MADLYN DAVIS

Biography

Madlyn Davis was an American classic female blues singer active as a recording artist in the late 1920s, remembered primarily for a brief but vivid series of studio sides that placed her among the cohort of so‑called “classic blues” women of the era.[1][2][3][5] Biographical details such as her birthplace, early life, and activities outside the studio are not documented in reliable sources, and even her birth year is given only approximately as 1899 with no confirmed death date.[3] What is known of Davis comes almost entirely from her recordings and the record-company documentation that survives.

Davis emerged during the classic blues boom that had been ignited earlier in the decade by artists like Mamie Smith, Ma Rainey, and Bessie Smith, and she was marketed in the same general vein: a strong-voiced woman fronting small jazz- and blues-oriented studio bands for urban record buyers.[1][4][5] Her sessions show her working in both a straightforward classic-blues idiom and a more raggy, up‑tempo style bordering on jug-band and early hokum, especially on her best‑known titles “Kokola Blues” and “It’s Red Hot,” recorded with her group billed as Madlyn Davis and Her Hot Shots.[1][2][3][6][7] In 1928, near the end of her documented career, she cut four sides accompanied by the guitarist Tampa Red and pianist Georgia Tom Dorsey, musicians who were then shaping the emerging Chicago hokum sound; their presence gives her final recordings a driving, playful character that stands out in later blues scholarship.[6][7] After these 1928 sessions, Davis disappears from the recording ledgers, and no verified information exists about her subsequent life or death, but collectors and historians continue to cite her work as a vivid example of late‑1920s classic blues at the point where it intersected with early hokum and guitar‑driven urban blues.[3][5][6][7]

Fun Facts

• Almost everything known about Madlyn Davis comes from record discographies and reissue notes; basic personal details such as her birthplace and death date remain undocumented in standard references.[3][5][7]
• Her track “Kokola Blues” (with Madlyn Davis and Her Hot Shots) is part of the family of songs that later evolved into the famous “Kokomo Blues”/“Sweet Home Chicago” lineage, making her version an important early link cited by blues historians.[3][6]
• Davis’s final four recordings in 1928 featured both Tampa Red and Georgia Tom Dorsey, placing her directly alongside two of the most important architects of the late‑1920s Chicago hokum and urban blues sound.[6][7]
• Although overshadowed by peers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith, modern blues societies and specialty labels still highlight Davis’s small recorded output as a prime example of late classic female blues, ensuring that her name appears in curated histories of female blues artists.[1][2][7]

Musical Connections

Key Collaborators

• Tampa Red - Accompanied Davis on guitar on her final documented recording session, contributing to a more driving, early hokum‑style sound. (Four sides recorded in 1928, including material associated with “Kokola Blues”/“Kokomo Blues” sessions.) [1928]
• Georgia Tom (Thomas A. Dorsey) - Played piano on Davis’s last known recordings, pairing his energetic piano style with her classic blues vocals. (Four sides recorded in 1928, often grouped by discographers with “Kokola Blues” era recordings.) [1928]
• Madlyn Davis and Her Hot Shots - Studio band name used on her records, backing her on key titles that blended classic blues with a hot small‑group feel. (Notably “Kokola Blues” and “It’s Red Hot.”) [Late 1920s]

External Links

• Spotify