Mable Hillery, Perhaps not a blues artist in the sense of people like Ma Rainy, Bessie Smith etc, Mable was an artist both within her performing group and as solo. She was born July 22, 1929 in LaGrange just southwest of Atlanta, Georgia. Mable, a contralto, joined the Georgia Sea Island Singers, performing with John Davis, the community leader; Bessie Jones, the song leader; Peter Davis, Emma Lee Ramsey, Alberta Ramsey, and Henry Morrison.  
She also continued the traditions of blues, spirituals, and gospel, and was not shy about bringing this repertory to the broad public, when the ideas of integration began to stir throughout the country; she composed freedom songs to reinforce the movement. 
Between 1961 and 1965 she toured the college circuit of campuses, coffee houses, church basements, and festivals. In 1975, brothers John and Jim Fishel organised the fourth annual Miami Blues. When Johnny Shines suggested an obscure traditional blues singer named Mable Hillery, the brothers booked her on the strength of his recommendation. In a special one-off collaboration, the pair dazzled the Miami audience with a set that harkened back to the classic blues of Bessie Smith, Ida Cox, and Memphis Minnie. 
The Times obituary reports that Mrs. Hillery, 46, died of a heart attack, at St. Luke’s Hospital in Manhattan, on Tuesday, that is, April 27. Most other sources, including the New York City Department of Health, say April 26. (The discrepancy might be explained by the event having occurred late on the evening of the night shift). She is buried in Strangers Cemetery, St Simons Island.


Mable Hillery - How long this train been gone