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Who was Jessie Mae?The doco is a portrait of the little known American songwriter Jessie Mae Robinson and a personal journey of recognition and acknowledgement by her great niece Malika Elizabeth, a musician herself who discovered her musical heritage by chance as a young woman growing up in Sydney. In this program she connects some of the fascinating threads in her great aunt's life and work and places her back where she belongs as a key songwriter and composer of the late 40s and 50s. |
Synopsis
Jessie Mae changed the musical landscape with her songs and by the time of her death in 1966 at just 47, she'd achieved extraordinary success as a composer with a significant number of songs on the Billboard hit parade of the 50s.
She wrote many hugely popular songs that were taken up by the leading artists of the day including Dinah Washington, T-Bone Walker, Elvis Presley, Muddy Waters, Nina Simone, Johnny Mathis, Sarah Vaughan, Patti Page, Judy Garland and Bing Crosby.
Broadcast Date
28 August 2010
Production Details
Narration and research: Malika Elizabeth
Script: Simon Luckhurst
Producers: Simon Luckhurst, Russell Stapleton and Cathy Peters
Sound engineer: Russell Stapleton
ABC site
Awards
Selected by the ABC as an entrant in the 2011 Prix Italia radio awards.
Images
Jessie Mae Robinson |
Jessie Mae Robinson |
Sheet music for (Let's Have A) Party |
Sheet music for I Went To Your Wedding |
