Bessie Smith - The Essential Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith was crowned the Empress of the Blues, and, while this moniker was well deserved, she was much more. A prolific recording artist, Smith was quite an eclectic performer. In fact, she may have been one of the first true crossover artists. This neat two-disc set gives the listener a good sampling of her wide repertoire. Smith is backed up by some of the best jazz musicians of her era. Her rendition of "St Louis Blues" for example, features the horn work of a young Louis Armstrong. Smith was not above doing such suggestive material as "Kitchen Man" or "Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl" and could breath new life into a pop chestnut like "Alexander's Ragtime Band." And when Smith sang "Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out," she knew what she was talking about. The title of this album says it all. --Lars Gandil Amazon.com essential recording

Oldies, but goodies

These songs were instrumental in the rise of rock and roll. This lady really sang the blues the way they were meant to be sung. I was a young woman in the fifties and recall many good songs and many talented entertainers. I prefer the older songs, but there have been some good music from each decade that I have lived through. It seems that they all stem from the early blues songs such as the ones on this album. April 7, 2008

Ain't Gonna Play No Second Fiddler

I have heard of Mama Bessie for years. But I wasn't really familiar with her music. Sometimes you have to grow older and mature in order to appreciate such music. What I have read about her was she was a volatile and commanding personality. It saddens me that she probably died unnecessarily.

She had issue with her siblings too. I guess it is difficult when you come from poverty and all of a sudden you are making money, but your family is still there. She was their savior. She obviously experienced much stress from the financial demands of family.

My favorite songs are as follows:

Good Ole Wagon
Gimme A Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer
Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair
Taint Nobody's Business
Moan you Moaners
A Good Man is Hard to Find
Nobody Knows You

I especially love Gimme A Pigfoot because it speaks about pretentiousness with a comical twist. Folks have various faces and sometimes it hard to determine when the real person surfaces. Liquor or corn liquor(fermented corn) has a way of making one lose their inhibitions and the real person emerges.
April 4, 2008

Great service!

What's not to like? I got what I ordered within just a few days after I placed the order. This, to me, is great service! No stress, no strain. December 17, 2007

Bessie never made "early videos"

The reviewer below is misinformed. Bessie never made "early attempts at video." She made exactly one appearance on film, in "St. Louis Blues," and it is amazing for the power and dignity that she brings to it, even though she is cast as woman treated like a doormat by "Jimmie." But it is a national treasure because were it not for that 17-minute clip (you can find it on youtube), there would be no record of her facial expressions, movements, majesty singing live. March 1, 2007

Bessie's the Bomb!

BESSIE SMITH is undoubtedly the Great Godmother of Blues and was a legend in her own time. Her influence was seen in many singers who followed, including Janis Joplin her often referred to Bessie as being her primary inspiration. Supposedly Bessie was the inspiration for the character "Shug Avery" in one of America's most important films, The Color Purple. Bessie Smith's original recordings were produced on so-called "Race Records," marketed for the segregated African-American community (they were considered too sexual for the likes of lily white listeners.) Bessie made a few early rather regrettable "videos" of her songs; her attempts at a breakthrough into movies were equally unfortunate. She had no dramatic training and the studios only saw her cast as the perennial docile or happy-go-lucky black maid--and Bessie wasn't having any of that.

The selected anthology is expertly remastered. It features `Taint Nobody's Bizness If I do; St. Louis Blues; and the politically incorrect Send Me to the `Lectric Chair. It looses 1 Star only because it should have included two or three selections found elsewhere.

Queen of the Blues Volume 1
Salutes Bessie Smith
Best of the Empress of the Blues
The Ultimate Collection

October 2, 2006

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