Dorothy Ellis was an American blues singer and songwriter, who was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2011, having been an inductee of the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in 2004.
16 Facts About Dorothy Ellis
1.
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Dorothy Ellis was known as Miss Blues and was often billed under that moniker.
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Dorothy Ellis copied her mother who enjoyed singing, particularly the Lead Belly song, "Good Morning Blues".
4.
Just months later, Dorothy Ellis herself got paid for singing that song one Easter Sunday at a nearby juke joint.
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However, when Dorothy Ellis was at the age of 11, her mother collapsed in the fields and died from heat stroke.
6.
Dorothy Ellis went to live with a grandmother in Wellington, Texas, before uprooting to a homeless family shelter in Paris, Texas.
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In January 1952, Dorothy Ellis recorded four tracks for Federal Records, including the dirty blues number, "Drill Daddy Drill".
8.
In 1955, Dorothy Ellis purchased a property with her husband, and lived there both prior to his death in 2008, and until her own demise.
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Dorothy Ellis has appeared live and variously performed with Richard "Groove" Holmes, Little Joe Blue, Drink Small, and for Bo Diddley.
10.
In 1997, Dorothy Ellis recorded her debut album, Reminiscence of the Blues, which was issued by Crying Tone Records.
11.
Dorothy Ellis was inducted into the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame in 2004.
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Dorothy Ellis performed at the Dusk Til Dawn Blues Festival in Rentiesville, Oklahoma.
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Dorothy Ellis was inducted into the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame in 2011.
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Around that time, Dorothy Ellis loaned the Oklahoma Historical Society her photos and memorabilia for use in its collection.
15.
Dorothy Ellis wrote or co-wrote eight of the ten tracks on her final album, Blues with an Attitude.
16.
The drama was compounded when, upon returning home after months of treatment, Dorothy Ellis discovered her house had been subject to a burglary with her losing jewelry, coins and photographs from her lengthy life and career.