Geeshie Wiley

Geeshie Wiley is best known for her stunning version of "Last Kind Word Blues," a minor-key modal blues recorded in the 1930s for Paramount Records. Wiley's vocal on "Last Kind Word Blues" is by turns weary, wise, angry, defiant, despairing, even wistful, and is simply one of the best performances in early country blues. Not much is known about her life, unfortunately. According to bluesman Ishman Bracey (who may or may not have it right), she was from Natchez, MS, and at one time or another was romantically linked to Charlie McCoy. She is rumored to have worked in a medicine ...