Mildred Bailey


Mildred Bailey was a Native American jazz singer during the 1930s, known as "The Queen of Swing", "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing". Some of her best-known hits are "It's So Peaceful in the Country", "Trust in Me", "Where Are You?", "I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart", "Small Fry", "Please Be Kind", "Darn That Dream", "Rockin' Chair", "Blame It on My Last Affair", and "Says My Heart". She had three singles that made number one on the popular charts.
She grew up on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation in Idaho, where her mother was an enrolled member. The family moved to Spokane, Washington when she was 13. Her younger brothers also became musicians, with her brother Al Rinker starting to perform as a singer with Bing Crosby in Spokane and eventually becoming famous as a member of The Rhythm Boys. Charles Rinker became a lyricist, and Miles Rinker was a clarinet and saxophone player who later became a booking agent.

Early life

Bailey was born Mildred Rinker on a farm in rural Tekoa, Washington. Her mother Josephine was a member of the Coeur d'Alene people and a devout Roman Catholic. Bailey's great-grandfather, Bazil Peone, was a well known head speaker and song leader of the Coeur d'Alene at the turn of the 20th century. His ability to create indigenized Catholic hymns helped guide the tribe during difficult times of active colonization by Jesuit missionaries.
Bailey and her siblings grew up near De Smet, Idaho, on the Coeur d'Alene Reservation. Her father played fiddle and called square dances. Her mother played piano every evening and taught her to play and sing. Her younger brothers included Miles, Al, a vocalist and composer, and Charles, a lyricist. The family often hosted Saturday night gatherings, creating small music and dance hall in the home for local ranchers with both Josephine and Mildred at the piano. Mildred also accompanied her mother to traditional native ceremony where she heard and practiced the traditional songs and lyrics that would later influence her unique singing voice.
Josephine died from tuberculosis at the age of 36, threatening Mildred's ability to remain connected to her native family and traditions in a way that she was able to while her mother was alive. Soon after Josephine's death, Mildred's father remarried, bringing a daughter and creating a tumultuous and unhappy house where Mildred and her siblings were systematically pushed out of by her new stepmother. Given an ultimatum to his father to choose his children or his new wife, Mildred's father sided with his wife and Mildred moved out of the home and in with her aunt and uncle in Seattle. She and her aunt were involved in a serious car accident a short time later which killed her aunt and left Mildred with serious physical and emotional scars.

Music career

At age 17, Rinker moved to Seattle and worked as a sheet music demonstrator at Woolworth's. She married and divorced Ted Bailey, keeping his last name because she thought it sounded more American than Rinker, which was of Swiss origin.
She toured with a West Coast revue and finished in California where she obtained work at radio station KMTR and at a speakeasy in Bakersfield called The Swede's. With the help of her second husband Benny Stafford, Bailey became an established blues and jazz singer on the west coast of the United States. According to Gary Giddins in his book Bing Crosby: A Pocketful of Dreams, The Early Years 1903–1940, she found work for her brother Al Rinker and Bing Crosby, who had started performing in Spokane, Washington. They had traveled from Spokane to join her in Los Angeles. Giddins says Crosby heard about Louis Armstrong from Bailey, who urged him to hear Armstrong if Crosby was to be a serious jazz singer. She also played Crosby records from her collection by Ethel Waters and Bessie Smith.
Crosby helped Bailey in turn by introducing her to Paul Whiteman in Los Angeles. She sang with Whiteman's band from 1929 to 1933. Whiteman had a popular radio program for Old Gold Cigarettes, and when Bailey debuted on it with her version of "Moanin' Low" on August 6, 1929, favorable public reaction was immediate. However, Bailey's first recording with Whiteman did not take place until October 6, 1931 when she recorded a song called "My Goodbye to You". Her recording of "All of Me" with Whiteman the same year was a hit in 1932.
Her first two records had been as an uncredited vocalist for a 1929 session by the Eddie Lang Orchestra, and a recording on May 8, 1930 of "I Like to Do Things for You" for Frankie Trumbauer. She was Whiteman's popular female vocalist through 1932 but left the band later that same year over salary disagreements. She recorded four sides for Brunswick in 1931 with the Casa Loma Orchestra. and there were further recordings for the label in 1933 accompanied by the Dorsey Brothers. Bailey was part of an all-star session with Benny Goodman's studio band in 1934 featuring Coleman Hawkins, Dick McDonough, and Gene Krupa. After leaving Whiteman, Bailey sang on the radio shows of George Jessel and Willard Robison.
In 1933 Bailey married Red Norvo, a xylophonist, improviser, and band leader who had worked with Paul Whiteman. A dynamic couple, they were married until 1942 and were known as "Mr. and Mrs. Swing". They worked much of the time in New York City. They remained friends after their divorce. She worked as a solo act, singing in clubs in New York, such as the Café Society and the Blue Angel. In 1944 she had her own radio show on CBS which aired from September 1944 until February 1945. Her last major engagement was with Joe Marsala in Chicago in 1950.
From 1936 to 1939, Norvo recorded for Brunswick, and Bailey recorded for Vocalion, often with Norvo's band. Some of her other recordings featured members of Count Basie's band. The two continued to record together intermittently until 1945. Bailey was featured on Benny Goodman's Camel Caravan radio program and sang on a number of Goodman's Columbia recordings in 1939 and 1940, most notably "Darn That Dream" which was a hit in 1940.
A large woman, she suffered from diabetes. Due to her health, she was hospitalized in 1938, 1943, and 1949. She went into retirement for a time in 1949 on a farm she owned in Poughkeepsie, New York. Often in financial difficulties, she was bailed out on a number of occasions by Bing Crosby.
Bailey died of heart failure on December 12, 1951 in St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, New York at the age of 44. Her ashes were scattered.

Awards and honors

In 1938, Bailey had two number one hits with Red Norvo and His Orchestra. "Please Be Kind" reached number one on the Hit Parade chart on May 7. She also sang lead vocals with Norvo on "Says My Heart", which reached number one during the week of June 18, 1938.
Bailey sang lead vocals on "Darn That Dream", recorded by Benny Goodman and His Orchestra, which reached number one for one week in March 1940 on the U.S. pop singles chart.

Discography

YearSingleUSCat. No.
1936"For Sentimental Reasons"183367
1936"More Than You Know"153378
1937"Trust in Me" 43449
1937"My Last Affair" 103449
1937"Where Are You?"53456
1937"Never in a Million Years"83508
1937"Rockin' Chair"133553
1937"It's the Natural Thing to Do"143626
1937"Bob White "143712
1937"Right or Wrong"193758
1938"Thanks for the Memory"113931
1938"Don't Be That Way"94016
1938"I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart"84083
1938"Small Fry"94224
1938"So Help Me"24253
1938"My Reverie"104408
1939"Blame It on My Last Affair"134632
1939"Moon Love"144939

Other notable recordings