Ma Rainey Walking Blues and Barrel House Blues.  One of her first recordings made in Chicago in 1923.  She is accompanied by Lovie Austin and Her Serenaders Tommy Ladnier, Jimmy O'Bryant.  The record is in V- condition.  There is evidence of previous enjoyment.  Please see photos.

Gertrude Pridgett(Ma) Rainey(1882-1939), Artist, Considered the Mother of the Blues, Rare 1923 78RPM Paramount Record 12082-A, and 12082-B, , Recorded in Chicago December 1923

Side A. Walking Blues`, Madame "Ma" Rainey, Acc. by Lovie Austin and Her Serenaders.

Side B. Barrel House Blues, Madame "Ma" Rainey, Acc. by Lovie Austin and Her Blues Serenaders.

A brief biography on artist from Wikipedia as follows:

"Ma" Rainey, born Gertrude Pridgett, was one of the earliest professional singers and one of the first generation of blues singers to record. She was billed as the "Mother of the Blues".

"She began performing as a teenager and became known as Ma Rainey after her marriage to Will Rainey, in 1904. They toured with the and later formed their own group, Rainey and Rainey, Assassinators of the Blues. Her first recording was made in 1923. In the next five years, she made over 100 recordings, including "" (1923), "Moonshine Blues" (1923), "" (1924), "" (1927), and "Soon This Morning" (1927)."

"Rainey was known for her powerful vocal abilities, energetic disposition, majestic phrasing, and a "moaning" style of singing. Her qualities are present and most evident in her early recordings "Bo-Weevil Blues" and "Moonshine Blues"."

"Rainey recorded with , and she toured and recorded with the Georgia Jazz Band. She continued to tour until 1935, when she retired and went to live in her hometown."

"Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey "

"Paramount marketed her extensively, calling her the "Mother of the Blues", the "Songbird of the South", the "Gold-Neck Woman of the Blues" and the "Paramount Wildcat".

Rarity of 1920 and 1930 Old Blues Records on Paramount Record Label from the New York Times Article "They've got those Old Hard-to Find Blues:

"Blues music is in part mythological; its legend involves sweltering juke joints, homemade whiskey and Faustian bargains at rural crossroads. A furniture company in a largely white Midwestern suburb is rarely evoked in these reveries, but in the late 1920s and early 1930s Paramount Records � an arm of the Wisconsin Chair Company, a manufacturer of wooden phonograph cabinets in Port Washington, Wis. � became an unlikely home for blues legends like Patton, Blind Blake, Blind Lemon Jefferson, Son House and Skip James. Paramount’s blues releases � especially its “race” records with label numbers in the 12000s and 13000s � are among the most coveted records in the world."

"Because these 78s are so scarce �of the thousands presumably pressed, many were lost, broken or melted down, and of the 1,356 titles said to have been issued in the 12000-13000 series."

 It is very hard to find Early Paramount Blues Records in any kind of shape.

THESE RECORDS ARE PART OF THE ROBERT W. FERTIG COLLECTION WHICH WAS STARTED IN 1936.  WE HAVE BEEN CARE TAKERS OF THE COLLECTION AND IN THE BUSINESS FOR THE LAST TWENTY FIVE YEARS.  ALL RECORDS ARE STORED IN ENVIRONMENTALLY CONTROLLED SPACE.  RECORDS ARE CLEANED WITH A VPI RECORD CLEANING MACHINE BEFORE THEY ARE OFFERED FOR PURCHASE.  RECORDS ARE PACKED CAREFULLY WITH MULTIPLE CARDBOARD PACKERS IN APPROPRIATE SIZED BOXES.
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