Why Willie Mae Thornton matters
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-207).

"Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton is best-known for two songs covered by white rock 'n' roll stars (Elvis Presley, "Hound Dog"; Janis Joplin, "Ball 'n' Chain") but she is unquestionably one of the great blueswomen of her generation. She embodies some of the clichés of the blues, too: Born in the South, raised in the church, appropriated by white performers, hard drinking, relatively early death, big nickname, buried in an indigent's grave. Lynnée Denise's Why Willie Mae Thornton Matters pushes past the stereotype to explore what she means to a young, Black, queer DJ of today who considers her an important musical "ancestor in my line of work." The chapters in this book are thematic, but there's a chronology underlying them that keeps readers oriented. The first chapter, for instance, works with a concept of "mothering," and covers Thornton's upbringing. Subsequent chapters explore how Thornton was shaped by growing up in the Black belt of Alabama, how her discography is evidence of her artistic range, how her touring (and relocating to Houston and Los Angeles) created musical migrations, how her musical collaborators shaped her and how she shaped them, Alice Walker's short story "1955," (which imagines Thornton and Elvis Presley meeting one another), how her success on the chitlin' circuit undermines the perception of that space as anti-queer, her on-stage improvisation as key to her lyricism, her gospel album, and her legacy"-- Provided by publisher.