Top 9 Quotes & Sayings by Ma Rainey

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American musician Ma Rainey.

Last updated on December 21, 2024.

Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was an American blues singer and influential early blues recording artist. Dubbed the "Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of southern blues, influencing a generation of blues singers.

American - Musician | April 26, 1886 - December 22, 1939

Source: Wikipedia

White folks hear the blues come out, but they don't know how it got there.

Ma Rainey

They hear it come out, but they don't know how it got there. They don't understand that's life's way of talking. You don't sing to feel better. You sing 'cause that's a way of understanding life.

Ma Rainey

My audience wants to see me beautifully gowned, and I have spared no expense or pains . . . For I feel that the best is none too good for the public that pays to hear a singer.

Ma Rainey

If you don't like my ocean don't fish in my sea Stay out of my valley and let my mountain be.

Ma Rainey

They hear it come out, but they don't know how it got there. They don't understand that's life's way of talking. You don't sing to feel better. You sing cause that's a way of understanding life.

Ma Rainey

This be an empty world without the blues.

Ma Rainey

[Advice to Bessie Smith:] Let your soul do the singin'.

Ma Rainey

I can't tell my future, so I'm going to tell my past.

Ma Rainey

A tune's like a staircase - walk up on it.

Ma Rainey