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- Small Town Ohio, USA
Bessie Smith is so good, she needs to be sipped. Otherwise the experience is almost too much, like eating an entire rum-soaked pound cake in a sitting. The risk of it all becoming overpowering is too great. Take her in slowly.
I first heard her in the soundtrack of the film An Unmarried Woman. It was Take Me For a Buggy Ride and it was a stunner. This is still my favorite among her many magnificent works. She worked with the best of her time (1920's - early 30's), Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson. She was the highest paid African-American entertainer of her day. Despite this, she faced all the horrible descrimination and segregated nonsense that went with being black in those days.
The blues warhorse St. Louis Blues in her hands sets the standard for all subsequent versions.
Much of her work is loaded with bawdy winks. Her career played out in large part on the Vaudeville stage. When Vaudeville winked out and the depression struck, her career hit the skids. Her last recording session was in 1933. She died in 1937 in a "colored only" hospital after an automobile accident.
I am a huge Bessie Smith fan. She influenced everybody. When you listen to Billie Holiday, you're hearing a lush and rich distillation of the best of the blues. Norah Jones also channels Bessie to some extent. They all owe her.
When you want to hear the blues straight up, neat and 100 proof, reach for Bessie Smith.
I first heard her in the soundtrack of the film An Unmarried Woman. It was Take Me For a Buggy Ride and it was a stunner. This is still my favorite among her many magnificent works. She worked with the best of her time (1920's - early 30's), Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson. She was the highest paid African-American entertainer of her day. Despite this, she faced all the horrible descrimination and segregated nonsense that went with being black in those days.
The blues warhorse St. Louis Blues in her hands sets the standard for all subsequent versions.
Much of her work is loaded with bawdy winks. Her career played out in large part on the Vaudeville stage. When Vaudeville winked out and the depression struck, her career hit the skids. Her last recording session was in 1933. She died in 1937 in a "colored only" hospital after an automobile accident.
I am a huge Bessie Smith fan. She influenced everybody. When you listen to Billie Holiday, you're hearing a lush and rich distillation of the best of the blues. Norah Jones also channels Bessie to some extent. They all owe her.
When you want to hear the blues straight up, neat and 100 proof, reach for Bessie Smith.
