How Big Mama Thornton Got Treated Small
Big Mama Thornton (Willie Mae Thornton, 1926-1984) was born this day. Hailing from Ariton, Alabama, Thornton grew up singing gospel music with her family at the church where her father preached. When just a teen, she ran off with Sammy Green’s Hot Harlem Revue in the early ’40s, billed as The New Bessie Smith. She […]