Victoria Spivey

Spivey worked between 1906 and 1976 across singer, musician, pianist, songwriter and composer and 1 further recorded occupations. The registers place that work in blues. This article rests on 20 catalogued compositions, 36 issued recordings, 1 digitised documents and 11 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

• Name — Victoria Spivey • Birth Name — Victoria Regina Spivey • Born — 15 October 1906 • Birthplace — Houston, Texas, U.S. • Died — 3 October 1976 • Place of death — New York City • Instrument — Vocals, piano • Genre — Blues • Occupation — Musician, singer, songwriter • Label — * Okeh • RCA Victor • Vocalion • Decca • Prestige Bluesville • Spivey

Born in Houston, Texas, she was the daughter of Grant and Addie (Smith) Spivey. Her father was a part-time musician and a flagman for the railroad; her mother was a nurse. She had three sisters, all three of whom also sang professionally: Leona, Elton "Za Zu" (August 12, 1900 – June 25, 1971), and Addie "Sweet Peas" (or "Sweet Pease") Spivey (August 22, 19101943), who recorded for several major record labels between 1929 and 1937. She married four times; her husbands included Ruben Floyd, Billy Adams, and Len Kunstadt, with whom she co-founded Spivey Records in 1961. Scholars describe her as an important voice in early urban and classic female blues, known for her expressive singing and strong use of storytelling. According to the Handbook of Texas Online, Spivey's early musical development began in Houston, where she performed with her family's string band and learned songs common in local Black musical communities. The African American Registry notes that she showed musical talent at an early age, singing, playing piano, and adapting to a variety of performance settings. Spivey's first professional experience was in a family string band led by her father in Houston. After he died, the seven-year-old Victoria played on her own at local parties. In 1918, she was hired to accompany films at the Lincoln Theater in Dallas. As a teenager, she worked in local bars, nightclubs, and buffet flats, mostly alone, but occasionally with singer-guitarists, including Blind Lemon Jefferson.

In 1926 she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she was signed by Okeh Records. Her first recording, "Black Snake Blues" (1926), sold well, and her association with the label continued. She recorded numerous sides for Okeh in New York City until 1929, when she switched to the Victor label. Between 1931 and 1937, more recordings followed for Vocalion Records and Decca Records, and, working out of New York, she maintained an active performance schedule. Her recorded accompanists included King Oliver, Charles Avery, Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, and Red Allen. According to the Encyclopedia of the Blues, they identify Spivey as one of Okeh's most notable female blues artists. Her recordings from the 1920s, including "Black Snake Blues," "Dope Head Blues," and "Organ Grinder Blues," featured bold subject matter and direct lyrical style. Phil Hardy and Dave Laing describes her performances as energetic and confident, noting that she often used humor and emotional phrasing to shape the meaning of her songs.

In 1951, Spivey retired from show business to play the pipe organ and lead a church choir, but she returned to secular music in 1961, when she was reunited with an old singing partner, Lonnie Johnson, to appear on four tracks on his Prestige Bluesville album Idle Hours. The folk music revival of the 1960s gave her further opportunities to make a comeback. She recorded again for Prestige Bluesville, sharing an album, Songs We Taught Your Mother, with fellow veterans Alberta Hunter and Lucille Hegamin, and began making personal appearances at festivals and clubs, including the 1963 European tour of the American Folk Blues Festival.

In 1961, Spivey and the jazz and blues historian Len Kunstadt launched Spivey Records, a low-budget label dedicated to blues, jazz, and related music, prolifically recording established artists, including Sippie Wallace, Lucille Hegamin, Otis Rush, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Turner, Buddy Tate, and Hannah Sylvester, and also newer artists, including Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Brenda Bell, Washboard Doc, Bill Dicey, Robert Ross, Sugar Blue, Paul Oscher, Danny Russo, and Larry Johnson. The Blues Hall of Fame notes that Spivey Records played an important role in preserving the work of older blues musicians during a period when opportunities for them were limited. The label also provided recording experience for younger artists, including Bob Dylan, helping connect different generations of blues performers. Spivey also hosted a column entitled "Blues Is My Business" in Len Kundstadt's magazine Record Research from 1962 to 1970. Notably, Spivey disputes the peaceful exchange between herself and Blind Lemon Jefferson over his recording of "Black Snake Moan" just months after her recording "Black Snake Blues". While many descriptions of "Black Snake Moan" cite Spivey as inspiration for Jefferson's recording, her account reveals the interaction to be more in line with the kind of erasure black women performers of this era experienced. "According to the 1976 Spivey obituary published in The Black Perspective in Music, Spivey's songs addressed themes related to daily life, relationships, and social conditions faced by African American women. Her work is often discussed as an important example of the expressive and narrative traditions that shaped early blues. In March 1962, Spivey and Big Joe Williams recorded for Spivey Records, with harmonica accompaniment and backup vocals by Bob Dylan. The recordings were released on Three Kings and the Queen (Spivey LP 1004) and Kings and the Queen Volume Two (Spivey LP 1014). Dylan was listed under his own name on the record covers. A picture of her and Dylan from this period is shown on the back cover of the Dylan album, New Morning. In 1964, Spivey made her only recording with an all-white band, the Connecticut-based Easy Riders Jazz Band, led by the trombonist Big Bill Bissonnette. It was released first on an LP and later re-released on compact disc.

Spivey's musical style combined elements of classic female blues, vaudeville, and early urban blues. Her vocals were known for strong projection, expressive timing, and clear storytelling. She often used direct or humorous language, addressing themes not commonly heard in commercial recordings of the 1920s. The 1976 Spivey obituary published in The Black Perspective in Music notes that her lyrics reflected everyday life and the experiences of African American women, showing both independence and emotional depth. In The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, it describes her stage presence as energetic and engaging.

• Idle Hours (Bluesville, 1961) with Lonnie Johnson (three tracks) • Songs We Taught Your Mother (Bluesville, 1962) shared album with Alberta Hunter and Lucille Hegamin (four tracks) • Woman Blues! (Bluesville, 1962) with Lonnie Johnson • A Basket of Blues (Spivey, 1962) shared album with Buddy Terry, Lucille Hegamin and Hannah Sylvester • Victoria and Her Blues (Spivey, 1962) • Three Kings and the Queen (Spivey, 1964) shared album with Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Williams and Lonnie Johnson • The Queen and Her Knights (Spivey, 1965) shared album with Lonnie Johnson, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Slim and Sonny Greer • Music Down Home: An Introduction to Negro Folk Music, U.S.A. (1965) • The Blues Is Life (1976) • Classic Piano Blues from Smithsonian Folkways (2008)

• 8338A — Victoria Spivey — "Black Snake Blues" — May 5, 1926 • 8338B — Victoria Spivey — "No More Jelly Bean Blues" — May 11, 1926 • 8351A — Victoria Spivey — "Dirty Woman's Blues" — May 5, 1926 • 8351B — Victoria Spivey — "Long Gone Blues" — May 5, 1926 • 8370A — Victoria Spivey — "Spider Web Blues" — August 12, 1926 • 8370B — Victoria Spivey — "Hoodoo Man Blues" — August 11, 1926 • 8389A — Victoria Spivey — "Humored and Petted Blues" — August 12, 1926 • 8389B — Victoria Spivey — "Blue Valley Blues" — August 16, 1926 • 8401A — Victoria Spivey — "Big Houston Blues" — August 13, 1926 • 8401B — Victoria Spivey — "Got the Blues So Bad" — August 13, 1926 • 8410A — Victoria Spivey — "Its Evil Hearted Me" — August 12, 1926 • 8410B — Victoria Spivey — "Santa Fe Blues" — August 12, 1926 • 8464 — Victoria Spivey — "Idle Hour Blues" — April 27, 1927 • 8464 — Victoria Spivey — "Steady Grind" — April 27, 1927 • 8481 — Victoria Spivey — "Arkansas Road Blues" — April 27, 1927 • 8481 — Victoria Spivey — "Alligator Pond Went Dry" — April 27, 1927 • 8494 — Victoria Spivey — "No. 12 Let Me Roam" — April 27, 1927 • 8494 — Victoria Spivey — "T.B Blues (West End Blues)" — April 27, 1927 • 8517 — Victoria Spivey — "Christmas Morning Blues" — October 28, 1927 • 8517 — Victoria Spivey — "Garter Snake Blues" — October 28, 1927 • 8531 — Victoria Spivey with Lonnie Johnson — "Dope Head Blues" — October 28, 1927 • 8531 — Victoria Spivey — "Blood Thirsty Blues" — October 31, 1927 • 8550 — Victoria Spivey — "Jelly Look What You Done Done" — November 1, 1927 • 8550 — Victoria Spivey — "Red Lantern Blues" — October 28, 1927 • 8565 — Victoria Spivey — "A Good Man is Hard to Find" — November 1, 1927 • 8565 — Victoria Spivey — "Your Worries Ain't Like Mine" — November 1, 1927 • 8581 — Victoria Spivey — "Nightmare Blues" — October 31, 1927 • 8581 — Victoria Spivey — "Murder in the First Degree" — October 31, 1927 • 8615 — Victoria Spivey — "My Handy Man" — September 12, 1928 • 8615 — Victoria Spivey — "Organ Grinder Blues" — September 12, 1928 • 8626 — Victoria Spivey — "New Black Snake Blues Part 2" — October 13, 1928 • 8626 — Victoria Spivey — "New Black Snake Blues" — October 13, 1928 • 8634 — Victoria Spivey — "No Papa No" — October 17, 1928 • 8634 — Victoria Spivey — "Mosquito Fly and Flea" — October 18, 1928 • 8652 — Victoria Spivey/Lonnie Johnson — "Furniture Man #2 Blues" — October 18, 1928 • 8652 — Victoria Spivey — "Furniture Man Blues" — October 18, 1928 • 8713 — Victoria Spivey — "How Do They Do It That Way" — July 10, 1929 • 8713 — Victoria Spivey — "Funny Feathers" — July 10, 1929 • 8733 — Victoria Spivey — "You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now" — July 3, 1929 • 8744A — Lonnie Johnson/Victoria Spivey — "Toothache Blues" — October 17, 1928 • 8744B — Lonnie Johnson/Victoria Spivey — "Toothache Blues #2" — October 18, 1928

• 23349 — Victoria Spivey — "Baulin Water Blues" — June 26, 1930 • 23349 — Victoria Spivey — "Baulin Water Blues" (second version) — June 26, 1930 • 38546 — Victoria Spivey — "Moaning the Blues" — October 1, 1929 • 38546 — Victoria Spivey — "Telephoning the Blues" — October 1, 1929 • 38570 — Victoria Spivey — "Bloodhound Blues" — October 1, 1929 • 38570 — Victoria Spivey — "Dirty Tee Be Blues" — October 1, 1929 • 38584 — Victoria Spivey — "New York Blues" — February 4, 1930 • 38584 — Victoria Spivey — "Showered With the Blues" — February 4, 1930 • 38598 — Victoria Spivey — "Haunted by the Blues" — February 4, 1930 • 38598 — Victoria Spivey — "Lonesome With the Blues" — February 4, 1930 • 38609 — Victoria Spivey — "You've Gotta Have What It Takes" — June 26, 1930 • 38609 — Victoria Spivey — "You've Gotta Have What It Takes" (second version) — June 26, 1930

Victoria Spivey is recorded with the occupation entrepreneur. Classed in the genre blues. Established in Bibliothèque nationale de France under 13927404q. Recorded as singer, musician, pianist, songwriter and composer. Established in Library of Congress under n85376797. Recorded at birth as Victoria Regina Spivey. Established in Discogs under 307238. Established in FAST under 183620. Within the Encyclopedia. Connected to 1 other published record in the VALÉORINE Encyclopedia.