Lena Wilson (c. 1898 – c. 1939) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer who performed in the

classic female blues Classic female blues was an early form of blues music, popular in the 1920s. An amalgam of traditional folk blues and urban theater music, the style is also known as vaudeville blues. Classic blues were performed by female singers accompanied by ...

style. An

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

, Wilson performed in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

with her brother Danny and his wife,

Edith Wilson Edith Wilson ( Bolling, formerly Galt; October 15, 1872 – December 28, 1961) was First Lady of the United States from 1915 to 1921 as the second wife of President Woodrow Wilson. She married the widower Wilson in December 1915, during his firs ...

in the late 1910s and 1920s. Wilson made numerous recordings in the 1920s as a solo artist, for labels such as

Black Swan The black swan (''Cygnus atratus'') is a large Anatidae, waterbird, a species of swan which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Within Australia, the black swan is nomadic, with erratic migration patterns dependent ...

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

Pathé Pathé SAS (; styled as PATHÉ!) is a French major film production and distribution company, owning a number of cinema chains through its subsidiary Pathé Cinémas and television networks across Europe. It is the name of a network of Fren ...

, Victor, and

Vocalion Vocalion Records is an American record label, originally founded by the Aeolian Company, a piano and organ manufacturer before being bought out by Brunswick in 1924. History The label was founded in 1916 by the Aeolian Company, a maker of pian ...

Life and career

Wilson was born in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 United ...

. She was an adopted child.Harris 1994, p. 583 About 1918–1920 she sang with her brother Danny Wilson as a vaudeville act on the

Theater Owners Booking Association Theatre Owners Booking Association, or T.O.B.A., was the vaudeville circuit for African American performers in the 1920s. The theaters mostly had white owners, though about a third of them had black owners. These included the restored Morton Theat ...

circuit in the South. In 1921, they performed in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...

, on a bill with Edith Goodall, who soon married Danny and joined their act. Danny, a pianist who had been trained at a conservatory in

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, encouraged Lena and Edith to sing not just blues but also other song forms. Wilson's major recordings were made between 1922 and 1924 and in 1930. She variously worked with the Nubian Five,

Perry Bradford Perry Bradford (February 14, 1893, Montgomery, Alabama – April 20, 1970, New York City) was an African American composer, songwriter, and vaudeville performer. His most notable songs included "Crazy Blues," "That Thing Called Love," and "You C ...

's Jazz Phools, Conaway's Rag Pickers,

Fletcher Henderson James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson (December 18, 1897 – December 29, 1952) was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. He was one of the most prolific black musical ...

Johnny Dunn Johnny Dunn (February 19, 1897 – August 20, 1937) was an American traditional jazz trumpeter and vaudeville performer, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He is probably best known for his work during the 1920s with musicians such as Perry ...

's Jazz Hounds, Danny Wilson and

. Additionally, she recorded under her own name with the Jazz Hounds, an ensemble featuring Gus Aiken on trumpet,

Garvin Bushell Garvin Bushell ''(né'' Garvin Lamont Payne; September 25, 1902 – October 31, 1991) was an American clarinetist, saxophonist, and bassoonist. He performed with many prominent 20th-century jazz musicians, including Jelly Roll Morton and John Co ...

on clarinet, Herb Fleming on trombone, John Mitchell on banjo, and

Porter Grainger Porter Grainger ( Granger; October 22, 1891 − October 30, 1948) was an African American pianist, songwriter, playwright, and music publisher. Early life When Grainger was born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, the Granger family name did not include ...

and Cliff Jackson on piano. Among her recordings are "Memphis, Tennessee", " Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do", "Chiropractor Blues", and "Love Ain't Blind No More". Wilson sang in many

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 ...

musical revues throughout the 1920s. She married the violinist Shrimp Jones in the 1930s. She remained a regular performer in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

into the mid-1930s. She died, reportedly of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

, in New York, about 1939.Harris 1994, p. 584.

Notes

References

* Lena Wilsonat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

* Harris, Sheldon (1994). ''Blues Who's Who'' (rev. ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. . *Harrison, Daphne Duval (1990). ''Black Pearls: Blues Queens of the 1920s''. New Brunswick and London: Rutgers. . *Wintz, Cary D.; Finkelman, Paul (2004). ''Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance''. Vol. 1. Taylor & Francis. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Lena 1890s births 1939 deaths American adoptees Classic female blues singers Musicians from Charlotte, North Carolina 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers