Esther Bigeou

Esther Bigeou (1893 – November 15, 1934) [1] was an American vaudeville and blues singer. Billed as "The Girl with the Million Dollar Smile", she was one of the classic female blues singers popular in the 1920s.

Biography

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She was born Hester Bijou [1] in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1893. Several members of her extended family were musicians; the drummer Paul Barbarin was her cousin.[2] In 1913 she began touring in vaudeville with the performer and playwright Irvin C. Miller; they later married.[3] In 1917 Bigeou appeared as a singer, dancer, and recitalist in the revue Broadway Rastus, written by Miller, at the Standard Theater in Philadelphia; the Lafayette Theater in New York City; and the Orpheum Theater in Baltimore, Maryland.[2] She recorded for OKeh Records in 1921 and 1923 and toured the Theater Owners Booking Association vaudeville circuit with the Billy King Company in 1923.[2] From 1923 to 1925 and from 1927 to 1930, she toured as a single act in the American South, Midwest, and Northeast.[2]

Legacy

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The blues writer Chris Smith said that Bigeou was "a singer at the pop end of African-American entertainment" and that she "seems to have retired, aged only 35, to settle in New Orleans, where reports indicate that she died circa 1936".[4] She actually died on November 15, 1934, at Charity Hospital in New Orleans of pulmonary congestion accompanied by marked emaciation and dehydration, as listed on her death certificate.[1]

All of her recordings were reissued in 1996 by Document Records on Esther Bigeou: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order (1921–1923) (DODC-5489).

Recordings

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Recorded in New York City for Okeh Records in October–November 1921:

  • "The Memphis Blues"
  • "The St. Louis Blues"
  • "Stingaree Blues (A Down Home Blues)"
  • "Nervous Blues"
  • "If That's What You Want Here It Is"

Recorded in New York City for Okeh Records in March 1923:

  • "Agrravatin' Papa (Don't You Try To Two-Time Me)
  • "Four O'Clock Blues"
  • "I'm Through With You (As I Can Be)"
  • "Beale Street Mama"
  • "Outside Of That, He's All Right With Me"
  • "The Gulf Coast Blues"
  • "Beale Street Blues"
  • "The Hesitating Blues"

Recorded in New York City for Okeh Records in December 1923:

  • "That Twa-Twa Tune"
  • "Panama Limited Blues"
  • "You Ain't Treatin' Me Right"
  • "West Indies Blues"[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Tomko, Gene (2020). Encyclopedia of Louisiana Musicians: Jazz, Blues, Cajun, Creole, Zydeco, Swamp Pop, & Gospel. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University. p. 47. ISBN 9780807169322.
  2. ^ a b c d Harris, Sheldon (1994). Blues Who's Who. (Rev. ed.). New York: Da Capo Press. p. 48. ISBN 0-306-80155-8.
  3. ^ Wintz, Cary D.; Paul Finkelman, Paul, eds. 2004. Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance: K–Y. Taylor & Francis. p. 793.
  4. ^ Esther Bigeou: Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order (1921–1923). CD booklet. Document Records DODC-5489.
  5. ^ Dixon, Robert M. W.; Godrich, John (1982). Blues & Gospel Records, 1902–1943 (3rd rev. ed.). Essex: Storyville Publications. pp. 83–84. ISBN 9780902391031.
[edit]
  • Esther Bigeou Discography and photographs at Red Hot Jazz Archive


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