Beulah Thomas “Sippie” Wallace was born in Houston Texas on November 1, 1898 as one of thirteen children to her parents Fanny and George W. Thomas, Sr. Sippie got her nickname for how far apart her teeth were, claiming that as a child she “had to sip everything.” She was from a black family who had lived in Texas for a while. Her father was a deacon at Shiloh Baptist Church in Houston, where she would sing and play the organ. Of her many siblings, Hersal Thomas and George W. Thomas Jr. were also experienced musicians, both playing piano and writing songs for their sister. Although she was raised around traditional church music, Sippie’s true interested were in ragtime sounds and blues. This music was typically performed by black musicians, which might have enticed Sippie to try it herself. Blues music was about expressing emotion and often discussed love, as opposed to story-telling. The Blues scene in the 1920s was largely African American and was becoming commercially famous due to what was known as “race-records.” Race-records were recordings made by black people for black people. During the summer of her teenage years, Sippie would attend tent-show bands to watch the three-act plays which were meant to be family friendly events. These tent-shows were hugely successful in the southern parts of Texas, and the one Sippie frequented was located right in Houston. She was thrown into the spotlight when on one of her nightly trips she was asked to fill in on the chorus line, and thus became a permanent part of the show. For the remainder of her time in Texas, Sippie followed the tent shows to Dallas to continue acting and singing, but her brothers knew she was destined to be a bigger star.
Together, Hersal, George Jr., and Sippie moved to New Orleans to pursue a career in jazz and blues. While there, she would rehearse with many ragtime performers that would gain great success, like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Clarence Williams. After her time in New Orleans, Sippie moved to Chicago where her brother George introduced her to Ralph Peer who was the general manager of OKeh Records. Okeh records was known for recording blues songs for race-records and giving many blues and ragtime singers great success. Only three months after her first record was pressed by OKeh, Sippie was one of the top selling black recording artists in the nation, with her song “Shorty George Blues” selling. more than 100,000 copies, which in today’s standards is the same as going platinum. She was the most frequently recorded female blues singer in the country at the time and was known as the “Texas Nightingale.” Sippie wrote many of her own songs, but also frequently collaborated with her two brothers. Since she had the opportunity to write her own songs, she wrote about important issues in her life, while also writing for women as seen in her song “Woman Be Wise” and “I’m A Mighty Tight Woman.” During 1923-1927 her forty song repertoire, Sippie was able to work with some of the famous names that she had previously rehearsed with, like Johnny Dodds and Louis Armstrong.
Lyrics
I wrote a letter and mailed it in the air
You can tell by that I’ve got a friend somewhere
But soon one morning, lord by the break of day
Some low down woman stole my man away
I lay down last night, trying to take my rest
My mind starts to rambling like the wild goose in the west
I went upon the mountain, looked far as could see
The women had my man, lord and the blues got me
I want all you women to strictly understand
That if a man wears overalls he sure is no monkey man
Shorty George is the only man that I chose
He treated me good now I’ve got the Shorty George Blues.
Lyrics
Women be wise, keep your mouth shut, don’t advertise your man
Don’t sit around gossiping, explaining what your good man really can do
Some women nowadays, Lord they ain’t no good
They will laugh in your face, Then try to steal your man from you
Women be wise, keep your mouth shut, don’t advertise your manYour best girlfriend, she might be a highbrow, she changes clothes 3 times a day
What do you think she’s doing now, while you’re so far away
She’s loving your man in your own damn bed
You better call for the doctor, mama, try to investigate your head
Women be wise, keep your mouth shut, don’t advertise your manWomen be wise, keep your mouth shut, don’t advertise your man
Don’t sit around, girl, telling all your secrets,
Telling all those good things he really can do
If you talk about your baby, you tell me he’s so fine
Lord honey, I just might sneek up and try to make him mine
Women be wise, keep your mouth shut, don’t advertise your manDon’t be no fool, don’t advertise your man (baby don’t do it)
Lyrics
I come to you, sweet man
And I’m, I’m fallin’ on my knees
I come to you, pretty papa
Fallin’ on my knees
Ask if you don’t have nobody
Won’t you kindly take me please
Cause I’m a mighty tight woman
I’m a real tight woman
Lord I’m a jack of all trades
I can be your sweet woman
Also be your slave
Lord I can do things so good
You will swear that I behave
I got all of them sayin’
That I’m tight in everything I do
I got all the men cryin’
I’m a broad that will never be blue
What I need is a good man
And I will make him happy too
If you’re a married man
You ain’t got no business here
Cause when you’re out with me
I might make your wife shed a tear
Cause I’m a mighty tight woman
There is nothing, nothing that I fear
Sippie has a very icon way of singing, which is very common in blues singing. She is what is known as a blues shouter. The way she is able to manipulate her voice gave her songs a lot of meaning and depth. Sippie is often talked about along with famous female blues singer Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Ida Cox. Her soulful singing is what brought the listeners in, that was until the start of the Great Depression, which put everyone in financial trouble and changed their music taste. Sippie’s career started to fade and she went back to singing gospel music in her new home of Detroit. When blues made a comeback in the 1960s, so did Sippie with the help of one of the many artists she inspired, Victoria Spivey. The two of them recorded a few duets and went on tours to promote the feminist movement of the ’70s. At the age of 86, Sippie returned to Texas for the first time in 60 years where she performed at the annual Austin Music Fesitval. While she did not spend a lot of time in Texas, her roots are strong there, and she was inducted into the Houston Institute for Culture’s Texas Music Hall fo Fame.
Citation
Ashby, Clifford. “Tent Shows.” TSHA, 1 Aug. 1995, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/tent-shows.
“Blues.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/art/blues-music.
Parker, Donna P. “Wallace, Beulah Thomas [Sippie] (1898–1986).” TSHA, 25 July 2017, https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/wallace-beulah-thomas-sippie.
“Sippie Wallace.” Michigan Women Forward, https://miwf.org/timeline/sippie-wallace/.
White, Claytee D. “Sippie Wallace (1898-1986) .” Blackpast.org, 12 Feb. 2007, https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/wallace-sippie-1898-1986/.
