Mamie Galore was a leading component of Mississippi Delta blues along with Lil' Bill Wallace, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Eddie Cusic, Po Henry, Willie Foster, and others. Born Mamie Louise Davis, September 24, 1940, in Erwin, MS, the music bug struck early and she sang in school and church before embarking on a music career by joining a local band after graduating from high school. She soon began performing with traveling bands, such as Little Milton, Ike Tina Turner, Buddy Hicks, and Johnny Burton.

When the Little Milton tour rolled into Chicago, she landed a deal with St. Lawrence Records that resulted in her first single, Special Agent 34-24-38 b/w I Wanna Be Your Radio (1965); the song was a female spy tale reminiscent of Edwin Starr's Agent OO Soul. However, something was amiss as Mamie's second single, Mistaken Wedding b/w You Got The Power, dropped on Thomas Records February 1966. St. Lawrence countered with It Ain't Necessary (March 1966). It became a local hit and Davis' biggest record, the impromptu songwriting team of Jerry Butler and two of the Contours.

She followed Higgins (aka Milton Bland) to California in 1968 and wrote songs for Sweet River Music, collaborating mainly with Dee Irwin, Virginia Bland (aka Vee Pea Smith), and Higgins on more than 30 titles including Come on in My Kitchen, Meanest Man I've Ever Seen, You Know I Know You Know, and World Don't Care But I Do. Besides the previously mentioned, Davis' significant recordings were No Right to Cry, I Can Feel Him Slipping Way, and a duet with Dee Irwin By the Time I Get to Phoenix/I Say A Little Prayer b/w All I Want for Christmas on Imperial Records.

She returned south to Greenville, MS, in 1972 where she taught blues and performed -- as Mamie Davis -- in blues festivals and local clubs -- the Meeting Place, Flowing Fountain, Bud's Café, and Little Blues Caffa -- billed as the Soul Queen of Greenville. Delta blues fans lost a thoroughbred October 6, 2001, when the vivacious singer succumbed to a fatal stroke. She was 61. ~ Andrew Hamilton, Rovi