Black Music: Bessie Smith

Black and white photo of Bessie Smith, an African-American blues singer.

Bessie Smith, a blues singer.
Photo by: Carl Van Vechten, restored by Adam Cuerden CC BY-SA 4.0

Bessie Smith (April 15, 1892 – September 26, 1937) was an African-American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the “Empress of the Blues” and formerly Queen of the Blues, she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989, she is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues singers, as well as jazz vocalists.
Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Smith was young when her parents died, and she and her six siblings survived by performing on street corners. She began touring and performed in a group that included Ma Rainey and then went out on her own. Her successful recording career with Columbia Records began in 1923, but her performing career was cut short by a car crash that killed her at the age of 45.
Source: Wikipedia

ITEMS ON DISPLAY IN THE MUSIC LIBRARY:

The Bessie Smith story. Volume 1 : Bessie Smith with Louis Armstrong.
Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937, singer.; Armstrong, Louis, 1901-1971, instrumentalist.; Longshaw, Fred, instrumentalist.; Johns, Irving, instrumentalist.; Williams, Clarence, 1893-1965, instrumentalist.; Robbins, Robert (Violinist), instrumentalist.; Green, Charlie, instrumentalist.
1956
LP 3295

Any woman’s blues
Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937.
1970
LP 4746

Empty bed blues
Smith, Bessie, 1894-1937.; Green, Charlie.; Henderson, Fletcher, 1897-1952.; Grainger, Porter.
1971
LP 7489

Bessie
Albertson, Chris.
1972
ML420 .S667 A7

Blues empress in black Chattanooga : Bessie Smith and the emerging urban South
Scott, Michelle R., 1974-
©2008
ML420 .S667 S36 2008