpeter

Fats Navarro Theodore "Fats" Navarro (September 24, 1923 – July 6, 1950) was an American jazz trumpet player. He was a pioneer of the bebop style of jazz improvisation in the 1940s. He had a strong stylistic influence on many other players, including ...

, and also with a jazz quartet that included the saxophonist George Kelly and the organist Larry Johnson. She retired from the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, trai ...

in the early 1950s, and settled in Baltimore and later in

Scottsville, New York Scottsville is a village in southwestern Monroe County, New York, United States, and is in the northeastern part of the Town of Wheatland. The population was 2,001 at the 2010 census. The village is named after an early settler, Isaac Scott. Most ...

, although she recorded with Sammy Price in 1962. She died in Scottsville in 1986.

Confusion with Muriel Nichols

For reasons that remain undocumented, the producer

J. Mayo Williams Jay Mayo "Ink" Williams (September 25, 1894 – January 2, 1980) was a pioneering African-American producer of recorded blues music. Some historians have claimed that Ink Williams earned his nickname by his ability to get the signatures of ...

, who knew Booze from his time with Decca, released a version of "See See Rider" sung by Muriel Nichols for his Harlem label as number 1003 in 1945, credited to "Muriel (Bea Booze) Nichols". Nichols, born in Philadelphia in 1908, was a different singer, but this led to the false belief, reported in many sources, that Booze's real name was Muriel Nichols. However, Booze was listed in the 1920 US census as a seven-year-old child, born in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 23, 1912.

References

External links

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

br>Discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Booze, Bea 1912 births 1986 deaths 20th-century African-American women singers American jazz singers American women jazz singers American rhythm and blues guitarists American rhythm and blues singers Apollo Records artists Decca Records artists African-American guitarists 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American women guitarists