Arizona Dranes- Complete Recorded Works (1926-1929)

”'Juanita' Arizona Dranes was born in Dallas, Texas around 1905. Born blind, Dranes is believed to have been of Mexican and African-American heritage, and was raised in the Church of God in Christ in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Dranes’ enthusiastic shouting and piano playing were so dynamic that they practically recommended themselves, and she was only about 20 years of age when a Fort Worth-based minister, Samuel Crouch, suggested to Okeh talent scout Richard M. Jones that Dranes be given a recording test. Blues singer Sara Martin agreed to travel to Fort Worth and help the blind Dranes make it to Chicago for her test on June 17, 1926. It was so successful that the six records resulting from it were all issued...Dranes’ last two selections of June 17, 1926 can best be described as sanctified barrelhouse piano solos, practically unique in the 1920s. Yet they are representative of a sound and style within gospel piano playing that may be heard yet today." (Source)

"New evidence shows that Arizona Dranes, the blind Pentecostal piano player who inspired everyone from Mahalia Jackson to Jerry Lee Lewis, attended the Institute for Deaf, Dumb and Blind Colored Youths at 4104 Bull Creek Road from 1896 until graduating in 1910. Let that sink in for a sec: The first person to ever play piano on a gospel record, the musician Sister Rosetta Tharpe credited with influencing her raucous, syncopated style, learned how to play in Austin.

Dranes remains virtually unknown today, with only a single blurry photo ever found, but she's celebrated by prewar gospel and blues enthusiasts." (Michael Corcoran)

Magnificent & highly recommended, folks.



Download Link: Arizona Dranes- Complete Recorded Works (1926-1929) [Mono, VBR] *all thanks to psb for this rip

Bye and Bye We’re Going To See The King
Crucifixion
Don’t You Want To Go
God’s Got A Crown
He Is My Story
He’s Coming Soon
He’s The Lily Of The Valley
I Shall Wear A Crown
I’ll Go Where You Want Me To Go
I’m Glad My Lord Has Saved Me
I’m Going Home On The Morning Train
In That Day
It’s All Right Now
John Said He Saw A Number
Just Look
Lamb’s Blood Has Washed Me Clean
Let Us Therefore Come
Lord Who Shall Abide In Thy Tabernacle
My Soul Is A Witness For The Lord
Soon We’ll Gather At The River
Sweet Heaven Is My Home
Where He Leads Me I Will Follow

*Arizona Dranes at the piano, bottom-right.