Perry Bradford
Perry Bradford (February 14, 1893, Montgomery, Alabama – April 20, 1970, New York City) was an African American composer, songwriter, and vaudeville performer. His most notable songs included "Crazy Blues," "That Thing Called Love," and "You Can't Keep A Good Man Down." He was nicknamed "Mule" because of his stubbornness, and he is credited with finally persuading Okeh Records to work with Mamie Smith leading to her historic blues recording in 1920. |
Birth and Death Data: Born Montgomery (city in and county seat of Montgomery County, and capital of the State of Alabama, United States), Died April 20, 1970 (Queens (borough in New York City, New York, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1920 - 1953
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, lyricist, piano, vocalist, leader, songwriter, arranger, conductor, chimes
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 176-177 of 177 records)
| Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edison | 7734 | 10-in. | 1/11/1921 | Crazy blues | Noble Sissle | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer, lyricist | |
| Rama | RR-16 | 10-in. | approximately 1953 | Real fine man | Viola Watkins | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Bradford, Perry," accessed January 7, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106081.
Bradford, Perry. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 7, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106081.
"Bradford, Perry." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 7 January 2026.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: John Henry ‘Perry’ Bradford
Discogs: Perry Bradford
Grove: Perry Bradford
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Bradford, Perry - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n89610807
Wikidata: John Henry ‘Perry’ Bradford - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1797745
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/49431992
MusicBrainz: John Henry ‘Perry’ Bradford - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/8c9524a0-edaa-4251-a1aa-bb81d5dad85e
Fast: https://id.worldcat.org/fast/245807 - https://id.worldcat.org/fast/245807
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
Feedback
Send the Editors a message about this record.