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About Queen Of The Blues, Vol. 1
Bessie Smith was not the first to record a blues yet she stands astride the genre like a colossus. As well as her fame as an entertainer, she was a formidable human being. She refused to countenance opposition - incredibly, one night in 1927, she faced down the Ku Klux Klan. She was born poor in 1894, in Chattanooga, TN. Both parents died while Bessie was young and she was raised by her older sister. Bessie and her older brother took to the streets as entertainers. In time, Bessie found regular work as a dancer and chorus girl. By 1921, by now living in Philadelphia, Bessie was a star of vaudeville. She had several unsuccessful tests for recording companies. In February 1923, after she'd moved to New York, Columbia gave her a chance. Her first cuts, made on February 15th, are lost. However, the next day she recorded Gulf Coast Blues and Down Hearted Blues with piano backing by Clarence Williams, who had written the former. This combination was released as Bessie's first disc. It sold 750,000. All her skills are on display. Initially, Gulf Coast was the A-side, but it was the honesty and clarity of Down Hearted that people flocked to buy. Soon after her recording debut, Bessie found that she was signed not to Columbia, but to Clarence Williams, who was claiming half Bessie's recording fee. She confronted Williams, who released her. She entered the round familiar to stars of the era - recordings followed by live dates, followed by more recording. Each stage of the cycle seemed to compound success. In Bessie's case, she also appeared in revue. The final tracks here, Money Blues, Baby Doll and Hard Driving Papa, were recorded in May 1926. Bessie seems to be drawing from the personal to give her interpretations a bitter flavour. Halfway through 1926, Bessie took a rest. She needed it.
