Release Date: 08 January 2003
Label: Naxos - Jazz Legends / Naxos Jazz Legends
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 636943269121
Genres: Blues
Description
BESSIE SMITH Vol.2'St Louis Blues' Original Recordings 1924-1925At the time that Bessie Smith recorded the opening selectionon this release, Haunted House Blues, she was three months shy of turningthirty and entering the period of her greatest popularity. Smith was headlining in her own shownot only in the South but in such Northern cities as Chicago, Cleveland andDetroit. She appeared often on theradio and, most important for today's listeners, was recording frequently andearning her title of \The Empress Of The Blues.Born 15 April 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bessie Smithnever knew her father (who died while she was very young) and her mother passedaway when she was ten. Raised byan older sister and growing up poor, she first performed at an amateur contestwhen she was ten, often raising money for the family by singing in the streetswith her brother backing her on guitar. In 1912 when Smith was eighteen, she joined the Moses Stokes troupe as adancer. The company's vocalist wasMa Rainey, who is considered the first female blues singer and was aninspiration. Within a year or two,Smith was singing at Atlanta's "81" Theatre and quickly becoming a popularattraction. She worked regularlyon the road with a variety of companies and gained a strong reputationthroughout the South for her powerful voice and highly expressive way ofsinging the blues. By 1920 she washeading her own show.The blues craze began in 1920 when Mamie Smith had a majorbestseller in "Crazy Blues". Suddenly the record labels, which had previously excluded black artistsfrom the recording studios, went out of their way to document scores of femaleblues singers in hopes of duplicating Mamie Smith's success. Among the many discoveries were EthelWaters, Alberta Hunter, Ida Cox and Ma Rainey, but none made a greater impact thanBessie Smith.After auditioning unsuccessfully for the Edison label andrecording two selections for Columbia on 15 February 1923 that for unknownreasons were rejected, Bessie Smith made her recording debut the followingday. Her very first recording,Alberta Hunter's "Downhearted Blues", became a major hit and within a year shewas the most famous and popular of the classic blues singers. That seemed only fitting because shehad the strongest and most memorable voice. While many other singers on early recordings were defeatedby the inferior technical quality of both the recording equipment and theiraccompanists, the Empress simply overrode both. Few other singers from 1923 are listenable today but Smith,whether introducing "'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do" or putting a great dealof passion into "Jailhouse Blues" and "Mistreatin' Daddy" (all to be found on Bessie Smith Vol.1:"Downhearted Blues", Naxos Jazz Legends 8.120660), was way ahead of her contemporaries. In fact, she can be considered not onlythe finest blues singer of the 1920s but the first female jazz singer.Dur
Tracklisting
Various
Waller, Fats
Waller, Fats
Venuti, Joe
Vaughan
Various Artists
Various
Various
