Lucille Hegamin Vol. 1 (1920-1922)

One of the first of the classic female blues singers to record, Lucille Hegamin's material was mostly drawn from the world of vaudeville rather than actually being blues. A talented singer who was reasonably versatile, Hegamin's entire output in the '20s has been reissued on three Document CDs. The initial volume covers her first 17 months on records. Highlights include "The Jazz Me Blues" (from November, 1920), "Arkansas Blues," "Wang Wang Blues," "Wabash Blues," and two versions of a future standard that Hegamin first introduced, "He May Be Your Man But He Comes to See Me Sometimes." A special bonus is a pair of instrumentals ("Strut Miss Lizzie" and "Sweet Mama, Papa's Getting Mad") from May, 1921. In most cases, Hegamin is backed by her Blue Flame Syncopators, a combo of mostly obscure players that includes her husband Bill Hegamin on piano, Ralph Escudero on tuba, and drummer Kaiser Marshall, along with four horns. Historic music that is still quite listenable; the recording quality is mostly quite good for the very early period.