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Bessie Smith
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Bessie Smith grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and as a young woman travelled with tent shows, where she met Ma Rainey. In 1923 she recorded Downhearted Blues for Columbia, which sold well, and she became the best-paid Black female artist of her time: the 'Empress of the Blues'. Her voice was big and full, and she sang without a microphone to the back of a theatre. Jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson and James P. Johnson played on her records. Her 1925 version of St. Louis Blues, with Armstrong, is a classic. Because of the Depression her career declined; she died in 1937 after a car accident in Mississippi.
Listening
St. Louis Blues · Bessie Smith, 1925
Downhearted Blues · Bessie Smith, 1923
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out · Bessie Smith, 1929
Discography
Studio albums
- 2007Young Woman's Blues
- 2018Me and My Gin
Other work
- 1923Downhearted Blues
- 1925St. Louis Blues · with Louis Armstrong
- 1928Empty Bed Blues
- 1929Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Jazz MapNL Map
- Mixtape 10: Women in Pop MusicNL Reader
- After Hours: Session 1NL Reader
- Magazine: Van Bessie tot EllaNL Magazine
Mentioned in other articles
- Classic blues Genre
Bessie Smith, the Empress of the Blues, recorded Downhearted Blues in 1923.