· Debut release
Debut release: The Uppity Blues Women
First documented Album in the MusicBrainz discography.
source: musicbrainz
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Tier 2 · legacy legend
Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women
Group · United States · recording since 1990
American band
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Also known as Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women · Saffire -- The Uppity Blues Women · Saffire -The Uppity Blues Women · Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women · The Uppity Blues Women
Timeline
8 events▣ Album 7★ Debut release 1
1990s
2000s
Biography
English biography251 words · 1 sectionssource: wikipedia-en · licence CC BY-SA 4.0 · revision 1351171915
Biography
Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women was a three-woman blues musical ensemble in the Washington, D.C. area. It was founded in 1984 by Ann Rabson, Gaye Adegbalola and Earlene Lewis. Lewis separated from the band in 1992 and was replaced by Andra Faye. The group then featured Rabson on piano, vocals and guitar, Adegbalola on vocals and guitar, and Faye on vocals, bass, mandolin, violin and guitar.
Saffire's music was a combination of serious blues songs and comedic novelty songs. They covered original songs (such as "Do Your Duty" by Wesley 'Sox' Wilson, "You Got to Know How" by Sippie Wallace & Jack Viertel, and "Don't You Tell Me"), as well as the music of blueswomen who had inspired them, such as Big Mama Thornton, Ida Cox and Koko Taylor. Their music, both comedic and serious, tends to deal with feminist themes, which has made them popular outside of traditional blues circles.
Saffire was the first acoustic band to be signed by Alligator Records. Their song "Middle Aged Blues Boogie," written by Adegbalola, was named best original song at the W.C. Handy Awards (now the Blues Music Awards) in 1990. Saffire has shared the stage with B.B. King, Ray Charles, Willie Dixon and Koko Taylor.
An announcement on the group's website in November, 2009, stated Saffire had retired and amicably disbanded. Rabson died on January 30, 2013, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, after a long battle with cancer. She was 67.
Andra Faye is now living and playing in the Indianapolis, Indiana area.
Discography & profile
Normalised profile
Percentiles are computed over every artist in the database, so a tier-3 artist can still sit in the 95th percentile on a single axis.
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 4 | 24.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 9 | 81.7th |
| Studio albums | 7 | 87.5th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 8 | 84.1th |
| Recording span (years) | 19 | 43.6th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Percentiles are computed at render time; missing values mean the artist has no data on that axis.
Discography (9 release groups · 7 studio albums)
Albums · 7
1990 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 11 tracks · 42:35
1Middle Aged Blues Boogie5:422Take It on Back2:363Annie's Blues3:584Even Yuppies Get the Blues2:425Drown in My Own Tears5:416Three Time Loser3:347Fess Up When You Mess Up3:328Silent Thunder in My Heart3:209School Teacher's Blues3:3910I Almost Lost My Mind5:1011Wild Women Don't Have the Blues2:411991 · studio album
Search SpotifySearch YouTube Music
Tracklist · 16 tracks · 54:38
1Two in the Bush Is Better Than One in the Hand3:132Sloppy Drunk3:073One Good Man2:374Dirty Sheets4:135Tom Cat Blues2:486Learn to Settle for Less4:337You'll Never Get Me Out of Your Mind3:138(Mr. Insurance Man) Take Out That Thing3:529Hopin' It'll Be Alright3:3310A Little Bit of Your Loving Goes a Very Long Way3:0111Shopping for Love3:3312Elevator Man3:1313Torch Song #1 / Torch Song #24:1914Why Don't You Do Right?2:4115Prove Me Wrong3:0216(No Need) Pissin' on a Skunk3:401992 · studio album
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Tracklist · 17 tracks · 1:03:16
1One Hour Mama3:162Dump That Chump3:133OBG Why Me Blues3:154Mind Your Own Business2:465Evil Hearted Me2:196If It Had Been a Dog...4:277Seemed Like Such a Good Idea at the Time5:108Ragtime Rag2:479Miz Thang3:2910Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?2:3511Twisted Mind Blues5:1212Dr. Blues4:1213Nobody's Fool4:5914Don't Treat Your Man Like a Dog2:4415You'd Better Fly Right2:0716It's Alright for a Man to Cry5:5217Shake the Dew Off the Lily4:531994 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 1:00:20
1Fools' Night Out4:302Taint Nobody's Business4:133You Got to Know How4:144Do Your Duty3:415Roll Mr. Jelly2:476The Clock3:397The Richest Guy in the Graveyard2:428Don't You Tell Me3:599Bitch With a Bad Attitude4:0410Sweet Substitute3:4011Baby, I'm Wise2:2712Falling Back in Love With You4:2313There's Lightning in These Thunder Thighs3:4314How Can I Say I Miss You?3:4915Life Goes On5:1516Yonder Come the Blues3:141996 · studio album
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Tracklist · 17 tracks · 1:05:55
1Because of You2:382Hungry Woman's Blues4:073Rocket Ship2:464In My Girlish Days3:325Don't Do It4:496(I'll Be Your) Sweet Black Angel4:417I'd Rather Be Alone4:078Love Me To Death4:459I Lost My Baby To Another Man4:2910If Love Hurts (You're Not Doing It Right)2:5211Nobody But You3:5312I Want My Money Back3:3213Blues Is In the House5:0514Bad Debt2:5915Things Are Seldom What They Seem To Be3:5816Tomorrow Ain't Promised3:1917The Equalizer4:232001 · studio album
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Tracklist · 15 tracks · 53:03
1Ain't Gonna Hush2:182It Takes a Mighty Good Man3:263Coffee Flavored Kisses2:474Nobody Ever Touched Me There5:005He Really Makes It Hard for Me to Sing the Blues3:186Blues for Sharon Bottoms4:177You Got to Tell Me3:318Footprints on the Ceiling3:269Let the Gin Do the Talking2:3510Unlove You4:3311Prop Me Up Beside the Jukebox3:3612Birthday Suit3:3113Happy Birthday to Me2:4814Once in a While3:1915If I Should Die Tonight4:382009 · studio album
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Tracklist · 16 tracks · 58:27
1Goin' Down the River3:142Nothin' in Your House2:453Kitchen Man4:074Somebody's Gotta Give3:435Bald Headed Blues4:076Since You Been Gone3:257Blues Lullaby4:458Travelin' at the Speed of Love3:089I Can Do Bad All by Myself4:1710Too Much Butt3:3911Haste Makes Waste2:5512Locked Up3:4013Walkin' Home to You2:4614Bald Eagle4:1915I'm Growing Older2:5616The Bad Times4:41
Album · 2
| Cover | Year | Title | Notes | First release |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Deluxe EditionSearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 20 tracks · 1:14:461Middle Aged Blues Boogie4:52 2Sloppy Drunk3:09 3It Takes a Mighty Good Man3:27 4Ain't Gonna Hush2:18 5Bitch With A Bad Attitude7:15 6There's Lightning in These Thunder Thighs3:43 7Tom Cat Blues2:49 8(No Need) Pissin' on a Skunk3:41 9Don't Treat Your Man Like a Dog2:44 10Because of You2:39 11T'ain't Nobody's Business4:12 12Silver Beaver5:47 13Elevator Man3:13 14How Can I Say I Miss You?3:49 15In My Girlish Days3:32 16School Teacher's Blues3:40 17Is You Is or Is You Ain't My Baby?2:34 18Falling Back in Love With You4:22 19Wild Women Don't Have the Blues2:43 20The Equalizer4:17 | Compilation | 31 January 2006 | |
| — | Live & UppitySearch SpotifySearch YouTube MusicTracklist · 17 tracks · 1:14:361Introduction0:21 2Cold Pizza and Warm Beer5:19 3You'll Never Get Me Out of Your Mind3:21 4One Good Man2:52 5Hold Me Close4:18 6Silver Beaver6:28 7Mr. Insurance Man3:23 8The Thing That You Need3:08 91-800-799-72335:32 10You Can Have My Husband4:59 11Hopin' It'll Be Alright4:29 12Bitch with a Bad Attittude6:52 13Dump That Chump3:15 14Lonely Nights4:08 15Middle Aged Blues Boogie5:30 16Crazy5:53 17Some Cold and Rainy Day4:48 | Live | — |
Stats & PK
Percentile within all 23,672 published artists.Put Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women head-to-head →
| Metric | Value | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia language versions | 4 | 24.3th |
| Spotify monthly listeners | — | no data |
| Release groups in DB | 9 | 81.7th |
| Studio albums | 7 | 87.5th |
| Awards recorded | 0 | 0th |
| Timeline events | 8 | 84.1th |
| Recording span (years) | 19 | 43.6th |
| Genres | 1 | 56th |
Awards & honours
Line-up
| Name | From | To | Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ann Rabson | — | present | piano |
| Ann Rabson | — | present | kazoo |
| Ann Rabson | — | present | guitar |
| Earlene Lewis | — | present | bass |
| Gaye Adegbalola | — | present | guitar |
Where this record comes from
aliases/urls—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5c0f9df3-51a9-41e4-affa-6d1f3edc9244discography—musicbrainz · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://musicbrainz.org/artist/5c0f9df3-51a9-41e4-affa-6d1f3edc9244core—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7398701genre—wikidata · CC0 · retrieved 11 October 2026
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7398701seed-list—wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffire_%E2%80%93_The_Uppity_Blues_Womenbiography—wikipedia-en · CC BY-SA 4.0 · retrieved 10 October 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saffire_%E2%80%93_The_Uppity_Blues_Women
Why this artist is in the database
- List of blues musicians — rank #86
Saffire – The Uppity Blues Women | | | | Acoustic blues |
Tier rule: genre canon: blues
Image: no portrait (not displayed: the licence credit is missing)
Wikidata: Q7398701 · MusicBrainz: 5c0f9df3-51a9-41e4-affa-6d1f3edc9244
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