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
Artisti simili
-
BD Music Presents Bessie Smith
Blues - Pubblicato da BDMUSIC il 25 giu 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Essential Bessie Smith
Vocal jazz - Pubblicato da Columbia - Legacy il 27 ago 1997
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Best of Bessie Smith
Blues - Pubblicato da Columbia - Legacy il 8 mag 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 5: The Final Chapter
Blues - Pubblicato da Legacy - Columbia il 6 feb 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Empress of the Blues (40 Original Tracks Remastered)
Jazz - Pubblicato da Ornithology Rec. il 21 feb 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
15 Essentials of Bessie Smith (Mono Version)
Jazz - Pubblicato da BNF Collection il 8 set 2014
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
-
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 2
Blues - Pubblicato da Legacy - Columbia il 6 set 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Recordings (Volume 1)
R&B - Pubblicato da Legacy - Columbia il 5 apr 1991
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 4
Blues - Pubblicato da Legacy - Columbia il 23 apr 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Quintessence 1923-1933: The Emperess
Vocal jazz - Pubblicato da Frémeaux & associés il 30 lug 2002
La discografia ideale di Qobuz16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3
Blues - Pubblicato da Legacy - Columbia il 22 set 1992
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Bessie Smith Story, Vol. 1
Blues - Pubblicato da Roots il 1 gen 1951
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Empty Bed Blues (1927-1928)
Classica - Pubblicato da Naxos il 1 ott 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Blues Heritage
King Oliver, Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith
Dixieland - Pubblicato da Olympic Records il 10 ago 1973
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bessie Smith Selected Favorites, Vol. 8
Blues - Pubblicato da Charly Records il 21 mar 2011
La discografia ideale di Qobuz16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out (Columbia Recordings Vol. 9)
Pop - Pubblicato da Blues Classics il 1 gen 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Fats Waller & Bessie Smith
Jazz - Pubblicato da Bella Musica Edition il 22 mag 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All That Jazz, Vol. 57: Bessie Smith - A Decade of the Blues (24 Bit HD Remastering 2016)
Blues - Pubblicato da Jube Legends il 4 mar 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Essential Masters
Blues - Pubblicato da Master Classics Records il 18 dic 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
SMITH, Bessie: Downhearted Blues (1923-1924)
Pop internazionale - Pubblicato da Naxos il 4 feb 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo