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Michigan Heritage Awards
Arts Nomination Form
Community Leadership Nomination Form
^ MHA Awardees List ^
Photo by Bill Mitchum
Photo by Bill Mitchum
1985 awardee, Farmington Hills (Oakland County), blues singer
Several major U.S. cities lay claim to legendary blues singer Sippie Wallace,
who spent the majority of her adult years in Detroit. Born Beulah Thomas
in Houston, Texas, November 1,1898, she sang and played piano early on in
the Baptist church. Sippie's brother, Hersal, played piano and before she
was 13 years old they were performing together. In 1915, they moved to New
Orleans to pursue music. 1923 was a landmark year for Sippie; along with
her brothers, Hersal and George, she moved to Chicago in the midst of a
vital, live jazz scene. By the end of the year, her first two singles, "Shorty
George" and "Up the Country Blues," on Okeh Records were hits. Sippie wrote
many of the 40 songs she recorded between 1923 and 1927, and her powerful
musical abilities prompted the record label to bring in respected jazz musicians,
such as Louis Armstrong and big band leader King Oliver, for recording sessions.
Sippie almost completely stopped recording and performing publicly after
1936, when both her husband, Matt, and brother, George, died. She moved
to Detroit, and for the following 30 years, her musical talent and artistry
graced the ears and hearts of the members of the Leland Baptist Church in
Detroit, where she was the organist and vocalist. In 1966, she released
a new album with friend Victoria Spivey, who helped convince Sippie to begin
performing again at blues and folk festivals. Bonnie Raitt, who had covered
several of Sippie's songs on her records, also helped encourage her to emerge
again into the blues and jazz scenes. In 1983, Bonnie produced the album
Sippie, which landed the 85-year-old a Grammy nomination and a W.C. Handy
Award for best blues album of the year. In the last years before her death
in 1986, Sippie continued to sing, often with the Jim Dapogney Jazz Band,
to the delight of her many fans.
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