Bessie smith and the night riders by sue stauffacher. In lady sings the blues, holiday recalls some of the most resonant memories of her turbulent pastthe good, the mostly bad and the frequently ugly. Jazz and blues vocalist bessie smiths powerful, soulful voice won her countless fans and. Revised and expanded edition revised and expanded by albertson, chris isbn.
The definitive biography of bessie smith, the great singer known as the empress of the blues considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time, bessie smith. If the old adage goes that you have to have had the blues to sing the blues, then bessie smith earned the right. The life and times of bessie smith bookcaps study guides. Bessie smiths songs are tales of liberated women who are not afraid to. When you hold an ancient treasure up to the light and put a magnifying glass to your ears, you can hear where all the modern wonders wet their chops. How bessie smith influenced a century of popular music wamu. But few blues books were written by blues singers, handys being one. The young bessie smith and her brother andrew earned money by singing on.
Smith and her siblings would sing and dance in the streets as children to earn. While her style has since been often emulated, it has never been topped. Listen close and you can hear billie holiday, louie armstrong, ella, john lee hooker, bonnie raitt, muddy. Bessie smith with orchestra louis armstrong cornet, fred longshaw, harmonium st. She was sometimes called the empress of the blues and was very popular in the. Louis blues, parlophone ca 1935 british reedition of the us columbia, mx 140241 from 1925. When gospel great mahalia jackson was a child, she learned to sing by. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on fellow blues. Bessie smith earned the title empress of the blues not least through the sale of threequarters of a million copies of her first record. Songs like jail house blues, work house blues, prison blues, sing sing prison blues and. Eleanora fagan april 7, 1915 july 17, 1959, professionally known as billie holiday, was an. Lady sings the blues, a film about her life, starring diana ross, was released in. I would say more pictures of bessie, a picture of any of the family members.
Morgan choir sings at the white house with aretha franklin. Around this time, she first heard the records of louis armstrong and bessie. Bessie smiths songs are tales of liberated women who are not afraid to speak. Bessie smith bessie smith, photograph by carl van vechten, 1936. Bessie smith began to sing at a young age and in 1923 signed a contract with columbia records. The companys findings were published in the book pop memories.
If youre interested in bessie smith and the 1920s and 1930s blues scene, this is a book you should read. 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. See more ideas about bessie smith, her music and music. Lcusz6211788 known in her lifetime as the empress of the blues, smith was a bold, supremely confident artist who often.
Listen to bessie smiths sings the blues and you are musically at ground zero. It is primitive, prehistoric, and precious, very precious. Nicknamed the empress of the blues, she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. In one of the first talkies ever made, bessie catches her twotiming boyfriend, jimmy, fooling around with a younger woman. Bessie smith, american singer, one of the greatest blues vocalists. In bessie smith and the night riders, author sue stauffacher changes one significant detail in the true story of the encounter between empress of the blues bessie smith and the ku klux klan adding a child, emmarene johnson, who witnesses, takes part in, and tells the story. Bessie smith preachin the blues bessie smith, louis armstrong, all that jazz, the. African american woman with children for more on the african american experience and achievements in the. Gertrude ma rainey, bessie smith and billie holiday 1st vintage books ed by angela y.
Blues, she was a bold, supremely confident artist who sang with breathtaking emotional intensity. And while others may have gone on to sell more records, few can touch her influence. In the out lines series, a biography of blues singer bessie smith which. Everybody who ever laid down a blues track or picked up a harmonica. Bessie smith empty bed blues blues people complete columbia recordings 1923 1933. How bessie smith influenced a century of popular music. From the very start, billie holiday birth name eleanora fagan, born to thirteen year old sadie fagan and sixteen year old clarence holiday, had a very difficult life. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The historical context within which the blues developed a tradition of openly addressing both female and male sexuality reveals an ideological framework that was specifically africanamerican.
Louis blues 1929 watch bessie smith in her only movie appearance, the 1929 short film st. Americas greatest voices from bessie smith to bebop and. Bessie smith was an american blues singer widely renowned during the jazz age. Soon she was among the highestpaid black performers of her time with hits like downhearted blues. Bessie smith smith in 1936 background information birth namebessie smith also known asempress of the blues bornapril 15, 1894 chattanooga, tennessee, u.
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