Hattie Hart

Hattie Hart was an American Memphis blues singer and songwriter. She was active as a recording artist from the late 1920s to the mid-1930s. Her best known tracks are "I Let My Daddy Do That" and "Coldest Stuff in Town". She worked as a solo artist and as a singer with the Memphis Jug Band. Little is known of her life outside music.[1]

Hattie Hart
Also known asHattie Bolten
OriginMemphis, Tennessee, United States
GenresMemphis blues, country blues[1]
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1920s–1930s
LabelsVictor, Vocalion

It was stated that "Hart wrote gritty songs about love, sex, cocaine and voodoo".[2]

Career

Hart was born in Memphis, Tennessee, around 1900.[2] She first recorded with the Memphis Jug Band in 1928.[3] She had a reputation for the parties that she hosted at this time.[1] She also sang in the Beale Street area of Memphis, busking with various musicians, where she became one of the best-known performers.[2][4] Hart's singing style has been compared to that of Sara Martin.[5] She has been described as a "marvellous, tough voiced singer".[6]

Her earliest recording with the Memphis Jug Band was a song she wrote, "Won't You Be Kind?" (1928), with blues dialect in the lyrics: "Now twenty-five cents a saucer, seventy-five cents a cup, But it's an extra dollar papa, if you mean to keep it up."[7] Five recordings of Hart with the Jug Band between 1928 and 1930 are known to exist. She undertook a recording session of her own in September 1934, with Allen Shaw and one other musician, whom some blues historians believe was Memphis Willie B. Hart recorded fourteen tracks for Vocalion Records, only four of which were released at the time.[8][9]

Hart moved to Chicago, and it is believed she recorded there in 1938 under the name Hattie Bolten.[2] It is not reported whether this was her married name or a pseudonym.[10] After that, she disappeared from public attention, and no further details of her life are known.[2]

Hart's song "I Let My Daddy Do That" was covered by Holly Golightly on her 1997 album Painted On.[11]

Recordings
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.
Month/year Track Songwriter Contributors Record label
1928"Won't You Be Kind?"
(also known as "Won't You Be Kind to Me?")		Hattie HartMemphis Jug BandVictor
1930"Cocaine Habit Blues"Jennie Mae ClaytonMemphis Jug BandVictor
1930"Oh Ambulance Man"Hattie HartMemphis Jug BandVictor
June 1930"Spider's Nest Blues"Jennie Mae ClaytonMemphis Jug BandVictor
June 1930"Papa's Got Your Bath Water On"Hattie HartMemphis Jug BandVictor
"You Wouldn't, Would You Papa"Hattie Hart, others
September 1934"Coldest Stuff in Town"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw (duo); Memphis Willie B. (probably) Vocalion
September 1934"Happy-Go-Lucky-Blues"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably) Vocalion
September 1934"I'm Missing That Thing"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion
September 1934"I Let My Daddy Do That"Hattie HartHattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion
September 1934"Down Home Shake"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Runnin' Wild Blues"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Mama, Easy Me Your Key"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Lucky Some Day"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Low Down Papa"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Drop Down Papa"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Didn't He Ramble"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Country Farm Blues"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Barrel House Mama"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)
September 1934"Home Breakin' Blues"Hattie Hart, Allen Shaw, Memphis Willie B. (probably)Vocalion (unissued)

[8][12][13][14]

See also

References
  1. Layne, Joslyn. "Hattie Hart: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  2. Johnson, Russell (n.d.). "Hattie Hart". Memphishistory.org. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  3. Britton, Alan John (2010). Uncle Art. Milton Keynes, England: AuthorHouse. p. 84. ISBN 978-1-4520-8388-9.
  4. O'Neal, Jim (2002). The Voice of the Blues: Classic Interviews from Living Blues Magazine. New York: Routledge. p. 53. ISBN 0-415-93653-5.
  5. Charters, Samuel Barclay (1977). Sweet as the Showers of Rain. Michigan: Oak Publications. p. 21. ISBN 0-8256-0178-9.
  6. "Big Road Blues Show". Sundayblues.org. n.d. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  7. Calt, Stephen (2009). Barrelhouse Words: A Blues Dialect Dictionary. Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-252-07660-2.
  8. Wirz, Stefan (n.d.). "Illustrated Memphis Willie B. Discography". Wirz.de. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  9. "Hattie Hart: 'I Let My Daddy Do That'". NME. n.d. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  10. "Hattie Hart". Centrohd.com. n.d. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  11. Raggett, Ned. "Holly Golightly, Painted On: Review". AllMusic.
  12. "Hattie Hart: Songs: All Songs".
  13. Yronwode, Catherine (n.d.). "Blues Lyrics and Hoodoo: Supplementary Transcriptions". Luckymojo.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
  14. Smith, Chris (n.d.). "Memphis Jug Band Vol. 3 (1930)". Document-records.com. Retrieved October 16, 2011.
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