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Artist
Bessie Smith
12+ albums
bluesjazzfemale vocalistsClassic Bluesjazz vocal
about
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer. Nicknamed The Empress of the Blues, Smith was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and, along with Louis Armstrong, a major influence on other jazz vocalists. The 1900 census indicates that Bessie Smith was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, in July 1892. However, the 1910 census recorded her birthday as April 15, 1894, a date that appears on all subsequent documents and was observed by the entire Smith family. Census data also contributes to controversy about the size of her family. The 1870 and 1880 censuses report three older half-siblings, while later interviews with Smith's family and contemporaries did not include these individuals among her siblings. Bessie Smith was the daughter of Laura (née Owens) and William Smith. William Smith was a laborer and part-time Baptist preacher (he was listed in the 1870 census as a "minister of the gospel", in Moulton, Lawrence, Alabama.) He died before his daughter could remember him. By the time she was nine, she had lost her mother and a brother as well. Her older sister Viola took charge of caring for her siblings. To earn money for their impoverished household, Bessie Smith and her brother Andrew began busking on the streets of Chattanooga as a duo: she singing and dancing, he accompanying her on guitar. Their favorite location was in front of the White Elephant Sa
top songs
1
Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
84,5792St. Louis Blues
44,9943Nobody Knows You When You're Down And Out - 78rpm Version
37,4704Me and My Gin
33,7685'Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do
28,6636Do Your Duty
28,2087Alexander's Ragtime Band
28,1588A Good Man Is Hard to Find
25,2619Need a Little Sugar in My Bowl
23,12310Baby Won't You Please Come Home
22,742albums
The Essential Bessie Smith
The Collection
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 4
The Best of Bessie Smith
Martin Scorsese Presents The Blues
The Essential Bessie Smith, (Disc 1)
1923-1933 Empress of the Blues
The Complete Recordings, Volume 1 (disc 1)
Great Original Performances: 1925-1933
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1
The Complete Recordings, Volume 4 (disc 2)
The Complete Recordings, Volume 2 (disc 2)