Wrote about Hattie Ellis, an incredible blues singer who should be in the canon with Ella, Billie, Buddy, Leadbelly and others.
Many thanks to @texasmonthly.bsky.social + Skip Hollandsworth + Caroline Gnagy for unearthing this history.
www.themarshallproject.org/2026/04/12/h...
The Bootlegging, Blues Singing Star of 1930s Prison Radio
In the 1930s, Hattie Ellis was so beloved for her singing on a prison radio show that the Texas governor pardoned her. But then she vanished.
@mauricechammah.bsky.social shares what we know about her mysterious career:
The Bootlegging, Blues Singing Star of 1930s Prison Radio
