Background
Glinn was born in Hillsboro, Texas, United States, and later moved to Dallas.
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Lillian Glinn
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She spent most of her career in black vaudeville. Her most popular recordings were "Black Manitoba Blues," "Doggin" Maine Blues" and "Atlanta Blues." The blues historian, Paul Oliver, commented that there are a number of women blues singers who "deserve far greater recognition than they have had" and that one such was Lillian Glinn. She was first noticed singing spirituals in church by her future fellow performer Hattie Burleson.
Under Burleson"s guidance, Glinn became successful in vaudeville, and by 1927 was signed to a recording contract by Columbia.
Glinn took part in six separate recording sessions in a two-year period up to 1929. She recorded a total of twenty-two tracks.
Her speciality was singing slow blues ballads utilising her rich and heavy contralto voice. Her songs concentrated on the harsher side of life and sometimes included sexual innuendo.
Her recordings gained her national recognition, and included her April 1928 recording of "Shake lieutenant Down".
Her sessions took place variously in New Orleans and Atlanta, as well as her home base of Dallas. The author and researcher, David Evans, noted that "it is quite likely that many of Lillian Glinn"s blues without any listed composer were her own material. If so, she would be the exception among Columbia"s female blues singers", he concluded.
Her future became distant from her previous professional career.
Her entire recorded work was made available in 1994 by Document Records. She was interviewed and photographed by Paul Oliver in 1971.
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Born
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Died
July 22, 1978 (aged 76) -
Nationality
United States