Mildred Bailey
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Mildred Bailey (born Mildred Rinker; February 27, 1907 – December 12, 1951) was a Native American
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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...
singer during the 1930s, known as "The Queen of Swing", "The Rockin' Chair Lady", and "Mrs. Swing". She recorded the songs " For Sentimental Reasons", "It's So Peaceful in the Country", "Doin' The Uptown Lowdown", " Trust in Me", " Where Are You?", " I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart", " Small Fry", " Please Be Kind", " Darn That Dream", " Rockin' Chair", "Blame It on My Last Affair", and "Says My Heart". She had three records that reached number one on the popular charts. Bailey grew up on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho, where her mother was an enrolled citizen. The family moved to
Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the most populous city in eastern Washington and the county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It lies along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south o ...
, when she was 13. Her younger brothers also became musicians. Her brother, Al Rinker, started to perform as a singer with
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
in Spokane and became a member of The Rhythm Boys. As adults, Charles Rinker was a lyricist, and Miles Rinker was a clarinet and saxophone player who later became a booking agent.


Early life

Bailey was born Mildred Rinker on a farm in rural Tekoa, Washington. Her mother Josephine was a citizen of the Coeur d'Alene TribeMiller, John. (Associated Press
"Idaho tribe: 'Mrs. Swing' was Indian."
, ''The Wenatchee World''; retrieved March 27, 2012.
and a devout
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. Bailey's great-grandfather, Bazil Peone, was a head speaker and song leader of the Coeur d'Alene at the turn of the 20th century. His ability to create indigenized Catholic hymns helped guide the tribe during difficult times of active colonization by Jesuit missionaries. Bailey and her siblings grew up near De Smet, Idaho, on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation. Her father played fiddle and called square dances. Her mother played piano every evening and taught her to play and sing. Her younger brothers included Miles, Al, a vocalist and composer, and
Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
, a lyricist. The family often hosted Saturday night gatherings, creating small music and dance hall in the home for local ranchers with both Josephine and Mildred at the piano. Mildred also accompanied her mother to traditional native ceremonies, where she heard and practiced the traditional songs and lyrics that would later influence her unique singing voice. Josephine died from
tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...
at the age of 36, threatening Mildred's ability to remain connected to her native family and traditions in a way that she was able to while her mother was alive. Soon after Josephine's death, Mildred's father remarried, bringing a daughter and creating a tumultuous and unhappy house from which Mildred and her siblings were systematically pushed out by her new stepmother. Given an ultimatum to choose his own children or his new wife, Mildred's father sided with his wife and Mildred moved out of the home and in with her aunt and uncle in Seattle. She and her aunt were involved in a serious car accident a short time later which killed her aunt and left Mildred with serious physical and emotional scars.


Music career

At age 17, Rinker moved to Seattle and worked as a sheet music demonstrator at Woolworth's. She married and divorced Ted Bailey, keeping his last name because she thought it sounded more American than Rinker, which was of Swiss (German) origin. She toured with a West Coast revue and finished in California where she obtained work at radio station KMTR and at a speakeasy in Bakersfield called The Swede's. With the help of her second husband Benny Stafford, Bailey became an established
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 ...
and jazz singer on the west coast of the United States. According to Gary Giddins in his book ''Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams, The Early Years 1903–1940'', she found work for her brother Al Rinker and
Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, comedian, entertainer and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwi ...
, who had started performing in Spokane, Washington. They had traveled from Spokane to join her in Los Angeles. Giddins says Crosby heard about
Louis Armstrong Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed "Satchmo", "Satch", and "Pops", was an American trumpeter and vocalist. He was among the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades and several era ...
from Bailey, who urged him to hear Armstrong if Crosby was to be a serious jazz singer. She also played Crosby records from her collection by Ethel Waters and
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 ...
. Crosby helped Bailey in turn by introducing her to
Paul Whiteman Paul Samuel Whiteman (March 28, 1890 – December 29, 1967) was an American Jazz bandleader, composer, orchestral director, and violinist. As the leader of one of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s and early 193 ...
in Los Angeles. She sang with Whiteman's band from 1929 to 1933. Whiteman had a radio program for Old Gold Cigarettes, and when Bailey debuted on it with her version of " Moanin' Low" on August 6, 1929, favorable public reaction was immediate. However, Bailey's first recording with Whiteman did not take place until October 6, 1931, when she recorded a song called "My Goodbye to You". Her recording of " All of Me" with Whiteman the same year was a hit in 1932. Her first two records had been as an uncredited vocalist for a 1929 session by the Eddie Lang Orchestra ("What Kind o' Man Is You?", a Hoagy Carmichael song that was issued only in the UK), and a recording on May 8, 1930, of "I Like to Do Things for You" for Frankie Trumbauer. She was Whiteman's female vocalist through 1932 (recording in a smooth, crooning style) but left the band later that same year over salary disagreements. She recorded four sides for Brunswick in 1931 with the Casa Loma Orchestra. and there were further recordings for the label in 1933 with the Dorsey Brothers as supporting musicians. Bailey was part of an all-star session with Benny Goodman's studio band in 1934 featuring Coleman Hawkins, Dick McDonough, and Gene Krupa. After leaving Whiteman, Bailey sang on the radio shows of George Jessel and Willard Robison. In 1933, Bailey married Red Norvo, a xylophonist, improviser, and band leader who had also worked with Paul Whiteman. A dynamic couple, they remained married until 1942 and were known as "Mr. and Mrs. Swing". They worked much of the time in New York City. They remained friends after their divorce. She worked as a solo act, singing in clubs in New York, such as the Café Society and the Blue Angel. From September 1944, Bailey's radio show began on CBS and continued until February 1945. Her last major engagement was with Joe Marsala in Chicago in 1950. From 1936 to 1939, Norvo recorded for Brunswick (with Bailey as primary vocalist), and Bailey recorded for Vocalion, often with Norvo's band. Some of her other recordings featured members of
Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
's band. The two performers continued to record together intermittently until 1945. Bailey was featured on Benny Goodman's '' Camel Caravan'' radio program and sang on a number of Goodman's Columbia recordings in 1939 and 1940, including her version of "Darn That Dream" which was a hit in 1940. Bailey suffered from diabetes. Due to her health, she was hospitalized in 1938, 1943, and 1949. She went into retirement for a time in 1949 on a farm she owned in Poughkeepsie, New York. Often in financial difficulties, she was bailed out several times by Bing Crosby. Bailey died of heart failure on December 12, 1951 in St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York at the age of 44.


Awards and honors

* In 1989, Bailey was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. * ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'' describes Bailey as "the first white singer to absorb and master the jazz-flavored phrasing...of her black contemporaries." However, this designation fails to recognize Bailey's full heritage, as her mother was "a Coeur d’Alene tribal member," and "her father of Swiss-Irish stock." * In 1994, a 29-cent stamp was issued by the US Postal Service in Bailey's honor;"Mildred Bailey"
''Women on Stamps'', Publication 512, United States Postal Service, 2003
it was designed by Howard Koslow, based on the photograph by jazz photographer William Gottlieb (at the head of this article) of Bailey performing at
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
. * In 2012, the Coeur d'Alene Nation introduced a resolution honoring Bailey to the Idaho state legislature. They were seeking acknowledgement of the singer's Coeur d'Alene ancestry as well as to promote her induction to the Jazz at Lincoln Center Hall of Fame in New York City.


Number one hits

In 1938, Bailey had two number one hits with Red Norvo and His Orchestra. "Please Be Kind" reached number one on the Hit Parade chart on May 7. She also sang lead vocals with Norvo on "Says My Heart", which reached number one during the week of June 18, 1938. Bailey sang lead vocals on " Darn That Dream", recorded by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, which reached number one for one week in March 1940 on the U.S. pop chart.


Discography

* ''Sweet Beginnings'' (The Old Masters, 1994) * ''Band Vocalist'' (The Old Masters, 1994) * ''The Rockin' Chair Lady'' (GRP, 1994) * ''The Blue Angel Years'' (Baldwin Street Music, 1999) * ''Me and the Blues'' (Savoy, 2000) * ''The Legendary V-Disc Sessions'' (Vintage Jazz, 1990) * ''The Complete Columbia Recordings of Mildred Bailey'' (Mosaic, 2000)


Hit singles

( Vocalion releases only)


Other notable recordings

* "
Georgia on My Mind "Georgia on My Mind" is a 1930 song written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell, and first recorded that same year by Carmichael at the RCA Studios New York#24th St, RCA Victor Studios at 155 East 24th Street in New York City. The song has ...
" (1931) * " I'll Never Be the Same" (1932) * " Lazy Bones" (1933) * "
Heat Wave A heat wave or heatwave, sometimes described as extreme heat, is a period of abnormally hot weather generally considered to be at least ''five consecutive days''. A heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the area and ...
" (1933) * "Ol' Pappy" (1934) * "Miss Brown to you" (Sideman Teddy Wilson) (1935) * "I'd Love to Take Orders from You" (1935) * " Someday, Sweetheart" (1935) * "When Day Is Done" (1935) * " Honeysuckle Rose" (1935) * " Squeeze Me" (1935) * " A Porter%27s Love Song to a Chambermaid" (1936) * "'Long About Midnight" (1936) * "It Can Happen to You" (1936) * " I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" (1937) * " Slumming on Park Avenue" (1937) * "Worried Over You" (1937) * " Love Is Here to Stay" (1938) * " Please Be Kind" (1938) * "Weekend of a Private Secretary" (1938) * "Says My Heart" (1938) * "Garden of the Moon" (1938) * "Have You Forgotten So Soon?" (1938) * "Born to Swing" (1938) * "I Go for That" (1939) * "Love's a Necessary Thing" (1939) * " I'm Glad There Is You" (1939) * " I Don't Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You" (1939) * " The Lamp Is Low" (1939) * " I Thought About You" (1939) * "Bluebirds in the Moonlight" (1939) * " Darn That Dream" (1939) * " Don't Take Your Love from Me" (1940) * "It's So Peaceful in the Country" (1940) * "Wham (Re Bop Boom Bam) (1940) * "In Love in Vain" (1946) * "It's a Woman's Prerogative" (1946) * " Almost Like Being in Love" (1947) The 2023 American historical drama miniseries " Lessons in Chemistry" used Bailey's 1940 recording of "Wham (Re Bop Boom Bam)" as its opening theme song.


References


External links


Mildred Bailey on encyclopedia.com


Further reading

* ''The Complete Encyclopedia of Popular Music and Jazz 1900–1950'' by Roger D. Kinkle (Arlington House Publishers, 1974) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bailey, Mildred 1907 births 1951 deaths 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century Native American people American women jazz singers American jazz singers Brunswick Records artists Classic female blues singers Coeur d'Alene people Deaths from diabetes in New York (state) Decca Records artists The Dorsey Brothers members Majestic Records artists Musicians from Spokane, Washington Native American singers People from Tekoa, Washington RCA Victor artists Savoy Records artists Singers from Washington (state) American torch singers Vocalion Records artists 20th-century Native American women Jazz musicians from Washington (state) DownBeat Jazz Hall of Fame members