Dorothea Trowbridge (born c. 1914),[1] first name also spelled Dorthea,[2] Doretha,[3] was an American blues singer active in St. Louis in the 1930s.
[2] It is likely that she is identical with Dorothy Baker,[5][6][7] who recorded the song "Steady Grinding Blues" with Roosevelt Sykes[6] in 1930[8] and/or 1934 (Decca 7080).
She is credited for the words and music of the song "Bad Luck Blues", which she recorded in 1933; it is registered in the US Copyright Catalog for January 24, 1935.
[10] Steady grindin' now, you can't come in,Take the key outta the hole 'cause it's too bad Jim.
In his memoir, Henry Townsend recalled that she was at one time the girlfriend of pianist Roosevelt Sykes and that she got to record through Sykes, or possibly through Jesse Johnson, the brother of "Stump" Johnson; he also mentioned that in the early 1930s she was singing in many places around town, and had recorded with St. Louis pianist Pinetop Sparks ("Slavin' Mama Blues").