Virginia Liston (''née'' Crawford; c. 1890 – June 1932) was an American

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 ...

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer. She spent most of her career 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 ...

. She performed with her husband, Samuel H. Gray, as Liston and Liston. In the 1920s she made a series of recordings that included performances with Clarence Williams and his Blue Five on "You've Got the Right Key, but the Wrong Keyhole" and "Early in the Morning", and with the Clarence Williams Washboard Band on "Cushion Foot Stomp", and "P.D.Q. Blues".

Biography

Little is known about her childhood. It is thought that she was born around 1890 in

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, although U.S. census records suggest that she may have been born in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

.Abbott, Lynn, Doug Seroff (2017).
The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville
'. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 178. . By the time she was ten years old, she and her family were living in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. She was working in local theaters in 1909 and was performing in Texas by 1910. In 1911 she married Dave Liston, a singer. The couple apparently were separated by 1913, but she kept his surname for the rest of her career. In about 1912, she was performing as a blues singer at the Segal Theater in Philadelphia. She subsequently lived in Washington, D.C., until the early 1920s. From 1920 to 1923, she performed in a duo with her new husband, pianist Sam Gray, as Liston and Liston. They performed in the South on the

Theatre 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 ...

(T.O.B.A.) vaudeville circuit between 1920 and 1923, while also playing theaters in Philadelphia and Atlantic City. She regularly performed in Harlem theaters, and settled in New York City in about 1923. Liston met pianist Clarence Williams in the early 1920s. She made her first recordings with him for

Okeh Records OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

in September 1923. Thirty-six tracks were released until 1926 by Okeh 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 ...

. These included performances with

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 ...

and

Sidney Bechet Sidney Joseph Bechet ( ; May 14, 1897 – May 14, 1959) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, and composer. He was one of the first important Solo (music), soloists in jazz, and first recorded several months before trumpeter Louis Ar ...

. In January 1924, Liston and Sam Gray together recorded two songs, "You Can Have It (I Don't Want It)" and "Just Take One Long Last Lingering Look", for Okeh. By 1925 they were divorced. In 1927, Liston made her final recording session, singing "Cushion Foot Stomp" and "P.D.Q. Blues" with the Clarence Williams Washboard Band. Her song "You Don't Know My Mind Blues" was credited to the songwriting team of Gray, Liston and Williams. Sexual innuendo appears in songs such as "Rolls Royce Papa", written by Liston and recorded in 1926, in which she sang of a man with a "bent piston rod". Another song was titled "You Can Dip Your Bread in My Gravy, but You Can't Have None of My Chops". In 1929, Liston remarried and announced her retirement from

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

.Harris, Sheldon (1994). ''Blues Who's Who'' (Revised Ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. p. 331. She moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and worked for a church. She died in St. Louis in June 1932.

Discography

*''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order'', vol. 1 (1923–1924),

Document A document is a writing, written, drawing, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of nonfiction, non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ', which denotes ...

, 2000 *''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order'', vol. 2 (1924–1926), Document, 2000; the album also contains

Lavinia Turner Lavinia Turner ( – after 1937) was an American classic female blues singer. Originally a vaudeville vocalist, Turner recorded 10 songs in 1921 and 1922, making her one of the first female blues singers to be recorded. Details of her life outs ...

, ''Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order'' (1921–1922)

References

External links

Biography and discography at Red Hot Jazz Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liston, Virginia 1932 deaths American blues singers American jazz singers Songwriters from Missouri Classic female blues singers Singers from St. Louis Place of birth missing 20th-century American singers Jazz musicians from Missouri 20th-century American women singers Year of birth uncertain

Biography

Discography

See also

References

External links