Ida May Mack and Bessie Tucker

Reissued blues records are very common today, but not so in 1955 when this record of two obscure blues artists appeared. This rare record made available eight recordings cut by two Texas women in Memphis eighty years ago next week.

The singers are Ida May Mack and the somewhat rougher Bessie Tucker, both of whom were accompanied by pianist K. D. Johnson. Little is known about any of these artists, except that the singers are believed to be from the Dallas area, and the pianist from Memphis.

The performances are quite good, as are the recordings, although it does sound like the 1950s engineers added some reverb (some things never change). The records were made for the Victor Company, and the reissue was by Label "X," a short-lived RCA Victor subsidiary that put out many excellent records. This was in a series called Backgrounds of Jazz. At that time, reissues sold mainly to jazz collectors who valued the performances as much for their relationship to jazz as for their intrinsic merits.

Mack recorded these sides, and, I believe, a few others. Tucker recorded enough so that her records have been collected into a Document CD. The latter singer has something of a following for her strong voice and intensity. There is a interesting page here that speculates on her background based on clues in some of these recordings.

I don't find this record's artwork to be especially attractive, but it is an example of the skills of Paul Bacon, a distinguished designer who did many book jackets and jazz record covers, and who was a jazz musician himself.