Blue Music Producer. She was regarded as an influential pioneer in the development of modern Blues music. In 1949, while helping her husband clear out an area in their furniture shop in Jackson, Mississippi, she came across a pile of old shellac 78rpm blues phonograph discs. She started playing them on the store's record player and soon was selling the stock to her African-American neighbors. She became so inspired by blues, gospel and other black music, that she founded Trumpet Records and started recording local talent in 1950. She recruited musicians and signed such Delta Blues legends as Sonny Boy Williamson, Elmore James, Willie Love, Big Joe Williams and Jerry McCain to her label. Over the next few years, she produced a string of blues Billboard hits, including "Eyesight to the Blind", "Nine Below Zero", "Mr. Down Child", "Mighty Long Time", "Red Hot Kisses", "Dust My Broom" and "Pontiac Blues". Before Trumpet Records closed in 1955, her studio was also a major factor in the contribution of early country, rockabilly and rock and roll music. In 1998, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and is one of the few record producers to be granted that honor and the only woman. On November 17, 2007, a historical marker was placed on her former recording studio location in Jackson, Mississippi. She died of a heart attack at age 77.
Blue Music Producer. She was regarded as an influential pioneer in the development of modern Blues music. In 1949, while helping her husband clear out an area in their furniture shop in Jackson, Mississippi, she came across a pile of old shellac 78rpm blues phonograph discs. She started playing them on the store's record player and soon was selling the stock to her African-American neighbors. She became so inspired by blues, gospel and other black music, that she founded Trumpet Records and started recording local talent in 1950. She recruited musicians and signed such Delta Blues legends as Sonny Boy Williamson, Elmore James, Willie Love, Big Joe Williams and Jerry McCain to her label. Over the next few years, she produced a string of blues Billboard hits, including "Eyesight to the Blind", "Nine Below Zero", "Mr. Down Child", "Mighty Long Time", "Red Hot Kisses", "Dust My Broom" and "Pontiac Blues". Before Trumpet Records closed in 1955, her studio was also a major factor in the contribution of early country, rockabilly and rock and roll music. In 1998, she was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and is one of the few record producers to be granted that honor and the only woman. On November 17, 2007, a historical marker was placed on her former recording studio location in Jackson, Mississippi. She died of a heart attack at age 77.
Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith
Family Members
Advertisement
See more McMurry memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
