Hattie Starr

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"Little Alabama Coon"
Portrait of woman wearing a hat
Hattie Starr, from the Actors and Actresses series (N145-7) issued by Duke Sons & Co., 1880s, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hattie Starr was an American songwriter popular in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Her best known song and a popular hit of its day was "Little Alabama Coon" (1893).[1][2] It was a coon song, but not considered racist or negative at the time compared to more coarse vaudeville fare, even being recorded by Mabel Garrison of the New York Metropolitan Opera.[3]

Originally an actress, her songwriting proved successful enough that she left the stage.[1] Her other compositions included Somebody Loves Me which was successfully performed by Josephine Sabel.[4][5]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Goldberg, Isaac. Tin pan alley; a chronicle of American popular music, p. 99 (1930)
  2. ^ Boyden, Frank L. Popular American Composers, pp. 47-48 (1902)
  3. ^ Brooks, Tim. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919, p. 367 (2004)
  4. ^ Cullen, Frank, et al. Vaudeville old & new, Vol. I, p. 987 (2006)
  5. ^ Dahl, Linda. Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen, p. 7 (1984, 1995)

External links[]

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