Big Maybelle, one of the most powerful and expressive blues vocalists of the 1950s, led a life that was, as a sticker on one of her albums advertised, “One part triumph, two parts tragedy.” In her triumphs her star shone brightly as a hit recording artist and headline act on the R&B circuit; in her tragedies, heroin addiction, health issues and personal problems darkened her horizon. Born Mabel Louise Smith in Jackson, Tennessee, on May 1, 1924, she won a singing contest at Memphis’ Cotton Carnival and began performing in the 1930s with a band led by Dave Clark, who would gain later fame as a record promoter. She made her first record as vocalist with Christine Chatman and her Orchestra in 1944 and had Top Ten R&B hits with the OKeh label in 1953 (“Gabbin’ Blues”, “My Country Man,” and “Way Back Home”), in addition to recording the first version of “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Goin’ On.” “Candy,” “Don’t Pass Me By,” and her cover of “96 Tears” made the charts in later years as she recorded for a succession of different labels. She appeared at the Apollo Theater and many other top chittlin’ circuit venues, as well as in a film of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, but her reputation and health suffered from her drug habit, which often left her penniless and turned engagements into no-shows. Still, at her peak, reports indicate she could bring audiences to tears with her true-to-life blues or leave them laughing with her comic routines. Big Maybelle, a big woman indeed at 250 or 300 pounds, died in a comatose state in a Cleveland hospital on Jan. 23, 1972, suffering from diabetes.
