Bertha "Chippie" Hill

One of the better classic blues singers of the 1920s (and much less vaudeville-oriented than many of her contemporaries), Chippie Hill was one of the few singers of her generation to make a full-fledged comeback in the '40s. One of 16 children, she started working in 1916 as a dancer before she became better known as a singer. She toured with <a href="spotify:artist:1ygXiRxKSfb927vhBH1ruH">Ma Rainey</a>'s <a href="spotify:artist:1ygXiRxKSfb927vhBH1ruH">Rabbit Foot Minstrels</a> and went on to become a solo performer on vaudeville for a long period. Hill settled in Chicago in 1925 and recorded regularly for a few years. After working steadily in the Chicago area until 1930 (including touring with <a href="spotify:artist:2IadbCgYP2Oj0LHFoSBh68">Lovie Austin</a>), she eventually left music to raise seven children. Hill occasionally sang during the next 15 years (including with <a href="spotify:artist:2o0ypB7FfdIX9xnjSeAKi6">Jimmie Noone</a>) but mostly worked outside of music. She was rediscovered by writer <a href="spotify:artist:1Yt0WJdrpEfBU3BjfYt0gG">Rudi Blesh</a> in 1946, working in a bakery. Appearances on <a href="spotify:artist:1Yt0WJdrpEfBU3BjfYt0gG">Blesh</a>'s This Is Jazz radio series resulted in her coming back to the music scene, performing at the Village Vanguard, Jimmy Ryan's and even appearing at Carnegie Hall in 1948 with <a href="spotify:artist:7fvNIXXszS6FTHROnZVsK4">Kid Ory</a>. She sang at the Paris Jazz Festival, worked with <a href="spotify:artist:7B2GLsoPPGTRUeNpJ6VbL3">Art Hodes</a> in Chicago, and was back in prime form in 1950 when she was run over by a car and killed. Chippie Hill, who introduced <a href="spotify:artist:6q9sbVwxiKGeoVXlZwLg3y">Richard M. Jones</a>' "Trouble in Mind" in 1926, recorded 23 titles during 1925-1929 with such sidemen as <a href="spotify:artist:6q9sbVwxiKGeoVXlZwLg3y">Jones</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:19eLuQmk9aCobbVDHc6eek">Louis Armstrong</a>, Shirley Clay, <a href="spotify:artist:4u6S4f8xTZ1ViABQ9lj6wf">Georgia Tom Dorsey</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:0XFbUk3QnKwp0vl9sIQtIg">Tampa Red</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:5PnZDXZlsNMwbpNe67qQix">Punch Miller</a>. She also recorded nine selections on two dates in 1946 with Lee Collins, <a href="spotify:artist:2IadbCgYP2Oj0LHFoSBh68">Lovie Austin</a>, <a href="spotify:artist:2ELk72EFgeLu9RsIPmwCOS">Baby Dodds</a>, and <a href="spotify:artist:0jpobPHlTpZ0Z8lFNNfCYM">Montana Taylor</a>. ~ Scott Yanow, Rovi