Lucille Spann was born Mahalia Lucille Jenkins in Bolton, Mississippi, the ninth child of Gertrude and Sherman Jenkins.Cry Before I Go - sleeve notes, 1974 Her mother died before she was five, and she was brought up by her father and her sisters. She started out singing gospel music, and was banned from listening to the blues. Nevertheless, she developed a liking for Bessie Smith, T-Bone Walker and other blues singers. She moved to Chicago in her teens, where she met Otis Spann whilst working as a barmaid. Soon she started working with him musically and later married him in 1969.
