Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith photographed by Carl Van Vechten
Background information
Born	July, 1892
Origin	Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States
Died	September 26, 1937 Clarksdale, Mississippi
Genre(s)	Blues
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Years active	1912-1937
Label(s)	Columbia

Bessie Smith (July, 1892 – September 21, 1937) was the most popular and successful female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s,^[1] and a strong influence on subsequent generations, including Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, and Janis Joplin. public domain photo from the library of congress From Library of Congress This image is in the public domain in the United States and possibly other jurisdictions. ... Photographic self-portrait by Carl Van Vechten, 1934 Carl Van Vechten (June 17, 1880 – December 21, 1964) was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Largest metro area Nashville Area  Ranked 36th  - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²)  - Width 120 miles (195 km)  - Length 440 miles (710 km)  - % water 2. ... September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that typically follows a twelve-bar structure. ... Ercole de Roberti: Concert, c. ... A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified with the purpose of making music. ... In music a singer or vocalist is a type of musician who sings, i. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... September 21 is the 264th day of the year (265th in leap years). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... Blues is a vocal and instrumental form of music based on the use of the blue notes and a repetitive pattern that typically follows a twelve-bar structure. ... Billie Holiday (April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959), born Eleanora Fagan and later called Lady Day, was an American singer known equally for her difficult life and her emotive, poignant singing voice. ... Mahalia Jackson (October 26, 1911[1] – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely regarded as the best in the history of the genre. ... Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American blues-influenced rock singer and occasional songwriter with a distinctive voice. ...

Life

Birthdate

According to 1900 census, Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States in July, 1892. That date stands in contrast to April 15, 1894, which is the date indicated on her wedding certificate and confirmed by family members. The census also gives information regarding the size of Smith's family that conflicts with many biographies. 1880 US Census of Hoboken, New Jersey The United States Census is mandated by the United States Constitution[1]. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats (congressional apportionment), electoral votes, and government program funding. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... 1892 (MDCCCXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... April 15 is the 105th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (106th in leap years). ... 1894 (MDCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ...

Early life

According to the 1870, 1880 and 1900 censuses, Bessie Smith was the thirteenth child of William Smith and the tenth (seventh or eighth to survive childhood) of Laura (Owens) Smith. These figures contradict recollections by family and school mates interviewed by Smith's biographer, Chris Albertson. In his book, Bessie, William Smith was a laborer and part-time Baptist preacher (he was listed in the 1870 census as a minister of the gospel, in Moulton, Lawrence, Alabama) who died before Bessie could remember him. By the time Bessie was nine, she had lost her mother as well, and her older sister Viola was left in charge of caring for her sisters and brothers. Chris Albertson (born Christiern Gunnar Albertson in Reykjavík, Iceland on October 18, 1931) is a New York City-based jazz journalist, writer and record producer. ...

Busker

As a way of earning money for her impoverished household, Bessie and her brother Andrew began performing on the streets of Chattanooga as a singer/guitarist duo; their preferred location was in front of the White Elephant Saloon at Thirteenth and Elm streets in the heart of the city's African-American community. Busking is the practice of doing live performances in public places to entertain people, usually to solicit donations and tips. ...

In 1904, her oldest brother, Clarence, covertly left home by joining a small traveling troupe owned by Moses Stokes. "If Bessie had been old enough, she would have gone with him," said Clarence's widow, Maud, "that's why he left without telling her, but Clarence told me she was ready, even then. Of course, she was only a child."^[2]

Bessie's turn came in 1912, when Clarence returned to Chattanooga with the Stokes troupe and arranged for its managers, Lonnie and Cora Fisher, to give her an audition. She was hired as a dancer rather than a singer, because the company also included Ma Rainey. Gertrude Malissa Nix Pridgett Rainey, better known as Ma Rainey (September, 1882 – December 22, 1939), was one of the earliest known professional blues singers and one of the first generation of such singers to record. ...

Singer

All contemporary accounts indicate that Rainey did not teach Smith to sing, but she probably helped her develop a stage presence.^[3] Smith began forming her own act around 1913, at Atlanta's "81" Theatre. By 1920 she had gained a good reputation in the South and along the Eastern Seaboard.Smith likes eggs. This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... The U.S. Southern states or The South, known during the American Civil War era as Dixie, is a distinctive region of the United States with its own unique historical perspective, customs, musical styles, and cuisine. ... Categories: US geography stubs ...

Recordings

In 1923, when sales figures for an Okeh recording by singer Mamie Smith (no relation) opened up a new market and had talent scouts looking for blues artists, Bessie Smith was signed by Columbia Records to initiate the company's new "race records" series. Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918; from the late 1920s on was a subsidiary of Columbia Records. ... Mamie Smith on the sleeve of volume 1 of the Complete Recorded Works reissue collection Mamie Smith (May 26, 1883 - September 16, 1946) was a vaudeville singer, dancer, pianist and actress, and appeared in several motion pictures late in her career. ... Columbia Records is the oldest brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888, and was the first record company to produce pre-recorded records as opposed to blank cylinders. ...

Scoring a big hit with her first release, a coupling of "Gulf Coast Blues" and "Down Hearted Blues," which its composer, Alberta Hunter already had turned into a hit on the Paramount label, Bessie's career blossomed. She became a headliner on the black Theater Owners Booking Association (T.O.B.A.) theater circuit and was its top entertainer in the 1920s.^[4] Working a heavy theater schedule during the winter months and doing tent tours the rest of the year (eventually traveling in her own railroad car), Smith became the highest-paid black entertainer of her day. Columbia nicknamed her "Queen of the Blues", but a PR-minded press soon elevated to "Empress". Alberta Hunter (April 1, 1895 - October 17, 1984), was a celebrated African-American jazz singer, songwriter and nurse. ... T.O.B.A., the Theater Owners Booking Association, was the vaudeville circuit for African American performers in the 1920s and 1930s. ...

She would make some 160 recordings for Columbia, often accompanied by the finest musicians of the day, most notably Louis Armstrong, James P. Johnson, Joe Smith, Charlie Green, and Fletcher Henderson. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... James Price Johnson (February 1, 1894 - November 17, 1955) was a pianist and composer. ... Joseph Genesis Smith(born 18 August 1989 in Slough, Berkshire, England) is a British singer who featured on the third series of The X Factor, where he finished in the final 27. ... One of the finest early trombonists and the first strong jazz soloist in the Fletcher Henderson orchestra (joining slightly before Louis Armstrong), Charlie Green played locally in Omaha (1920-1923) before his two stints with Henderson (July 1924-April 1926 and late 1928-spring 1929). ... Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. ...

Broadway

Smith's career was cut short by a combination of the Great Depression (which all but put the recording industry out of business) and the advent of "talkies", which spelled the end for vaudeville. She, however, never stopped performing. While the days of elaborate vaudeville shows were over, Bessie continued touring and occasionally singing in clubs. In 1929, she appeared in a Broadway flop called Pansy, a musical in which, the top white critics agreed, she was the only asset. The Great Depression was a time of economic down turn, which started after the stock market crash on October 29, 1929, known as Black Tuesday. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Broadway theatre[1] is the most prestigious form of professional theatre in the U.S., as well as the most well known to the general public and most lucrative for the performers, technicians and others involved in putting on the shows. ... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theatre combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ...

Film

In 1929, Bessie Smith made her only film appearance, starring in a one-reeler based on W. C. Handy's "St. Louis Blues". In the film, directed by Dudley Murphy and shot in Astoria, NY, she sings the title song accompanied by members of Fletcher Henderson's orchestra, the Hall Johnson Choir, pianist James P. Johnson, and a string section[1] — a musical environment radically different from any found on her recordings. W.C. Handy photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1941 William Christopher Handy (November 16, 1873 – March 28, 1958) was an African American blues composer and musician, often known as the Father of the Blues. ... This article is about the song. ... Dudley Murphy (July 10, 1897 – February 22, 1968) Murphy was born on July 10, 1897 in Winchester, Massachusetts. ... Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. ...

Swing Era

In 1933, John Hammond saw Bessie perform in a small Philadelphia club and asked her to record four sides for the Okeh label (which had been acquired by Columbia). John Henry Hammond (December 15, 1910–July 10, 1987) was a record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love continue Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States Commonwealth Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ...

These performances, for which Hammond paid her a non-royalty fee of $37.50 each, were recorded on November 24, 1933. They constitute Smith's final recordings. They are of particular interest because Smith was in the process of translating her blues artistry into something more apropos to the Swing Era, and this session gives us a hint of what was to come. November 24 is the 328th day (329th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1933 (MCMXXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... The Swing Era was the period of time (1935-1946) when big band swing music was the most popular music in America. ...

The accompanying band included such Swing Era musicians as trombonist Jack Teagarden, trumpeter Frankie Newton, tenor saxophonist Chu Berry, pianist Buck Washington, guitarist Bobby Johnson, and bassist Billy Taylor. Weldon Leo Jack Teagarden Trombonist (1905-1964) Weldon Leo Jack Teagarden (August 20, 1905 in Vernon, Texas - January 15, 1964) was an influential jazz trombonist and vocalist. ... Leon Chu Berry (September 13, 1908 – October 30, 1941) was an American jazz saxophonist. ... Bobby Johnson (born Columbia, South Carolina) is the current head football coach at Vanderbilt University. ... Billy Taylor was born in Greenville, North Carolina on July 24, 1921. ...

Even Benny Goodman, who happened to be recording with Ethel Waters in the adjoining studio, dropped by for an almost inaudible guest visit. Hammond was not pleased with the result, preferring to have Smith back in her old blues groove, but "Take Me For A Buggy Ride" and "Gimme a Pigfoot" (in which Goodman is part of the ensemble) remain among her most popular recordings. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an Oscar-nominated American blues vocalist and actress. ...

Death

On September 26, 1937, Smith was severely injured in a car accident while traveling along U.S. Route 61 between Memphis and Clarksdale, Mississippi with her lover (and Lionel Hampton's uncle), Richard Morgan, at the wheel. She was taken to Clarksdale's black Afro-American Hospital where her right arm was amputated. She did not regain consciousness, dying that morning.^[5] September 26 is the 269th day of the year (270th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge, Dubuque, Iowa. ... For other uses, see Memphis (disambiguation). ... Clarksdale is a city in Coahoma County, Mississippi, United States. ... Lionel Hampton with George W. Bush Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908, Louisville, Kentucky – August 31, 2002 New York City), was a jazz bandleader and percussionist. ... Amputation is the removal of a body extremity by trauma or surgery. ...

The Afro-American Hospital, now the Riverside Hotel in Clarksdale, was the site of the dedication of the fourth historic marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.^[6] Riverside Hotel, located at 615 Sunflower Avenue, is an historic hotel in Clarksdale, Mississippi in operation since 1944. ... Mississippi Blues Trail, created by the Mississippi BLues Commission, is a project to place blues interpretive markers at the most notable historical sites related to the growth of the blues throughout the state of Mississippi, United States. ...

Digital Remastering

Given the technical faults in the majority of her original gramophone recordings -- especially variations in recording speed, which raised or lowered the apparent pitch of her voice, misrepresented the "light and shade" of her superb phrasing, interpretation and delivery, and altered the apparent key of her performances (sometimes raised or lowered by as much as a semitone) and, also, the fact that the "centre hole" in some of the master recordings had not been in the true middle of the master disc, meaning that there were wide variations in tone, pitch, key and phrasing as the commercially released record revolved around its spindle -- there is a very significant and very positive difference in the performance that Smith delivers in the current digitally remastered versions of her work. It has been suggested that Childrens gramophone records be merged into this article or section. ... Pitch is the perceived fundamental frequency of a sound. ... This key signature – A major or F# minor – consists of three sharps placed after the clef In musical notation, a key signature is a series of sharp symbols or flat symbols placed on the staff, designating notes that are to be consistently played one semitone higher or lower than the... A semitone (also known in the USA as a half step) is a musical interval. ... Remaster (and its derivations, frequently found in the phrases digitally remastered or digital remastering) is a word and concept ushered into the mass consciousness via the digital age, although it had existed before then. ...

References in Other Works

• The rock and roll group The Band, popular during the 1960s and the 1970s, wrote a song about Bessie Smith named after her. Singer Norah Jones included the song in a 2002 concert performance at the House of Blues. Excerpt of the lyrics to The Band's "Bessie Smith":

"Bessie was more than just a friend of mine
We shared the good times with the bad
Now many a year has passed me by
I still recall the best thing I ever had
I'm just goin' down the road t' see Bessie
Oh, See her soon
Goin' down the road t' see Bessie Smith
When I get there I wonder what she'll do.." For other uses, see Band. ... Norah Jones (born Geethali Norah Jones Shankar on March 30, 1979 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American singer-songwriter, musician and occasional actress. ... House of Blues Sunset, in West Hollywood The House of Blues (HOB) is a chain of music halls and restaurants founded in 1992 by Hard Rock Cafe founder Isaac Tigrett and his friend and investor Dan Aykroyd. ... For other uses, see Band. ...

• The 1996 album of Seattle punk band The Gits, Kings and Queens, included a live piano-accompanied improvisation cover of Smith's "Graveyard Dream Blues" named "Graveyard Blues" sung by blues-influenced vocalist Mia Zapata. The song starts with Zapata telling the audience that "This is a song by (...) Bessie Smith. This is from her to you..." The track is held in high regard by Gits fans and music critics.

• In early 2006, UK alternative Rock/Hip Hop act Bad Music Inc. paid tribute to Smith with their song Bessie. Excerpt of the lyrics to Bad Music Inc's "Bessie":

"It's easy to forget, or not to be aware
So let me take a moment, I've a legacy to share
Bessie, Bessie sing through your pain..." The Gits were a Seattle punk rock band active from 1986 to 1993. ... Kings and Queens may refer to albums of several bands : Kings and Queens (Axel Rudi Pell album), an album by Axel Rudi Pell Kings & Queens, an album by The Gits Kings and Queens (Sol Invictus album), an album by Sol Invictus Kings and Queens (Aerosmith song), a song by Aerosmith... Mia Zapata (August 25, 1965 – July 7, 1993) was the lead singer for the underground rock band The Gits. ... Image:http://i55. ... This is a list of items from the BBC television series Doctor Who. ...

• Singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone dedicates her blues-song "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl" to Bessie Smith on her live-album It Is Finished (1974), stating "Bessie Smith, you know?..." before commencing with the song. Ironically, the song title was changed to "I Need a Little Sugar In My Bowl" on the album, and credited to Ms. Simone.

• Often the subject of concept albums, Bessie has been paid such a recorded tribute by numerous singers, including Juanita Hall, Dinah Washington, and Teresa Brewer.

• The character of Shug Avery in Alice Walker's 'The Color Purple' is reportedly inspired / based on Smith.^{[citation needed]}

• Smith is mentioned in Dory Previn's song A Stone for Bessie Smith on her album Mythical Kings & Iguanas. It refers to the fact that Smith's grave remained unmarked until Janis Joplin and Juanita Green bought a headstone.

• English singer/songwriter Jack Penate includes a line about Bessie in his track, 'Learning Lines'

"Bessie Smith sings the blues" Eunice Kathleen Waymon, better known as Nina Simone (February 21, 1933–April 21, 2003), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... A need is the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a goal and the reason for the action, giving purpose and direction to behavior. ... Dinah Washington (August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963) was a blues, R&B and jazz singer. ... A drawing of Teresa Brewer on the cover of her 1991 collection 16 Most Requested Songs Teresa Brewer (born as Theresa Breuer, May 7, 1931) is a United States singer. ... Alice Malsenior Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an African-American author and feminist who received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983 for The Color Purple. ... Dory Previn née Langdon (born 22 October 1925) is an American singer-songwriter and poet, and was a lyricist for motion picture theme songs during the 1960s and early 1970s, including the soundtrack to the Valley of the Dolls. ... Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American blues-influenced rock singer and occasional songwriter with a distinctive voice. ...

Notes

The term white people (also whites or white race) has been defined as being a member of a group or race characterized by light pigmentation of the skin and to a human group having light-colored skin, especially of European ancestry. ... John Henry Hammond (December 15, 1910–July 10, 1987) was a record producer, musician and music critic from the 1930s to the early 1980s. ... Down Beat is an American magazine devoted to jazz. ... Edward Albee, photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1961 Edward Franklin Albee III (born March 12, 1928) is an American playwright known for works including Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Zoo Story, and The Sandbox. ... The Death of Bessie Smith is a 1959 one-act play by American playwright Edward Albee, written in 1959 and premiered in West Berlin the following year. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the CE era. ... February 9 is the 40th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

References and further reading

• Albertson, C., Liner notes, Bessie Smith: The Complete Recordings, Volumes 1 - 5, Sony Music Entertainment, 1991.
• Albertson, C., Bessie, Stein and Day, (New York), 1972.
• Albertson, C., Bessie (Revised and Expanded Edition), Yale University Press (New Haven), 2003. ISBN 0-300-09902-9.
• Albertson, C., Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, Schirmer Books (New Haven), 1975.
• Brooks, E., The Bessie Smith Companion: A Critical and Detailed Appreciation of the Recordings, Da Capo Press (New York), 1982.
• Davis, A. Y., Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, Pantheon Books (New York), 1998. ISBN 0-679-45005-X. Contains 100 pages of lyrics recorded by Smith.
• Eberhardt, C., Out of Chattanooga, Ebco (Chattanooga), 1993.
• Feinstein, E., Bessie Smith, Viking (New York), 1985, ISBN 0670806420.
• Grimes, S., Backwaterblues: In Search of Bessie Smith, Rose Island Pub. (Amherst), 2000, ISBN 0970708904.
• Kay, J., Bessie Smith, Absolute (New York), 1997. ISBN 1-899791-55-8.
• Manera, A., Bessie Smith, Raintree (Chicago), 2003. ISBN 0739868756.
• Martin, F., Bessie Smith, Editions du Limon (Paris), 1994. ISBN 290722431X.
• Moore, C., Somebody's Angel Child: The Story of Bessie Smith, T. Y. Crowell Co. (New York), 1969. A children's book that is largely fiction.
• Oliver, P., Bessie Smith, Cassell (London), 1959.
• Welding, P., and Byron, T., eds., Bluesland: Portraits of Twelve Major American Blues Masters, Dutton (New York), 1991. ISBN 0-525-93375-1. Includes "T'Aint Nobody's Business If I Do" by Chris Albertson.

Chris Albertson (born Christiern Gunnar Albertson in Reykjavík, Iceland on October 18, 1931) is a New York City-based jazz journalist, writer and record producer. ... Angela Yvonne Davis (born January 26, 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama) is an American socialist organizer and philosopher who was periodically a member of, the Black Panther Political Party (BPPP), SNCC and later for a brief period of time The Black Panther Party (BPP) doing political education work with youth. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The poet and writer Jackie Kay was born in Edinburgh in 1961 to a Scottish mother and a Nigerian father. ... Paul Oliver is a researcher at the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development. ...

External links

• Listen to Bessie Smith at Jazz Old Time On Line