Friday performances at the 1991 Florida Folk Festival (Folklife Area/Stage III) (Tape 6)

General Note/Comment

• One digital audio tape (DAT). James played piano, and McClain sang. Known as Diamond Teeth Mary for the jewels she placed in her teeth in the 1940s, Mary was born in West Virginia, and always claimed to be the half sister of fellow blues singer Bessie Smith. In 1918, she moved to Florida's Gulf Coast. During her later years, she lived in Bradenton, Florida. Although McClain was a popular performer in the 1920s and 1930s, she stopped performing the blues for many years. She was rediscovered by the Florida Folklife Program in the 1980s. In 1986, she won the Florida Folk Heritage Award in 1986. She died on 4 April 2000.