VINTAGE! "Mrs. Swing" Mildred Bailey Hand Signed Note Page Todd Mueller COA

Description

Up for auction a VINTAGE! "Mrs. Swing" Mildred Bailey Hand Signed Note Page.
This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES-3121D
Mildred Bailey
(born
Mildred Rinker
; February 27, 1907 – December 12, 1951) was a Native American
jazz
singer during the 1930s, known as "The Queen of Swing", "The Rockin' Chair Lady" and "Mrs. Swing". Some of her best-known hits are "It's So Peaceful in the Country", "
Trust in Me
", "
Where Are You?
", "
I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart
", "
Small Fry
", "
Please Be Kind
", "
Darn That Dream
", "
Rockin' Chair
", "Blame It on My Last Affair", and "Says My Heart". She had three singles that made number one on the popular charts.
She grew up on the
Coeur d'Alene Reservation
in Idaho, where her mother was an enrolled member. The family moved to
Spokane, Washington
when she was 13. Her younger brothers also became musicians, with her brother
Al Rinker
starting to perform as a singer with
Bing Crosby
in Spokane and eventually becoming famous as a member of
The Rhythm Boys
.
Charles Rinker
became a lyricist, and Miles Rinker was a clarinet and saxophone player who later became a booking agent.
Bailey was born Mildred Rinker on a farm in rural
Tekoa
, Washington.
[4]
Her mother Josephine was a member of the
Coeur d'Alene people
[2]
and a devout
Roman Catholic
.
[3]
Bailey's great-grandfather, Bazil Peone, was a well known head speaker and song leader of the Coeur d'Alene at the turn of the 20th century. His ability to create indigenized Catholic hymns helped guide the tribe during difficult times of active colonization by Jesuit missionaries.
Bailey and her siblings grew up near
De Smet
, Idaho, on the
Coeur d'Alene Reservation
. Her father played fiddle and called square dances. Her mother played piano every evening and taught her to play and sing. Her younger brothers included Miles,
Al
, a vocalist and composer, and
Charles
, a lyricist. The family often hosted Saturday night gatherings, creating small music and dance hall in the home for local ranchers with both Josephine and Mildred at the piano. Mildred also accompanied her mother to traditional native ceremony where she heard and practiced the traditional songs and lyrics that would later influence her unique singing voice.
Josephine died from
tuberculosis
at the age of 36, threatening Mildred's ability to remain connected to her native family and traditions in a way that she was able to while her mother was alive. Soon after Josephine's death, Mildred's father remarried, bringing a daughter and creating a tumultuous and unhappy house where Mildred and her siblings were systematically pushed out of by her new stepmother. Given an ultimatum to his father to choose his children or his new wife, Mildred's father sided with his wife and Mildred moved out of the home and in with her aunt and uncle in Seattle. She and her aunt were involved in a serious car accident a short time later which killed her aunt and left Mildred with serious physical and emotional scars.