Victoria Spivey

Biography

Victoria Regina Spivey (October 15, 1906 – October 3, 1976), sometimes known as Queen Victoria, was an American blues singer, songwriter, and record company founder. During a recording career that spanned 40 years, from 1926 to the mid-1960s, she worked with Louis Armstrong, King Oliver, Clarence Williams, Luis Russell, Lonnie Johnson, and Bob Dylan. She also performed in vaudeville and clubs, sometimes with her sisters Addie "Sweet Peas" (or "Sweet Pease") Spivey and Elton Island Spivey (also known as the Za Zu Girl). Among her compositions are "Black Snake Blues" (1926), "Dope Head Blues" (1927), and "Organ Grinder Blues" (1928). In 1961, she co-founded Spivey Records with one of her husbands, Len Kunstadt. Her recordings are considered important examples of classic female blues, and scholars note that her music reflected the themes and performance styles that were common among major women blues artists of the 1920s and 1930s.

Early life

Born in Houston, Texas, she was the daughter of Grant and Addie (Smith) Spivey. Her father was a part-time musician and a flagman for the railroad; her mother was a nurse. She had three sisters, all three of whom also sang professionally: Leona, Elton "Za Zu" (August 12, 1900 – June 25, 1971), and Addie "Sweet Peas" (or "Sweet Pease") Spivey (August 22, 1910 – 1943), who recorded for several major record labels between 1929 and 1937. She married four times; her husbands included Ruben Floyd, Billy Adams, and Len Kunstadt, with whom she co-founded Spivey Records in 1961. Scholars describe her as an important voice in early urban and classic female blues, known for her expressive singing and strong use of storytelling.
According to the Handbook of Texas Online, Spivey's early musical development began in Houston, where she performed with her family's string band and learned songs common in local Black musical communities. The African American Registry notes that she showed musical talent at an early age, singing, playing piano, and adapting to a variety of performance settings.
Spivey's first professional experience was in a family string band led by her father in Houston. After he died, the seven-year-old Victoria played on her own at local parties. In 1918, she was hired to accompany films at the Lincoln Theater in Dallas. As a teenager, she worked in local bars, nightclubs, and buffet flats, mostly alone, but occasionally with singer-guitarists, including Blind Lemon Jefferson.

Recording career (1920s–1940s)

In 1926 she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, where she was signed by Okeh Records. Her first recording, "Black Snake Blues" (1926), sold well, and her association with the label continued. She recorded numerous sides for Okeh in New York City until 1929, when she switched to the Victor label. Between 1931 and 1937, more recordings followed for Vocalion Records and Decca Records, and, working out of New York, she maintained an active performance schedule. Her recorded accompanists included King Oliver, Charles Avery, Louis Armstrong, Lonnie Johnson, and Red Allen.
According to the Encyclopedia of the Blues , they identify Spivey as one of Okeh's most notable female blues artists. Her recordings from the 1920s, including "Black Snake Blues," "Dope Head Blues," and "Organ Grinder Blues," featured bold subject matter and direct lyrical style. Phil Hardy and Dave Laing describes her performances as energetic and confident, noting that she often used humor and emotional phrasing to shape the meaning of her songs.

Film and stage work

The Depression did not put an end to Spivey's musical career. She found a new outlet for her talent in 1929, when the film director King Vidor cast her to play Missy Rose in his first sound film, Hallelujah!. Through the 1930s and 1940s Spivey continued to work in musical films and stage shows, including the hit musical Hellzapoppin (1938), often with her husband, the vaudeville dancer Billy Adams.

Retirement and comeback (1950s–1960s)

In 1951, Spivey retired from show business to play the pipe organ and lead a church choir, but she returned to secular music in 1961, when she was reunited with an old singing partner, Lonnie Johnson, to appear on four tracks on his Prestige Bluesville album Idle Hours.
The folk music revival of the 1960s gave her further opportunities to make a comeback. She recorded again for Prestige Bluesville, sharing an album, Songs We Taught Your Mother, with fellow veterans Alberta Hunter and Lucille Hegamin, and began making personal appearances at festivals and clubs, including the 1963 European tour of the American Folk Blues Festival.

Spivey Records

In 1961, Spivey and the jazz and blues historian Len Kunstadt launched Spivey Records, a low-budget label dedicated to blues, jazz, and related music, prolifically recording established artists, including Sippie Wallace, Lucille Hegamin, Otis Rush, Otis Spann, Willie Dixon, Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Turner, Buddy Tate, and Hannah Sylvester, and also newer artists, including Luther "Guitar Junior" Johnson, Brenda Bell, Washboard Doc, Bill Dicey, Robert Ross, Sugar Blue, Paul Oscher, Danny Russo, and Larry Johnson.
The Blues Hall of Fame notes that Spivey Records played an important role in preserving the work of older blues musicians during a period when opportunities for them were limited. The label also provided recording experience for younger artists, including Bob Dylan, helping connect different generations of blues performers.
Spivey also hosted a column entitled "Blues Is My Business" in Len Kundstadt's magazine Record Research from 1962 to 1970. Notably, Spivey disputes the peaceful exchange between herself and Blind Lemon Jefferson over his recording of "Black Snake Moan" just months after her recording "Black Snake Blues". While many descriptions of "Black Snake Moan" cite Spivey as inspiration for Jefferson's recording, her account reveals the interaction to be more in line with the kind of erasure black women performers of this era experienced.
"According to the 1976 Spivey obituary published in The Black Perspective in Music, Spivey's songs addressed themes related to daily life, relationships, and social conditions faced by African American women. Her work is often discussed as an important example of the expressive and narrative traditions that shaped early blues.
In March 1962, Spivey and Big Joe Williams recorded for Spivey Records, with harmonica accompaniment and backup vocals by Bob Dylan. The recordings were released on Three Kings and the Queen (Spivey LP 1004) and Kings and the Queen Volume Two (Spivey LP 1014). Dylan was listed under his own name on the record covers. A picture of her and Dylan from this period is shown on the back cover of the Dylan album, New Morning. In 1964, Spivey made her only recording with an all-white band, the Connecticut-based Easy Riders Jazz Band, led by the trombonist Big Bill Bissonnette. It was released first on an LP and later re-released on compact disc.

Musical style

Spivey's musical style combined elements of classic female blues, vaudeville, and early urban blues. Her vocals were known for strong projection, expressive timing, and clear storytelling. She often used direct or humorous language, addressing themes not commonly heard in commercial recordings of the 1920s.
The 1976 Spivey obituary published in The Black Perspective in Music notes that her lyrics reflected everyday life and the experiences of African American women, showing both independence and emotional depth. In The Faber Companion to 20th-Century Popular Music, it describes her stage presence as energetic and engaging.

Legacy

Spivey is recognized as an important figure in blues history. The Blues Hall of Fame cites both her long performing career and her role in preserving blues traditions through Spivey Records.
Her work during the 1960s blues revival connected younger musicians, including Bob Dylan, to earlier blues styles.
Scholars also note that she helped define the themes and vocal approach of classic female blues, and her recordings continue to be discussed in studies of African American music and women's history.

Honors and recognition

Victoria Spivey was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame in 1986.
Spivey died in New York on October 3, 1976, at the age of 69, from an internal hemorrhage.

Albums

Idle Hours (Bluesville, 1961) with Lonnie Johnson (three tracks)
Songs We Taught Your Mother (Bluesville, 1962) shared album with Alberta Hunter and Lucille Hegamin (four tracks)
Woman Blues! (Bluesville, 1962) with Lonnie Johnson
A Basket of Blues (Spivey, 1962) shared album with Buddy Terry, Lucille Hegamin and Hannah Sylvester
Victoria and Her Blues (Spivey, 1962)
Three Kings and the Queen (Spivey, 1964) shared album with Roosevelt Sykes, Big Joe Williams and Lonnie Johnson
The Queen and Her Knights (Spivey, 1965) shared album with Lonnie Johnson, Little Brother Montgomery, Memphis Slim and Sonny Greer
Music Down Home: An Introduction to Negro Folk Music, U.S.A. (1965)
The Blues Is Life (1976)
Classic Piano Blues from Smithsonian Folkways (2008)