 trixie smith (1895 &ndash; september 21, 1943) was an african-american blues singer, recording artist, vaudeville entertainer, and actress. she made four dozen recordings. ==biography== born and raised in atlanta, georgia, smith came from a middle class-background.wintz, cary d. encyclopedia of the harlem renaissance, taylor & francis (2004), p. 1129 - isbn 1-57958-458-6 she attended selma university in alabama before moving to new york around 1915.santelli, robert. the big book of blues: a biographical encyclopedia (2001), pp. 430-31 - isbn 0-14-015939-8 smith worked in minstrel shows and on the toba vaudeville circuit, before making her first recordings for the black swan label in 1922. amongst these were "my man rocks me (with one steady roll)" (1922),song: "my man rocks me (with one steady roll)" written by j. berni barbour, of historic interest as the first secular recording to reference the phrase "rock and roll".altschule, glenn c. all shook up: how rock 'n' roll changed america, oxford press (2003), p. 23 - isbn 0-19-513943-7 her record inspired various lyrical elaborations, such as "rock that thing" by lil johnson and "rock me mama" by ikey robinson. also in 1922, trixie smith won first place and a silver cup in a blues singing contest at the inter-manhattan casino in new york, sponsored by dancer irene castle, with her song "trixie's blues," singing against alice leslie carter, daisy martin and lucille hegamin.oliver, paul. the story of the blues, upne, page 77 - isbn 1-55553-354-x she is most remembered for "railroad blues" (1925), a song that featured one of smith's most inspired vocal performances on record, and "the world is jazz crazy and so am i" (1925). both songs feature louis armstrong on cornet. she was a highly polished performer, and her records include several outstanding examples of the blues on which she is accompanied by artists such as james p. johnson, and [
1895_births 1943_deaths American_blues_singers American_female_singers Classic_female_blues_singers Musicians_from_Atlanta,_Georgia