Topic: Discover the mystery of Mattie Delaney

[jostber]

Here is an article on the mysterious Mattie Delaney and interview with John Tefteller about this artist:

http://www.goldminemag.com/tag/mattie-delaney

[Bunker Hill]

When Tallahatchie River was first reissued in 1968 on the initial Yazoo LP, the note writer observed:

Her name evoked no response from Son House or from any Delta resident when Gayle Wardlow, the Boswell of the blues, made a tri-county search of those towns which boarder the Tallahatchie

So I'm guessing that the statement "has even challenged a researcher friend of his to find out more about Mattie Delaney, to no avail" in this context is Wardlow.

[Mr.OMuck]

Has anyone used one of the online "Find anyone" services. They claim to be able to track anyone living or dead.
I imagine they have access to data bases with many municipal records. Of course if Mattie Delaney was a pseudonym
for someone who ordinarily sang only in church, a situation that has been known to occur, poking around church records might be the way to go. Should we make this a communal Weenie detective adventure?

[maddoggirl]

Well, her Wikipedia entry tells us that she was born Mattie Doyle in Tchula, MS, a good start for archive trawlers. However, the link that it references is now expired, so any more info from that source is unavailible.

[Stefan Wirz]

... took the little we know about that woman and made a Mattie Delaney discography out of it.
Additional info most appreciated !

[jostber]

Seems like it was Stephen Calt and Gayle Dean Wardlow that gave the information the Mattie Delaney could be Mattie Doyle. Some more information here:

http://tinyurl.com/2ungsec

[maddoggirl]

I was Google Book-ing 'Mattie Delaney' and a few pages in something VERY intriguing and yet frustrating came up: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=fMLYAAAAMAAJ&q=mattie+delaney&dq=mattie+delaney&hl=en&ei=XUbqTKPfG8HDhAft2LTtDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CD4Q6AEwBjgU

I know it's been reported that Delaney died aged 25, but I wonder if that is merely legend? After all, the link jostber kindly provided seemed to suggest that she was alive and kicking in 1930 aged 25. And here's this document that cites a 'Mattie Delaney' of Cruger, MS (9 miles north of Tchula, by the way, and 40 from Glendora) being quoted as a witness to civil rights events in Mississippi in 1955 in an interview with a local archivist in 1997! She would have been 92, but it is entirely possible that the mysterious Delaney walked among us until the not too distant past!

[RB]

Intersting and I'll keep reading more.  I remember buying the Yazoo--I think mine was a Belzona label--record when it came out and have it still and remember that woman's clear voice.  Good record.

On a side note Tefteller states in the Goldmine interview about the event that inspired the record that it was "a flood that happened in Mississippi. Unless you were in that flood or had relatives in that flood, you might not have even known it was out there.? I think that is far from correct, as this was one of the most reported natural disasters of the early 20th century, and was an early instance of the practice of Federal help for disaster victims.  I'm not saying the aid was perfectly successful.  But I think the event was widely known. (And I suspect that many here could list a fair number of songs referring to it.)

[uncle bud]

Intriguing. BTW, maddoggirl, where was it reported that Delaney died at age 25?

This reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask for awhile. Is US census data available for perusal/searching online? I know there are researchers who regularly consult it.

[maddoggirl]

I'll be gosh-durned if I can find out where I heard that, uncle bud, it was just kicking round the old noggin. Maybe best to disregard that, then. Which maybe increases the chances that she was alive until 1997? I wish there was more than Snippet View so that we could see if the author gives any more details about her Mattie Delaney - that setting is the bane of my life!

[dj]

This reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask for awhile. Is US census data available for perusal/searching online?

In the US, census data is kept confidential for 70 years and is then made available to the public.  There may be a way to get to census data directly from the census bureau, but I've never found it.  I use an intermediary, usually HeritageQuest, which I can access for free through my local library.

[jostber]

A reminisce by Lilly Berry is in this audio log, she seem to have been a cousin of Mattie Delaney:

http://tinyurl.com/32tyrkb

Another audio log citing Henry Austin on Delaney:

http://tinyurl.com/36qszcw

Here's an article by Gayle Dean Wardlow who refers to when he found the first known copy of Delaney's record. Look for the flower pots!

http://www.gracyk.com/race78s.shtml

[Stumblin]

Look for the flower pots!

And look for a Little Weed while you're there...

[hortig78rpm]

hello

rumors and census.... the census, mostly an "oral" instrument has several faults,
for information-collectors write down, what they`ve heard. so in many ways, datas and names are wrong.
it`s the same old rumor of southern female blues singers, that they went up north, married and joined the church ( see louissie johnson).it always had been a rumor, that bernice edwards did the same until Ive found her death certificate, showing , that she lived under her name up to 1966 in houston, before marriing and dying there a few years later.

regards
mike

[jostber]

A reminisce by Lilly Berry is in this audio log, she seem to have been a cousin of Mattie Delaney:

http://tinyurl.com/32tyrkb

Another audio log citing Henry Austin on Delaney:

http://tinyurl.com/36qszcw

Here's an article by Gayle Dean Wardlow who refers to when he found the first known copy of Delaney's record. Look for the flower pots!

http://www.gracyk.com/race78s.shtml

Seems to be some interesting stuff in these interviews on Willie Brown as well. Anyone heard these interviews?