Irene Scruggs

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Irene Scruggs (December 7, 1901 – probably July 20, 1981) was an American Piedmont blues and country blues singer, who was also billed as Chocolate Brown and Dixie Nolan. She recorded songs such as “My Back to the Wall” and “Good Grindin”, and variously worked alongside Clarence Williams, Joe “King” Oliver, Lonnie Johnson, Little Brother Montgomery, Albert Nicholas, and Kid Ory. Scruggs achieved some success but today remains largely forgotten. Scruggs originated in rural Mississippi, but it is believed that she was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Mary Lou Williams recalled Scruggs being a singer of some standing when Williams travelled to St. Louis in vaudeville. Scruggs was hired by the revue company, and her career there sometimes outshone her work as a recording artist and nightclub singer. Nevertheless, Scruggs got to sing with a number of Joe “King” Oliver’s bands that played in St. Louis in the mid 1920s. Scruggs was later accompanied by Blind Blake. In her live shows her song, “Itching Heel”, provided the platform for interplay between the Scruggs’ singing and Blake’s guitar work. “He don’t do nothing but play on his old guitar,” Scruggs sangs, “While I’m busting suds out in the white folks’ yard.” She first recorded in 1924, utilising Clarence Williams as her pianist on Okeh Records. In 1926 she reignited her working association with Oliver. Two of the songs that Scruggs wrote, “Home Town Blues” and “Sorrow Valley Blues”, were both recorded by Oliver. She recorded

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