There is no photo of this artist known to exist Geeshie Geeshie / Geechie Wiley date and location of birth unknown date and location of death unknown Wiley discography

"Although Geeshie Wiley may well have been the rural South's greatest female blues singer and musician, almost nothing is known of her. Ishmon Bracey, who met her in Jackson in the late '20's, said she was from Natchez, Mississippi. She may have come to town with a medicine show, with which she played during her sojourn, and reportedly took up with Charlie McCoy. Other than a report of Robert Wilkins seeing her in eastern Mississippi around 1930, her name elicited no further response among her contemporaries. If Geeshie Wiley did not exist, she could not be invented: her scope and creativity dwarfs most blues artists. She seems to represent the moment when black secular music was coalescing into blues. Her repertoire included early raggy songs like Pick Poor Robin Clean and Come On Over To My House, but delivered with more punch; songs such as Last Kind Words that probably predate World War I but handled as befitting a blues sensibility; and state of the art country blues with imaginative arrangements. Her guitar technique is unusual: her use of an A-minor chord in Last Kind Words is rare for a rural blues artist and her adoption of a riff in A normally associated with Texas artists shows a shrewd appreciation for exciting sounds. Moreover, despite her sensual voice, the persona she presents is as tough as Charley Patton: money before romance and she sweetly says, while extolling her sexual charms, that she's calmy capable of killing you. Wiley apparently came up to record with Elvie Thomas, another guitarist said to be from Palmers Crossing, Mississippi, near Hattiesburg. Her guitar duet with Wiley on Pick Poor Robin Clean shows her to be a less forceful musician but her hauntingly beautiful vocal on Motherless Child Blues reveals a powerful poignancy among the most sublime in American music. Equalling the vocal with exquisite force and imagination is the guitar arrangement in the key of E, probably played by Geeshie Wiley. This shows traces of a northern Mississippi influence, but the B7th section is without parallel in rural blues. A very similar arrangement is used on Skinny Legs Blues. the lyrics are from Boar Hog Blues, but the melody used by Geeshie Wiley bears only a token resemblance to that song. Wiley's masterpiece, Last Kind Words, played in the key of E, is one of the most imaginatively constructed guitar arrangments of its era and possible one of the most archaic. Although the lyrics date it to the late World War I era, its eight-bar verse structure appears to be older. The opening A minor chord that leads directly into the same A riff employed by Texas artists is unique, and the thumb rolls in the B7th part echo Charley Patton's Green River Blues." Don Kent's liner notes to "Mississippi Masters: Early American Blues Classics 1927-35" the woman on the front cover of OJL 6 is not Geeshie Wiley !!!

Geeshie Wiley 78 rpm / LPs / CDs # year of release title label # / notes 10 inch 78 rpm 1 1930 Geeshie Wiley - Last Kind Words Blues (L-257-4)   @ youtube - Skinny Leg Blues (L-261-1) rec. c. March 1930 in Grafton, WI; Geeshie Wiley, voc, prob. g Paramount 12951 2 1930 Elvie Thomas / Wiley and Thomas Elvie Thomas # - Motherless Child Blues (L-254-2) Wiley and Thomas - Over To My House (L-265-1) *   @ youtube # rec. c. March 1930 in Grafton, WI; Elvie Thomas, voc, prob. g; prob. Geeshie Wiley, g * rec. c. March 1930 in Grafton, WI; Elvie Thomas, Geeshie Wiley, voc duet; Elvie Thomas, g; prob. Geeshie Wiley, g Paramount 12977 3 1931 Geeshie Wiley & Elvie Thomas - Pick Poor Robin Clean (L-824-1) #   @ youtube - Eagles On A Half (L-826-1) rec. c. March 1931 in Grafton, WI; Geeshie Wiley, voc, prob. g; # prob. Elvie Thomas, voc Paramount 13074 LP / CD compilations 4 1964 The Country Girls! 1927 - 1935 Lottie Kimbrough - Wayward Girl Blues - Rolling Log Blues Geeshie Wiley - Pick Poor Robin Clean Rosie Mae Moore - Stranger Blues Lulu Jackson - Careless Love Blues Lillian Miller - Dead Drunk Blues Lucille Bogan - I Hate That Train Called The M & O Elvie Thomas - Motherless Child Blues Nellie Florence - Jacksonville Blues - Midnight Weeping Blues Pearl Dickson - Little Rock Blues Memphis Minnie - Where Is My Good Man - Can't I Do It For You Mae Glover - Shake It Daddy Lottie Kimbrough - Going Away Blues - Lost Lover Blues Origin Jazz Library OJL-6 OJL discography 5 1968 Mississippi Blues 1927 - 1941 Harvey Hull - Gang Of Brownskin Women Henry Sims - Be True, Be True Blues William Harris - I'm Leavin' Town Skip James - Special Rider Blues - Cypress Grove Blues Charley Patton - Hang It On The Wall Geechie Wiley - Eagles On A Half Mattie Delaney - Tallahatchie River Blues John Byrd - Billy Goat Blues Charley Patton - Mean Black Moan - Pea Vine Blues Bobby Grant - Nappy Head Blues Son House - Delta Blues Robert Johnson - Dead Shrimp Blues notes by Bradley Sweet Belzona L 1001 = Yazoo L 1001 Yazoo discograpy 6 1969 Going Away Blues 1926 - 1935 Lottie Beaman - Going Away Blues - Rolling Log Blues George 'Big Boy' Owens - Kentucky Blues Charlie Kyle - Kyle's Worried Blues Jelly Jaw Short - Grand Daddy Blues Frank Stokes - Right Now Blues George 'Bullet' Williams - Frisco Leaving Birmingham Charley Jordan - Stack O'Dollar Blues Henry Thomas - Railroadin' Some Robert Wilkins - Old Jim Canaan - New Stockyard Blues William McCoy - Central Tracks Blues Uncle Bud Walker - Look Here Mama Blues Elvie Thomas & Geeshie Wiley - Over To My House Yazoo L 1018 = CD 1018 YAZ [1992] Yazoo discograpy 7 1972 The World's Rarest Country Blues Records Blind Willie McTell - B And O Blues No 2 (New York Sep. 21 1933) King Solomon Hill - Down On My Bended Knee (Grafton, Wis. c. Jan 1932) Blind Lemon Jefferson - Disgusted Blues (Chicago, Ill. c. Jan 1929) - The Cheaters Spell (Richmond Ind. Sep 24 1929) Sluefoot Joe - She's A Fool (Long Island City, N.Y. Apr 1929) - House Top Blues (Long Island City, N.Y. Apr 1929) Jaybird Coleman - Trunk Busted Suitcase Full Of Holes (Birmingham Alabama c. Aug. 1927) Ruby Paul - Last Farewell Blues (Chicago, Ill. Dec. 1927) Blind Willie Davis - Trust In God And Do Right. Grafton Wis. c. Jan 1930) William Harris - Electric Chair Blues - Kansas City Blues (Richmond Ind. Oct. 9th 1928) Geeshie Wiley - Last Kind Words Blues - Skinny Leg Blues (Grafton, Wis. c. April 1930) Skip James - Hard-Luck Child - 4 O'Clock Blues (Grafton Wis. c. Feb. 1931) Charley Patton - Circle Round The Moon - Magnolia Blues - Mean Black Cat Blues (Grafton Wis. Nov. 1929) Strictly limited edition (150 Copies). Plain white cover white Separate Typed Listing Sheet. Note: "Every title presented on this lp has been dubbed from the only copy known to exist in the world. The makers have done their best to make these extremely rare and worn out 78's audible!" For Specialists Only FSO-001 (Austria [Roots]) 8 1988 Mississippi Girls   (1928-1931) The Complete Recordings In Chronological Order Of ... Rosie Mae Moore - Staggering Blues - Ha-Ha Blues - School Girl Blues - Stranger Blues Mary Butler - Bungalow Blues - Mary Blues - Electric Chair Blues - Mad Dog Blues Mattie Delaney - Down The Big Road Blues - Tallahatchie River Blues Geechie Wiley & Elvie Thomas - Last Kind Words - Skinny Leg Blues - Motherless Child Blues - Over To My House - Pick Poor Robin Clean - Eagles On A Half RST Blues Documents BD-2018 (Austria) = Story Of Blues CD SB 3515 (1991) 9 1994 Mississippi Blues   Vol. 1   1928-1937 Complete Recorded Works of ... Uncle Bud Walker - Look Here Mama Blues - Stand Up Suitcase Blue Big Road Webster Taylor - World In A Jug - Sunny Southern Blues Mattie Delaney Down The Big Road Blues - Tallahatchie River Blues Louise Johnson - All Night Long Blues (tk 1) - Long Ways From Home - On The Wall - By The Moon And Stars Mississippi Bracy - You Scolded Me And Drove Me From Your Door - Cherry Ball - Stered Gal - I'll Overcome Someday Geechie Wiley & Elvie Thomas - Last Kind Words Blues - Skinny Leg Blues - Motherless Child Blues - Over To My House - Pick Poor Robin Clean - Eagles On A Half The Mississippi Moaner (Isaiah Nettles) - Mississippi Moan - It's Cold In China Blues Mose Andrews - Ten Pound Hammer - Young Heifer Blues Document DOCD 5157 10 1994 Mississippi Masters Early American Blues Classics 1927 - 35 Garfield Akers - Dough Roller Blues (1930) William Harris - Kansas City Blues (1928) Otto Virgial - Little Girl In Rome (1935) Mattie Delaney - Tallahatchie River Blues (1930) Geeshie Wiley - Last Kind Words (1930) Joe Calicott - Fare Thee Well Blues (1930) Williams Harris - Bullfrog Blues (1928) John D. Fox - The Moaning Blues (1927) Geeshie Wiley & Elvie Thomas - Pick Poor Robin Clean (1931) Blind Joe Reynolds - Outside Woman Blues (1930) King Solomon Hill - Gone Dead Train (1932) Garfield Akers - Cottonfield Blues Part 1 (1929) Garfield Akers - Cottonfield Blues Part 2 (1929) Williams Harris - Hot Time Blues (1928) Geeshie Wiley - Skinny Leg Blues (1930) Blind Joe Reynolds - Third Street Woman Blues (1930) John D. Fox - Worried Man Blues (1927) Mattie Delaney - Down The Big Road Blues (1930) King Solomon Hill - Whoopee Blues (1932) Elvie Thomas - Motherless Child Blues (1930) Yazoo CD 2007 more info 11 1995 Crumb (the soundtrack album) - Ragtime Nightingale - Sensation Rag - Harlem Strut - Abraham Jefferson Washington Lee - Belle Of The Phillippines - Last Kind Word Blues - Geeshie Wiley - Radiator Cap Blues - Gabby Glide Medley - Frog-I-More Rag - Cocaine - Won't You Fondle Me Medley - Pass The Jug - Skinny Leg Blues - Geeshie Wiley - Buffalo Rag - 35th Street Blues - Mabel's Dream - Wall Street Rag - Hateful Blues - A Real Slow Drag - Comic Montage Stomp - Someday Sweetheart - Rag Pickings - Black Diamond Rag - Ragtime Nightingale Rykodisc RCD 10322 12 1996 Before The Blues, Vol. 2 The Early American Black Music Scene Dallas String Band - Dallas Rag Frank Stokes - How Long Peg Leg Howell - Skin Game Blues Memphis Jug Band - K.C. Moan Charley Jordan - Just A Spoonful Hattie Hudson - Doggone My Good Luck Soul Eck Robertson - There's A Brown Skin Girl Down The Road Somewhere Lulu Jackson - You're Going To Leave The Old Home Jim! Tommy McClennan - Deep Blue Sea Blues South Street Trio - Cold Morning Shout Blind Joe Taggart - Been Listening All The Day Charley Patton - Mississippi Bo Weavil Blues Golden P- Harris - I'll Lead A Christian Life Minnie Wallace - The Old Folks Started It Tennessee Chocolate Drops - Vine Street Drag Blind Willie Johnson - It's Nobody's Fault But Mine Geeshie Wiley - Last Kind Words Blues Roland & Scott - Guitar Stomp Blind Lemond Jefferson - Jack O'diamond Blues Emry Arthur - Reuben Oh Reuben Blue Boys - Memphis Stomp Louise Johnson - On The Wall Frank Jenkins - Roving Cowboy notes by Don Kent and Richard Nevins Yazoo CD 2016 www.yazoorecords.com 13 1997 I Can't Be Satisfied, Vol. 1 - Country Early American Women Blues Singers-Town & Country Classic Recordings from the 1920s - Eagles On A Half Yazoo CD 2027 more info 14 1999 Southern Blues   Volume One - I'm Leaving Town - William Harris - Mistreatin' Blues - Frank Stokes - Canned Heat Blues - Tommy Johnson - Dry Land Blues - Furry Lewis - Last Time Blues - Charlie Mccoy - Elder Greene Blues - Charley Patton - Never Drive A Stranger From Your Door - Willie Harris - Dough Roller Blues - Garfield Akers - Beale Street Breakdown - Jed Davenport - Skinny Legs Blues - Geeshie Wiley - Stop And Listen - Mississippi Sheiks - I Let My Daddy Do That - Hattie Hart - Little Girl In Rome - Otto Virgial [Bluebird B6213] - It's Cold In China Blues The Mississippi Moaner - The Ins And Outs Of My Girl Bo Carter - Skippy Whippy Mississippi Jook Band - Preachin' Blues - Robert Johnson - Lonesome World Robert Lee Mccoy - Spider Bite Blues - James De Barry - Special Streamline - Bukka White - Jailhouse Blues - Sleepy John Estes - Mozelle Blues - Tommy Mcclennan - Standin' At My Window - Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup - Anna Mae Cecil - Cecil Gant - No Good Woman Blues Rudy Greene Audio Book & Music Company ABMCD 1090 = Acrobat CD 130 (UK 2002) 15 2000 Little Rock Blues: The Essential Recordings of Country Girls - Last Kind Words - Pick Poor Robin Clean - Eagle On A Half - Skinny Leg Blues Indigo CD 2124 16 2000 9 CD Set American Pop: An Audio History - Last Kind Words West Hill Audio Archives WH-4017(9) more info 17 2002 Country Blues - the essential CD 1 - Weeping Willow - Blind Boy Fuller - Little Rock Blues - Pearl Dickson - Weak-Minded Woman - Willie Baker - Saturday Blues - Ishman Bracey - Rolling Log Blues - Lottie Kimborough - Starvation Farm Blues - Bob Campbell - California Desert Blues - Lane Hardin - Fence Breakin' Blues - Shreveport Home Wreckers - Mississippi Jailhouse Groan - Rube Lacey - Charming Betsy - Henry Thomas - Mamlish Blues - Barefoot Bill - Easy Rider Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson - Davidson County Blues - De Ford Baily - Kentucky Blues - Little Hat Jones - Cocaine Blues - Luke Jordan - Mama, You Gotta Get It Fixed - Troy Ferguson - One Way Gal - William Moore - Two Time Blues - Arthur Petties CD 2 - Hambone Willie's Dreamy-Eyed Woman's Blues - Hambone Willie Newbern - Police Sargeant Blues - Robert Wilkins - Penal Farm Blues - Scrapper Blackwell - Ghost Woman Blues - George Carter - Indian Squaw Blues - Freezone - Unknown Blues - Tarter & Gay - Nehi Mamma Blues - Frank Stokes - I Ain't Givin' Nobody None - Mae Glover - Happy Blues - Tom Dickson - Cairo Blues - Henry Spaulding - C.C. & O Blues - Pink Anderson and Simmy Dooley - I Will Turn Your Money Green - Furry Lewis - John Henry Blues - Evans & Mcclain - Jealous Hearted Blues - Charlie Lincoln - Last Kind Words Blues - Geeshie Wiley - Devil In The Woodpile - Noah Lewis - Bye Bye Mama - Buddy Moss - Jailhouse Fire Blues - Walter 'Buddy Boy' Hawkins 2 CD set notes by Gary Atkinson Document CBL-200008 www.document-records.com 18 200? The Rough Guide To The Delta Blues - Jumper On The Line - R.L. Burnside - Preaching Blues (Up Jumped The Devil) - Robert Johnson - Done Left Here - Mississippi Fred McDowell - High Water Everywhere (Part 1) - Charley Patton - Walkin' Blues - Son House - Sitting On Top Of The World - Mississippi Sheiks - Country Blues - Muddy Waters - Goin' Back To The Bridge - Asie Payton - Last Kind Words Blues - Geechie Wiley & Elvie Thomas - Catfish Blues - Robert Petway - Cool Drink Of Eater Blues - Tommy Johnson - Black Mattie - Robert Belfour - Outside Woman Blues - Blind Joe Reynolds - Future Blues - Willie Brown - On The Wall - Louise Johnson - Stack O'Lee Blues - Mississippi John Hurt - Mississippi Swamp Moan - Alfred Lewis - Aberdeen Mississippi Blues - Bukka White - Meet Me In The City - Junior Kimbrough - That's No Way To Get Along - Robert Wilkins - The Banker's Blues - Big Bill Broonzy - Don't Mash My Digger So Deep - Bo Carter - Baby Please Don't Go - Big Joe Williams - I'm So Glad - Skip James notes by Johnathan Ogle RGNET CD 1087 19 2006 The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of disc 1 Freeny's Barn Dance Band: Croquet Habits Son House: Mississippi County Farm Blues Georgia Pot Lickers: Up Jumped The Rabbit Memphis Minnie & Joe McCoy: I'm Going Back Home Wilmer Watts & The Lonely Eagles: Fightin' In The War With Spain John Byrd: Old Timbrook Blues Ernest Phipps And His Holiness Singers: A Little Talk With Jesus Tommy Johnson: Slidin' Delta The Three Striped Gears: Alabama Blues Jack Gowdlock: Rollin Dough Blues Kentucky Ramblers: Ginseng Blues Ollis Martin: Police And High Sheriff Come Ridin' Down Roy Harvey & Jess Johnston And The West Virginia Ramblers: John Hardy Blues Long "Cleeve" Reed & Little Harvey Hull - The Down Home Boys: Original Stack O' Lee Blues Amedie Ardoin & Dennis McGee: Two Step De La Prairie Soileau Andrew & Jim Baxter: Operator Blues J.D. Harris: The Grey Eagle Memphis Jug Band: Jim Strainer Blues Grayson County Railsplitters: Ain't That Trouble In Mind (unissued) Dock Boggs: Old Rub Alcohol Blues Jaybird Coleman: Mistreatin' Mama Henry Whitter: It's A Rough Road To Georgia (unissued) Rev. B.L. Wightman with Lottie Kimbrough & Congregation: Live The Life disc 2 Yank Rachel with Sleepy John Estes & Jab Jones: Sweet Mama Crowder Brothers: We All Love Mother (unissued) Son House: Clarksdale Moan Ashley & Foster: Bull Dog Sal (unissued) Jesse "Babyface" Thomas: Down In Texas Blues Georgia Pot Lickers: Chicken Don't Roost Too High William Harris: I'm Leavin' Town (But I Sho' Don't Wanna Go) Asa Martin & Roy Hobbs: Wild Cat Rag King Solomon Hill: Whoopee Blues (Alternate Take) Chubby Parker: Davey Crockett Geeshie Wiley: Skinny Leg Blues Sweet Brothers: I'm Gonna Marry That Pretty Little Girl Blind Roosevelt Graves & Varoy Graves: I Shall Not Be Moved Smith & Irvine: Lonesome Road Blues Luke Jordon: If I Call You Mama Grayson & Whitter: My Mind Is To Marry (unissued) Osey Helton: Green River Lottie Kimbrough: Don't Speak To Me Wade Ward: Married Man's Blues (unissued) Ken Maynard: Sweet Betsey From Pike (unissued) Jaybird Coleman: Boll Weevil Bill Shepherd with Hayes Shepherd & Ed Webb: Bound Steel Blues Middle Georgia Singing Convention No. 1: Bells Of Love double CD Yazoo YAZ CD 2202 street date: April 4th, 2006 more info: Tom Mug's Blog Stefan Grossman's Guitar Workshop www.amazon.com 20 2009 I Woke Up One Morning In May Cryin' Sam Collins - Lonesome Road Lottie Kimbrough (The Kansas City Butterball) - Lost Lover Blues Henry Spaulding - Cairo Blues Memphis Minnie & Kansas Joe McCoy - Can't I Do It For You? Buster Johnson - Undertaker Blues Elvie Thomas - Motherless Child Blues Little Hat Jones - Bye Bye Baby Blues Robert Wilkins - I'll Go With Her Willie Baker - Rag Baby Blind Blake - Rope Stretchin' Blues Louie Lasky - How You Want Your Rolling Done? Charlie McCoy - Keep It Clean Lottie Kimbrough - Wayward Girl Blues Joe Callicott - Fare Thee Well Blues Mississippi MR 033   Other artist's Covers of Geeshie Wiley songs # year of release Artist: Record Title - featured Geeshie Wiley song label # / notes 1 1997 Asylum Street Spankers: Live - Last Kind Word Blues Watermelon CD 1065 Asylum Street Spankers 2 2001 Neil Harpe - Eagles On A Half - Pick Poor Robin Clean Neil Harpe website 3 2002 Erin Harpe: Blues Roots - Chauffer Blues (Memphis Minnie) - Alligatoe Blues (Bessie Smith) - One Thing I lIke About That Man of Mine (William Moore) - Bye Bye Blues (Tommy Johnson) - Big Bad Bill (Yellen/Ager) - In My Girlish Days (Memphis Minnie) - M & O Blues (Lucille Bogan) - You Gonna Quit Me Blues (Blind Blake) - Big Road Blues (Tommy Johnson) - Pick Poor Robin Clean (Geechie Wiley) - Future Blues (Willie Brown) - Stop and Listen Blues (Eleanor Ellis) Juicy Juju Records www.cdbaby.com 4 2002 David Johansen and the Harry Smiths: Shaker - Last Kind Words Chesky JD236 www.chesky.com Sources / Further reading: - own record collection - Robert M.W. Dixon, John Godrich & Howard W. Rye: Blues & Gospel Records 1890 - 1943, 4th ed. 1997, pp. 917, 1028 - eBay auctions - diverse internet resources   further reading: GAYLE DEAN WARDLOW: "Six Who Made Recorded History--1926-1935" 78 Quarterly #5, 1990 (John Byrd, Isaiah Nettles, Sonny Scott, Freddie Spruell, Elvie Thomas, Geeshie Wiley)   Sound files of 'Skinny Legs Blues' and 'The Last Kind Words' Sound clips of 'Last Kind Words', 'Skinny Legs Blues', 'Pick Poor Robin Clean' and 'Eagles On A Half'

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