Music Pick: Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith (1894-1937), the Empress of the Blues, was the among the earliest and greatest blues/jazz artists at the dawn of jazz. Active in vaudeville and tent shows throughout the country from 1913 till her unt...imely death in an auto accident in 1937, Smith had a towering, expressive voice and a larger than life personality that made her the highest paid black performer of her time. She eventually led shows featuring 46 performers who travelled around the dangerous South in their own railroad car. She make 160 recordings between 1923 and 1933, but only 4 (1933) after the Depression wrecked the recording industry in 1929. The feature "St Louis Blues" is from the 1929 two reel short of the same name. As the only film of Smith's titanic talent, it is priceless, as is its depiction of a black Depression era speakeasy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqeNtqywBEA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqeNtqywBEA
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