Victoria Spivey
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Victoria Spivey (1908-1976) was an American female blues singer.
Spivey's father had a string band in Houston, Texas, and before she was in her teens she was playing piano for parties. In her teens, she worked in Texas bars, nightclubs, and bordellos, in the company of such luminaries as Blind Lemon Jefferson. In 1926, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she recorded her first song, "Black Snake Blues", followed by a string of hits, backed up by musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, and Henry "Red" Allen. When the Depression put an end to many musical careers, Spivey moved to the film industry, portraying "Missy Rose" in the 1929 musical Hallelujah!. Through the 1930s and 1940s, she continued to work in musical movies and stage shows, often with her husband, vaudeville hoofer Billy Adams, including the well known Hellzapoppin' Revue.
In 1951 she retired to play the church organ and lead the church choir, but returned to the stage again during the blues revival of the 1960s. In 1961 she and Len Kunstadt launched the "Spivey Records" label. They recorded her old friends Sippie Wallace, Lucille Hegamin, and Hannah Sylvester, as well as newer artists including Luther Johnson, Sugar Blue, and Bob Dylan.
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