Bessie Smith is known as the greatest of all "Classical Blues" performers. She began her career as a vaudeville dancer, but established herself as a singer while touring with Rainey's Rabbit Foot Minstrels. Her first recording of "Down Hearted Blues" in 1923 sold 780,000 copies in six months. She was able to show many moods in her singing incorporating slides and drop-offs. In the 1920s she had her own show in Atlantic City and by 1923 had settled in New York City after signing with Columbia to make her first recording. In the summers of 1925-27 she performed in the tent show "Harlem Frolics". By 1929 blues was no longer the fashion as the great Depression set in and Bessie Smith's popularity declined as well. But she is still known today s the "Empress of the Blues".
Discography: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1. 1991, Columbia/Legacy. The Complete Recordings, Vol. 2. 1991, Columbia/Legacy. The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3. 1992, Columbia/Legacy. The Complete Recordings, Vol. 4. 1993, Columbia/Legacy. |
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