Helen Baxter

Helen Baxter, a classic blues singer from the 1920s kept pretty busy, not only recording under her own name but also cutting sides as both Ellen Coleman and Mamie Spencer. Her artistic peak was reached while recording sessions with medium-sized bands under the leadership of blues pianist Lem Fowler, a hotshot keyboard man who had come up in the business creating dozens of piano rolls, then went on to record for Columbia in the mid-'20s under the name of Lem Fowler's Washboard Wonders and Fowler's Favorites. Baxter and Fowler created tasty blues with a thick, sometimes even orc...