Bessie Smith
The first major blues and jazz singer on record and one of the most powerful of all time, Bessie Smith rightly earned the title of "The Empress of the Blues." Even on her first records in 1923, her passionate voice overcame the primitive recording quality of the day and still communicates easily to today's listeners (which is not true of any other singer from that early period). At a time when the blues were in and most vocalists (particularly vaudevillians) were being dubbed "blues singers," Bessie Smith simply had no competition.
Back in 1912, Bessie Smith sang in the same show as Ma Rainey, who took her under her wing and coached her. Although Rainey would achieve a measure of fame throughout her career, she was soon surpassed by her protégée. In 1920, Smith had her own show in Atlantic City and, in 1923, she moved to New York. She was soon signed by Columbia and her first recording (Alberta Hunter's "Downhearted Blues") made her famous. Bessie Smith worked and recorded steadily throughout the decade, using many top musicians as sidemen on sessions including Louis Armstrong, Joe Smith (her favorite cornetist), James P. Johnson, and Charlie Green. Her summer tent show Harlem Frolics was a big success during 1925-1927, and Mississippi Days in 1928 kept the momentum going.
However, by 1929 the blues were out-of-fashion and Bessie Smith's career was declining despite being at the peak of her powers (and still only 35). She appeared in St. Louis Blues that year (a low-budget movie short that contains the only footage of her), but her hit recording of "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out" predicted her leaner Depression years. Although she was dropped by Columbia in 1931 and made her final recordings on a four-song session in 1933, Bessie Smith kept on working. She played the Apollo in 1935 and substituted for Billie Holiday in the show Stars Over Broadway. The chances are very good that she would have made a comeback, starting with a Carnegie Hall appearance at John Hammond's upcoming From Spirituals to Swing concert, but she was killed in a car crash in Mississippi. Columbia has reissued all of her recordings, first in five two-LP sets and more recently on five two-CD box sets that also contain her five alternate takes, the soundtrack of St. Louis Blues, and an interview with her niece Ruby Smith. "The Empress of the Blues," based on her recordings, will never have to abdicate her throne.
© Scott Yanow! /TiVo
Similar artists
-
Just at the Turn of the Tide
Blues - Released by turn of the tide on 21 Apr 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Singles - 1923/1928, Vol. 7 (Digitally Remastered)
Jazz - Released by Artemis on 4 Feb 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Blues Collection, Vol. 10
Blues - Released by Diamond Days on 12 Jan 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Reckless Blues
Bessie Smith, John Lee Hooker, B.B. King
Blues - Released by Firefly Entertainment on 5 May 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Collection
Blues - Released by H&H Music Ltd on 10 Jan 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Lp Library
Blues - Released by old library records on 2 Jan 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Oh Daddy Blues
Blues - Released by Eminent Legacy Records on 18 Sep 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Empress of the Blues (The Essential Collection of Bessie Smith)
Blues - Released by Men in Blue on 1 Jan 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Best of the Essential Years: Bessie Smith
Jazz - Released by Xelon Entertainment on 13 Jul 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Young Woman Blues
Blues - Released by Copyright Group on 21 Feb 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Great Original Performances 1925-1933
Blues - Released by Roots on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
-
Nobody's Blues But Mine
Jazz - Released by Documents on 1 Sep 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-
Wasted Life Blues
Blues - Released by Copyright Group on 17 Oct 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
-