Mean Mistreater Mama

Mean Mistreater Mama “Mean Mistreater Mama” is credited to Leroy Carr and was likely composed sometime in 1933 or early 1934 during the height of the Great Depression and the economic blackout of recording. It is a twelve-measure blues using an AAB lyric scheme. The piano accompaniment is a pulsing bass beat on the fifth scale degree of the prevailing chord. An antecedent may be Carr’s “Prison Bound Blues” (Vocalion 1241) recorded on December 20, 1928, and released early the following year…