Blues Queen

A COMPREHENSIVE SELECTION COVERING BESSIE’S WHOLE CAREER. DETAILED AND INSIGHFUL LINER NOTES!

FEATURING:
Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Coleman Hawkins, Pee Wee Russell, Jack Teagarden,
Buster Bailey, Chu Berry, Fletcher Henderson & Clarence Williams, among others.

Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, on April 15, 1894. As one of ten children of a black family stricken by poverty in the segregated South, Bessie overcame tremendous odds to become the Empress of the Blues –the best blues singer of her era, and the source of numerous legends. Above all, Bessie had a powerful and beautiful voice, and a strong personality which she imposed on every tune she chose to sing. Some of the tunes from her repertoire were composed by or for her, while she selected others from the vaudeville shows she often performed in. Most of the songs were blues about lost lovers and personal problems, which in her voice sounded sincere and moving. She died in a car crash in 1937, an event that became another source of legend. This selection covers her whole career, beginning in her first session and ending in her last. It also includes ALL the masters she recorded backed by the great Louis Armstrong in 1925 and many other jewels.