MAGGIE JONES

Biography

Maggie Jones, born Fae Barnes in Hillsboro, Texas, around 1900, was a pioneering American blues singer and pianist who became one of the earliest women from Texas to record music.[1][2] She relocated to New York in 1922, where she performed in local nightclubs and toured the TOBA (Theater Owners Booking Association) circuit, earning the stage name "The Texas Nightingale." On July 26, 1923, Jones made her debut recording session with Black Swan Records, marking a significant milestone in her career and in Texas music history.[1][2]

Throughout the 1920s, Jones recorded thirty-eight songs across multiple record labels including Black Swan, Victor, Pathé, and Paramount, with the bulk of her work released by Columbia.[1] She is best remembered for her songs "Single Woman's Blues," "Undertaker's Blues," and "Northbound Blues," the latter recorded with Fletcher Henderson and Charlie Green, which contained notable references to Jim Crow laws.[1] Jones performed with leading jazz artists of the decade such as Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson, and by 1927, she appeared with the Clarence Muse Vaudeville Company and sang in Hall Johnson's choir at the Roxy Theater in New York City.[1][2]

By the late 1920s, Jones's recording career had largely concluded, with her final disc cut by October 3, 1926.[1] The Great Depression significantly altered her career trajectory, and she eventually moved back to Texas, where she settled in Dallas and Fort Worth before retiring from the music industry in the 1930s.[5] Though her recording career was relatively brief, Jones's pioneering role as one of the first Texas women to record blues music and her collaborations with jazz luminaries secured her place in the history of 1920s American popular music.

Fun Facts

• Maggie Jones recorded under multiple stage names throughout her career: she was billed as Fae (or Faye) Barnes on Black Swan and Paramount Records, while recording as Maggie Jones on Pathé and Columbia, though the reason for the name change—whether due to marriage or professional choice—remains unknown.[1]
• Jones was the first singer from Texas to record a side, making her debut on July 26, 1923, for Black Swan Records, a label that also featured Ethel Waters as its first signing and highest-profile blues singer.[1][2]
• Her recording "North Bound Blues" with Fletcher Henderson and Charlie Green contained unusually trenchant references to the South's Jim Crow laws for a classic female blues singer of that era, reflecting the social consciousness of her work.[1]
• After her music career declined during the Great Depression, Jones ran a clothing store in New York before eventually retiring to Texas, demonstrating her entrepreneurial spirit beyond the music industry.[3]

Musical Connections

Key Collaborators

• Fletcher Henderson - Jazz bandleader and pianist with whom Jones recorded (North Bound Blues) [1920s]
• Charlie Green - Trombonist who collaborated with Jones on blues recordings (North Bound Blues) [1920s]
• Louis Armstrong - Jazz legend with whom Jones performed during the 1920s (Various recordings) [1920s]
• Hall Johnson - Choral director with whom Jones performed in his choir (Hall Johnson's choir performances at the Roxy Theater) [1927]
• Clarence Muse - Vaudeville company director with whom Jones performed (Clarence Muse Vaudeville Company) [1927]

Discography

Albums

Top Tracks

1. Dawns (feat. Maggie Rogers) (Dawns (feat. Maggie Rogers))
2. Alaska (Heard It In A Past Life)
3. Light On (Heard It In A Past Life)
4. Love You For A Long Time (Love You For A Long Time)
5. The Kill (Don't Forget Me)
6. Say It (Heard It In A Past Life)
7. Fallingwater (Heard It In A Past Life)
8. Don't Forget Me (Don't Forget Me)
9. In The Living Room (In The Living Room)
10. So Sick Of Dreaming (Don't Forget Me)

External Links

• Spotify
• [Wikipedia](Not found in search results)