RAINEY, (MA
) GERTRUDE PRIDGETT. Blues singer ( in Columbus, Georgia; in Columbus). She first won recognition when she sang in a local talent show at the age of fourteen, and thereafter she sang professionally. Beginning in 1904 she formed a vaudeville act with her husband,
William (Pa
) Rainey
, and for many years she toured through the South—either with her husband or as a soloist—with various companies, including the Rabbit Foot, Al Gaines, and C. W...