Bessie Smith
Wikimp3 information about the music of Bessie Smith. On our website we have 70 albums and 70 collections of artist Bessie Smith. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Bessie Smith represents Blues genres.
Biography
[Edit]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.
Collections
Title: The 50 Best Torch Songs Ever
Genre: Pop
Title: Mardi Gras Carnival Music
Genre: World Music
Title: 6 of the Best - Female Jazz Vocalists
Genre: Jazz
Title: 21 Jazz Christmas Favorites
Genre:
Title: Blues Sisters
Genre: Blues
Title: Charleston All Night! The Very Best Of
Genre: Jazz
Genre: Jazz
Title: Cabaret Dolls of the Jazz Age
Genre: Jazz
Title: Top 100 Classics - The Very Best of the 1920's, Vol. 3
Genre: Jazz
Title: Jukebox Favourites - Hits of the 20s & 30s
Genre: Pop
Title: Personalities of the 1920s Sing the Hits
Genre: Jazz
Title: Speakeasy Music of the 1920's
Genre: Jazz
Title: Top 100 Classics - The Very Best of the 1920's, Vol. 2
Genre: Jazz
Title: Up Jumped the Devil (American Devil's Song 1920-1950)
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues, Blues Christmas (1925-1955)
Genre: Blues
Title: Let's Get Drunk Again
Genre: Blues
Title: Voodoo Jazz & Blues
Genre: Jazz
Title: 101 - The Best of Vintage Blues
Genre: Electronica, Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: Music From Robert De Niro Films
Genre: Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: Jazz Roots - The Music of the Americas
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Stripper: Sexy Jazz Classics
Genre: Jazz
Title: Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America's Music
Genre: Jazz
Title: !Protest! American Protest Songs 1928-1953
Genre: Blues
Title: 30 Essential American Folk Blues Classics
Genre: Blues, Songwriter/Lyricist, Acoustic
Title: Ladies Sing the Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Boardwalk Empire - The Unofficial Soundtrack
Genre: Jazz
Title: Banged Up - American Jailhouse Songs 1920s-1950s
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Roots Black and Blue (Blues Roots 25 Tracks)
Genre: Blues
Title: Queens of Jazz, Vol. 9
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Jazz Ladies, Vol. 5
Genre: Jazz
Title: Divine Divas Vol 7
Genre: Jazz
Title: Music for Silent Movies
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Jazz Ladies Sing! Vol 6
Genre: Jazz
Title: Great Gatsby 1920's Summer Swing
Genre: Jazz
Title: Black Nite Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Halloween Classics: Hellbent for Halloween
Genre: Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal
Title: Super Tracks & Great Singers Vol. 12
Genre: Electronica, Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: We Got the Blues, Vol. 3
Genre: Blues
Title: The Home of Blues, Vol. 2
Genre: Blues
Title: Blues Anthems
Genre: Blues
Title: A Brief History of the Blues
Genre: Blues
Title: Death Might Be Your Santa Claus
Genre: Blues
Title: History of Modern Music: Jazz 1902-1959
Genre: Jazz
Title: 100 Blues Classics
Genre: Blues
Title: 100 Christmas Blues - Songs to Get You Through the Cold
Genre: Blues
Title: 100 Christmas Blues - Songs to Get You Through the Cold
Genre: Blues
Title: Ken Burns Jazz - The Story of America's Music
Genre: Jazz
Title: Protest! '28-'53 American Protest Songs
Genre: Alternative
Title: Irving Berlin Songbook
Genre: Pop
Featuring albums
Title: Water for Elephants (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Artist: James Newton Howard
Genre: Blues, Jazz, Theatre/Soundtrack, Classical
Title: Jazz: The Definitive Performances
Artist: Art Blakey, The Jazz Messengers, Louis Armstrong, Louis Armstrong Orchestra
Genre: Jazz
Title: Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man 1923-1934
Artist: Louis Armstrong
Genre: Blues, Jazz, Vocal Jazz
Title: Legends of the Blues, Vol. 1
Artist: Louis Armstrong, Louis Armstrong Orchestra
Title: Street Walker Blues: Vintage Songs About Prostitution Volume 2
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Blues, Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Acoustic
Title: The History of Black Gospel Volume 1
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Gospel, Jazz, Vocal Jazz, Christian Rock, Christian Country Music
Title: Unofficial Soundtrack - Songs Inspired By Bioshock Infinite & Bioshock
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Pop
Title: Louis Armstrong: Portrait Of The Artist As A Young Man 1923-1934
Artist: Louis Armstrong
Genre: Jazz
Title: The Jazz Masters - 27 Classic Performances From The Columbia Masterpieces Series
Artist: Various
Genre: Jazz
Title: Super Tracks & Great Singers, Vol. 13
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Electronica, Dancefloor, Dance Pop
Title: Jazz Legends: The Masterpieces (A Collection of the Jazz Hits)
Artist: Various Artists
Genre: Jazz
Title: Angel Heart (Original Soundtrack)
Artist: Trevor Jones
Genre: Blues, Jazz, Theatre/Soundtrack
Title: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection (CD5)
Artist: Leadbelly
Genre: Hip Hop/R&B, Blues, Gospel
