Lucille Spann (June 23, 1938 – August 2, 1994), 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 participated in the

Chicago Blues Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois. It is based on earlier blues idioms, such as Delta blues, but is performed in an urban style. It developed alongside the Great Migration of African Americans of the fi ...

community in the 1960s and 1970s.

Life and works

Lucille Spann was born Mahalia Lucille Jenkins in

Bolton, Mississippi Bolton is a town in Hinds County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 567 at the 2010 census, down from 629 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Jackson Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Bolton is in north-central Hinds Cou ...

, the ninth child of Gertrude and Sherman Jenkins.''Cry Before I Go'' - sleeve notes, 1974 Her mother died before she was five, and she was brought up by her father and her sisters. She started out singing

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music vary according to culture and social context. Gospel music is compo ...

, and was banned from listening to the blues. Nevertheless, she developed a liking for

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Empress of the Blues" and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was t ...

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''R ...

and other blues singers. She moved to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

in her teens, where she met

Otis Spann Otis Spann (March 21, 1924, or 1930April 24, 1970) was an American blues musician many consider the leading postwar Chicago blues pianist. Early life Sources differ over Spann's early years. Some state that he was born in Jackson, Mississippi, ...

whilst working as a barmaid. Soon she started working with him musically and later married him in 1969. She became one of the musicians who recorded with Spivey Records alongside Otis,

Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...

, Luther Johnson,

Sammy Lawhorn Sammy David Lawhorn (July 12, 1935 – April 29, 1990) was an American Chicago blues guitarist, best known as a member of Muddy Waters's band. He also accompanied many other blues musicians, including Otis Spann, Willie Cobbs, Eddie Boyd, Roy B ...

Paul Oscher Paul Allan Oscher (February 26, 1947 – April 18, 2021) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. Primarily a harmonica player, he was the first permanent white member of Muddy Waters' band.Norman Darwen, "Obituary: Paul ...

, Pee Wee Madison, S. P. Leary and Willie Smith. After Otis Spann's death in 1970, she continued singing, making recordings with Mighty Joe Young. She also participated in a festival dedicated to Otis Spann on September 10, 1972, featuring John Sinclair,

Sun Ra Le Sony'r Ra (born Herman Poole Blount, May 22, 1914 – May 30, 1993), better known as Sun Ra, was an American jazz composer, bandleader, piano and synthesizer player, and poet known for his experimental music, "cosmic" philosophy, prolific ou ...

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

Luther Allison Luther Sylvester Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison wa ...

Johnny Shines John Ned Shines (April 26, 1915 – April 20, 1992) was an American blues singer and guitarist. Biography Shines was born in Frayser, Tennessee, today a neighborhood of Memphis. He was taught to play the guitar by his mother and spent m ...

Otis Rush Otis Rush Jr. (April 29, 1934 – September 29, 2018) was an American blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter who has been long revered as one of the creators of modern Chicago blues; though he was respected and praised, the success he sought e ...

and

Sippie Wallace Sippie Wallace (born Beulah Belle Thomas; November 1, 1898 – November 1, 1986) was an American blues singer, pianist and songwriter. Her early career in tent shows gained her the billing "The Texas Nightingale". Between 1923 and 1927, she recor ...

. She released two singles in 1972, "Womans Lib" b/w "What You Do To Your Woman", and "Country Girl Returns" (parts 1 and 2). She also released an album ''Cry Before I Go'' in 1974. Spann died in August 1994 in

Vicksburg, Mississippi Vicksburg is a historic city in Warren County, Mississippi, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 21,573 at the 2020 census. Located on a high bluff on the east bank of the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, Vicksburg ...

, at the age of 56.

Discography

*''Cry Before I Go'' (BluesWay, 1974) With

*'' The Bottom of the Blues'' (BluesWay, 1968) *''

Cryin' Time ''Cryin' Time'' is an album by blues pianist and vocalist Otis Spann recorded in Chicago in 1968 and released by Vanguard Records. Reception AllMusic reviewer Mark Allan writes "While the Muddy Waters sideman is best known for piano, his soulf ...

'' (Vanguard, 1969)

References

External links

Lucille Spann discographyGravestone image
1938 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century African-American women singers American blues singers People from Bolton, Mississippi 20th-century American women singers {{US-singer-stub