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Josie Miles (c. 1900 – c. 1953–65) was an American
vaudeville and blues singer. She was one of the classic female blues
singers popular in the 1920s.
She was born in Summerville, South Carolina. By the early 1920s she was
working in New York City, where she appeared in Eubie Blake and Noble
Sissle's musical comedy Shuffle Along. In 1922 she made her first
recordings, for the Black Swan Company, and later recorded for the
Gennett, Ajax, Edison, and Banner Records labels. In 1923 she toured the
African-American theatre circuit with the Black Swan Troubadours, and
performed in New York City in James P. Johnson's revue Runnin' Wild at
the Colonial Theatre. In that same year she also performed on WDT Radio
in New York City.
According to blues writer Steve Tracy, Josie Miles was characterized by
"a light but forceful delivery that was not low-down but was
nevertheless convincing." Her last recordings date from 1925. After the
early 1930s, she devoted herself to church activities in Kansas City,
Missouri, where she had settled. She is thought to have died in an
automobile accident in the 1950s or 1960s.
Josie Miles has often been credited with the six sides recorded in 1928
by the fiery Missionary Josephine Miles (also issued under the name
Evangelist Mary Flowers), although blues historians Paul Oliver and
Chris Smith believe that the aural evidence does not support this
identification.
Source: Wikipedia - The Free Encyclopedia

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