{{short description|American singer}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Lavinia Turner | image = | caption = | birth_name = | alias = | birth_date = c. 1888 | birth_place = Virginia<ref name="1930census">''1930 United States Federal Census''</ref> | death_date = After 1937 | death_place = | instrument = Vocals | genre = Classic female blues<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lavinia-turner-mn0001360626 |title=Lavinia Turner: Songs |publisher=AllMusic.com |date= |accessdate=2017-03-29}}</ref> | occupation = Singer | years_active = 1921–1922 | label = Pathé Actuelle, Perfect,<ref name="jasobrecht1">{{cite web |url=http://jasobrecht.com/mamie-smith-the-first-lady-of-the-blues/ |title=Mamie Smith: The First Lady of the Blues |work=Jas Obrecht Music Archive |publisher=Jasobrecht.com |date=2010-06-07 |accessdate=2017-03-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180805100101/http://jasobrecht.com/mamie-smith-the-first-lady-of-the-blues/ |archive-date=2018-08-05 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Okeh Records<ref name="Okeh"/> }}
'''Lavinia Turner''' ({{circa|1888}} – after 1937)<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues: A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger | location= Santa Barbara, California| page=525| isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> was an American classic female blues singer. Originally a vaudeville vocalist, Turner recorded 10 songs in 1921 and 1922, making her one of the first female blues singers to be recorded.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://music.apple.com/gb/album/virginia-liston-vol-2-1924/78422891 |title=''Virginia Liston Vol. 2 (1924–1926)'', with ''Lavinia Turner (1921–1922)'' |website=iTunes |date=2000-09-07 |access-date=2017-03-29}}</ref>
Details of her life outside the recording studio are minimal.
==Biography== Turner was born in Virginia, to parents from Virginia, around 1888. She was living in New York City, making her living as a performer, by 1920.<ref>''1920 United States Federal Census''</ref><ref name="1930census"/><ref name="bare"/>
Her first recordings, almost certainly in March 1921,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AY7St4-8x10C&q=Lavinia+Turner.+blues.+born&pg=PA27 |title=Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong |author=Cohen, Norm |year=2000|isbn=978-0-252-06881-2|page=27 |publisher=University of Illinois Press }}</ref> were of "How Many Times?" and "Can't Get Lovin' Blues", with piano accompaniment, possibly by Willie Gant.<ref name="google1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TBB0Jh4QlOcC&q=%22LAVINIA+TURNER%22.+%22BLUES%22&pg=PA79 |title=Black Recording Artists, 1877–1926: An Annotated Discography |author=Gibbs, Craig Martin |page=79 |date=20 December 2012|publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0085-7}}</ref> It is thought that Clarence Williams played the piano on two of her other recordings.<ref name="google1"/> Gus Aiken (trumpet) was also credited on recording sessions with Turner in 1921.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jsnYCwAAQBAJ&q=Lavinia+Turner.+blues.+born&pg=PT43 |title=An Encyclopedia of South Carolina Jazz and Blues Musicians |author=Franklin, Benjamin, V |page=43 |date=30 May 2016|publisher=Univ of South Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-61117-622-3}}</ref> Turner was thus one of the first black women to sing blues on recordings, which were made in New York City. However, also in 1921, other blues singers, such as Lillyn Brown, Lucille Hegamin, and Daisy Martin, all made records.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sundayblues.org/page/Mississippi%20String%20Bands%20&%20Associates/www.wirz.de/music/spivey.htm/1/?paged=127 |title=Big Road Blues, Part 127 |publisher=Sundayblues.org |date= |accessdate=2017-03-29}}</ref> Six of Turner's sides, including "When the Rain Turns into Snow (Who's Gonna Keep You Warm)" and "Who'll Drive Your Blues Away",<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.popsike.com/Perfect-12039-78-RPM-Record-Lavinia-Turner-Blues/280566897170.html |title=Perfect 12039 78 RPM Record Lavinia Turner Blues |publisher=Popsike.com |date= |accessdate=2017-03-29}}</ref> were with piano accompaniment by James P. Johnson. They were originally issued on both Pathé Actuelle Records and Perfect Records.<ref name="redhotjazz1">{{cite web|url=http://www.redhotjazz.com/laviniaturnerjohnson.html |title=Lavinia Turner and James P. Johnson's Harmony Seven |publisher=Redhotjazz.com |date=1921-02-09 |accessdate=2017-03-29}}</ref> At least two of her tracks were issued by Okeh Records.<ref name="Okeh">{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Lavinia-Turner-How-Can-I-Be-Your-Sweet-Mamma-When-You-Are-Daddy-To-Somebody-Else-Dont-Cut-Off-Your-N/release/3199852 |title=Lavinia Turner, "How Can I Be Your Sweet Mamma When You Are Daddy to Somebody Else" / "Don't Cut Off Your Nose to Spite Your Face" |publisher=Discogs.com |date=1923-03-03 |accessdate=2017-03-29}}</ref>
Two of the songs that Turner recorded, "Watch Me Go" and "He Took It Away from Me", were written by Roy Turk and J. Russel Robinson.<ref name="redhotjazz1"/>
Turner's brief recording career finished in October 1922.<ref name="jasobrecht1"/> In 1930, she was living as a widow in New York,<ref name="bare"/> and may be the person of that name who made a Social Security application in 1937.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://search.ancestry.co.uk/cgi-bin/sse.dll?_phsrc=zgU143&_phstart=successSource&usePUBJs=true&gss=angs-g&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=lavinia&gsfn_x=0&gsln=turner&gsln_x=0&msypn__ftp=New%20York,%20USA&msypn=35&msypn_PInfo=5-%7C0%7C1652393%7C0%7C2%7C0%7C35%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C0%7C&MSAV=1&msbdy=1888&cp=0&catbucket=rstp&uidh=jq5&pcat=ROOT_CATEGORY&h=9790530&dbid=60901&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2 |title=Lavinia Turner, U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007. Provo, Utah|publisher=Ancestry.com |date=2015|website=|accessdate=2017-03-29}}</ref>
Her work has appeared on various compilation albums, including ''Female Blues 1921–1928'' (Document Records, 1997), which includes "When the Rain Turns into Snow (Who's Gonna Keep You Warm)" and "Who'll Drive Your Blues Away".<ref>{{cite web|author= |url=http://www.document-records.com/results-string.asp?Artist=Lavinia%20Turner |title=Document Records Blues and Jazz Artists |publisher=Document-records.com |date= |accessdate=2017-03-29}}</ref> In 1994, Document Records issued an anthology incorporating all of her known recorded work, together with the later recordings of Virginia Liston.<ref name="Vol2"/>
==Discography== *''Virginia Liston, Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order, vol. 2 (1924–1926)'', with ''Lavinia Turner, Complete Recorded Works in Chronological Order (1921–1922)'', Document Records, 2000.<ref name="Vol2">{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/virginia-liston-mn0000810022/discography |title=Virginia Liston: Discography |publisher=AllMusic.com |date=2000-09-07 |accessdate=2013-09-29}}</ref>
==See also== *List of classic female blues singers
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Lavinai}} Category:1880s births Category:1930s deaths Category:American blues singers Category:20th-century African-American women singers Category:Classic female blues singers Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American women singers Category:Year of death missing