Mem'ries of You Mammy / If You Don't Want Me Blues: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

This is a 78 rpm single Mem'ries of You Mammy backed with If You Don't Want Me Blues recorded by Mamie Smith and Her Jazz Hounds. The black shellac disc has a red circular central label with large gold cursive text at the top margin that reads “OKEH.” On the proper right side is small gold text that reads “Popular Blues /(Vocal).” The bottom half of the label has gold text that reads “MEM’RIES OF YOU MAMMY / (Penny Bradford) / MAMIE SMTIH AND HER JAZZ HOUNDS.” There is no jacket or sleeve with the record. The release number for the record is 4228-A.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1920
• Published by: Okeh Records, American, 1916 - 2000
• Recorded by: Mamie Smith, American, 1883 - 1946
• Type: 78 rpm records
• Medium: shellac
• Dimensions: Diameter: 9 7/8 in. (25.1 cm)
• Place depicted: New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Blues (Music)
• Object number: 2011.173.108
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Savanna Vaughn and C. Warfield Clark, M.D.
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.