# Mae Barnes

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{{short description|American singer (1907–1996)}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| honorific_prefix =
| name             = Mae Barnes
| honorific_suffix =
| image            =
| image_size       =
| landscape        = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt              =
| caption          =
| native_name      =
| native_name_lang =
| birth_name       = Edith Mae Stith
| alias            =
| birth_date       = {{birth date|1907|1|23}} <small>(uncertain)</small>
| birth_place      = [New York City](/source/New_York_City), United States
| origin           =
| death_date       = {{death date and age|1996|12|13|1907|1|23}}
| death_place      = New York City, United States
| genre            = [Jazz](/source/Jazz), [blues](/source/blues), [show tunes](/source/musical_theatre)
| occupation       = Singer, dancer, entertainer
| instrument       =
| years_active     = 1919–1980s
| label            =
}}

'''Mae Barnes''' (born '''Edith Mae Stith''', possibly January 23, 1907 – December 13, 1996) was an American [jazz](/source/jazz) singer, dancer and comic entertainer. She was responsible for introducing the [Charleston](/source/Charleston_(dance)) dance to [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) in the 1924 [revue](/source/revue) ''Runnin' Wild''. After her career as a dancer ended, she became a successful [nightclub](/source/nightclub) singer and recording artist.

==Biography==
She was born in [New York City](/source/New_York_City). There is some uncertainty over her year of birth. Most sources give 1907, but blues researchers Bob Eagle and Eric LeBlanc give 1892, based on [1900](/source/1900_US_census) and [1910 US census](/source/1910_US_census) records,<ref name="bare">{{cite book| first1= Bob| last1= Eagle| first2= Eric S.| last2= LeBlanc| year= 2013| title= Blues - A Regional Experience| publisher= Praeger Publishers| location= Santa Barbara| pages=259 | isbn= 978-0313344237}}</ref> though the 1892 date would suggest that she died at the age of 104.<ref name=opal/>

Around 1919, she left school, purportedly to move to [Cleveland, Ohio](/source/Cleveland%2C_Ohio), but instead started working as a [chorus girl](/source/chorus_girl).<ref name=nyt/> Developing expertise as a singer and [tap dancer](/source/tap_dancer), she worked in [vaudeville](/source/vaudeville) and toured the [south](/source/Southern_United_States) in such shows as ''Bon Bon Buddy Jr.'' and ''Dinah''. In 1924, she made her Broadway debut in ''Runnin' Wild'', in which she introduced the [Charleston](/source/Charleston_(dance)) dance, and became known as "the bronze [Ann Pennington](/source/Ann_Pennington_(actress))".<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=94Vkm-y_3CEC&dq=%22Edith+Mae+Stith%22&pg=PA18 Bernard L. Peterson, ''Profiles of African American Stage Performers and Theatre People, 1816-1960'', Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001]</ref>

On her second tour, in ''Shuffle Along'' (1927), the entertainer [Bill "Bojangles" Robinson](/source/Bill_%22Bojangles%22_Robinson) called her "the greatest living female tap dancer". She was in the 1927 [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) production of ''[Rang Tang](/source/Rang_Tang),'' as well as the [Broadway](/source/Broadway_theatre) production of ''Rainbow,'' with [Charlie Ruggles](/source/Charlie_Ruggles), wherein she danced an "insanely comic" version of the [Black Bottom](/source/Black_Bottom_(dance)). She continued to perform as a dancer and entertainer in Broadway shows, including the ''[Ziegfeld Follies](/source/Ziegfeld_Follies)'' and ''Hot Rhythm'', and toured on the [Keith vaudeville circuit](/source/B._F._Keith_Circuit) through most of the 1930s.<ref name=opal>[http://opalnations.com/files/Mae_Barnes_Dr.Jazz_212_2011_Holland_.pdf  Opal Louis Nations, "The Mae Barnes Story", ''Doctor Jazz Magazine'']. Retrieved 25 October 2016</ref><ref name=allmusic>[http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mae-barnes-mn0000186537 Biography by Scott Yanow, ''Allmusic.com'']. Retrieved 25 October 2016</ref><ref name=knowles>[https://books.google.com/books?id=XAzP__xv7CkC&dq=%22Edith+Mae+Stith%22&pg=PA226  Mark Knowles, ''The Wicked Waltz and Other Scandalous Dances: Outrage at Couple Dancing in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries''. McFarland, 2009, p.226]</ref>

In 1938, she broke her [pelvis](/source/pelvis) in an automobile accident. This effectively ended her career as a dancer, and she diverted her energies into singing. She sang in [nightclub](/source/nightclub)s in [Hollywood](/source/Hollywood%2C_Los_Angeles), [Honolulu](/source/Honolulu), and [New York City](/source/New_York_City), including a seven-year residency at the Boite in [Greenwich Village](/source/Greenwich_Village), and at clubs in [Park Avenue](/source/Park_Avenue). In the late 1940s she featured at parties including those hosted by [socialite](/source/socialite) [Elsa Maxwell](/source/Elsa_Maxwell), and gave fundraising [benefit show](/source/benefit_show)s for hospitals. She toured Europe in 1950, and stayed in London to take the lead in [Jack Hylton](/source/Jack_Hylton)'s revue, ''Knight of Madness''.<ref name=opal/><ref name=nyt/><ref name=allmusic/>

After returning to New York in 1951, she became the main attraction at the Bon Soir club on [Eighth Street](/source/Eighth_Street_(Manhattan)), accompanied by a vocal group, the Three Flames ([Tiger Haynes](/source/Tiger_Haynes), Roy Testamark and Averill Pollard). They attracted the attention of [Ahmet](/source/Ahmet_Ertegun) and [Nesuhi Ertegun](/source/Nesuhi_Ertegun) of [Atlantic Records](/source/Atlantic_Records), who issued Barnes's first [EP](/source/Extended_play) in 1953 and an [LP](/source/LP_record), ''Fun with Mae Barnes'', the following year.  She was accompanied by [Garland Wilson](/source/Garland_Wilson) and the Three Flames, and the songs included "(I Ain't Gonna Be No) Topsy", a celebration of [black pride](/source/black_pride), and "[On the Sunny Side of the Street](/source/On_the_Sunny_Side_of_the_Street)", which became her [signature song](/source/signature_song).<ref name=opal/> She became well known for her "sassy" song interpretations, and for "her irreverent interpolations into familiar lyrics".<ref name=nyt>[https://www.nytimes.com/1997/01/18/arts/mae-barnes-89-jazz-singer-famous-for-the-charleston.html  Stephen Holdenjan, "Mae Barnes, 89, Jazz Singer Famous for the Charleston", ''New York Times'', January 18, 1997]. Retrieved 25 October 2016</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=XFnfnKg6BcAC&dq=%22Edith+Mae+Stith%22&pg=PA68  Frank Cullen, ''Vaudeville old & new: an encyclopedia of variety performances in America, Volume 1'', Psychology Press, 2009, p.68]</ref>

In the mid-1950s she appeared regularly on TV [variety show](/source/variety_show)s, and headlined at the [Apollo Theatre](/source/Apollo_Theatre). She recorded another album, ''Mae Barnes'', on which she was backed by a jazz group led by trumpeter [Buck Clayton](/source/Buck_Clayton), in 1958 for [Vanguard Records](/source/Vanguard_Records). Although it was not successful, she continued as a popular live act, and in 1960 the Erteguns recorded her performance at the [Playboy Club](/source/Playboy_Club) for a further album, although it remained unreleased.<ref name=allmusic/> In 1959 she appeared in the Harry Belafonte film ''[Odds Against Tomorrow](/source/Odds_Against_Tomorrow)'' as a club singer. She continued to perform in clubs through the 1970s and 1980s, and featured in a [documentary](/source/documentary), ''Wild Women Don't Have the Blues'', in 1987.<ref name=opal/><ref name=jbfv>[http://bonjourqui.blogspot.co.uk/2007/02/some-describe-mae-barnes-as-song.html  "Mae Barnes 1958", ''Jazz, Blues, Female Vocalists and More...'']. Retrieved 25 October 2016</ref>

Mae Barnes died from cancer in hospital in New York in 1996 (not [Boston](/source/Boston) in 1997, as reported in some sources).<ref name="bare"/> She left no close relatives.<ref name=nyt/>

==Discography==
* ''Fun with Mae Barnes'' ([Atlantic](/source/Atlantic_Records), 1954) accompanied by [Garland Wilson](/source/Garland_Wilson) and the Three Flames
* ''Mae Barnes'' ([Vanguard](/source/Vanguard_Records), 1958) recording supervisor: [John Hammond](/source/John_Henry_Hammond); accompanied by [Ray Bryant](/source/Ray_Bryant), piano and others

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb name |0055690 }}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, Mae}}
Category:1907 births
Category:1996 deaths
Category:American blues singers
Category:American vaudeville performers
Category:American women jazz singers
Category:American jazz singers
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:Singers from New York City
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:Jazz musicians from New York (state)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mae Barnes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Barnes) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mae_Barnes?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.