Hattie Starr
"Little Alabama Coon"
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[]
- ^ a b Goldberg, Isaac. Tin pan alley; a chronicle of American popular music, p. 99 (1930)
- ^ Boyden, Frank L. Popular American Composers, pp. 47-48 (1902)
- ^ Brooks, Tim. Lost Sounds: Blacks and the Birth of the Recording Industry, 1890-1919, p. 367 (2004)
- ^ Cullen, Frank, et al. Vaudeville old & new, Vol. I, p. 987 (2006)
- ^ Dahl, Linda. Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazzwomen, p. 7 (1984, 1995)
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hattie Starr. |
- Hattie Starr at the Internet Broadway Database
- Little Alabama Coon, sheet music at Levy Sheet Music Collection
- Somebody Loves Me, sheet music at Levy Sheet Music Collection
Categories:
- American women songwriters