Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith, known as the "Empress of the Blues," was the most influential and controversial classical blues singer of the 1920s. During her prime, her powerful blues voice sold almost a million records and gave her a weekly salary of about $2000, placing her at the top of the blues charts. Though she was often criticized for her reputation of drinking, fighting, and sexual encounters with both sexes, she was a legend in the black community. Even though her career ended prematurely due to a tragic car accident, her music reached people throughout the south and the north and influenced later renowned singers like Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin.Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee sometime in 1894, Bessie Smith was raised by her older sister, Viola, after the early death of both her father and mother. Her older brother, Clarence, was her number one influence as a child, and it was he who influenced her and her younger brother Andrew to begin their performing careers in the
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Once dropped from Columbia's singing lineup in 1931, she halted her career until 1933 when she joined Okeh under the direction of John Hammond. Here she began her comeback as swing musician and recorded with different jazz musicians-- black and white. Although she was without a record label, she remained as popular in the south as she had been under the Columbia label. With such songs as "Gimmie a Pigfoot" she was still able to strike a note that her southern audience still found moving. Oliver, Paul. Bessie Smith. New York: Barnes Press, 1961
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Approximate Word count = 660
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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