| Bessie Smith: The Empress of Blues The early blues recording industry was heavily dependent on the constant influx of women's voices. One of the most renowned blues artists was Bessie Smith, also known by many as "The Empress." Her appearance on Columbia's record label caused intense transition in what had been, and still is today, a predominantly male black field of music. Bessie's flair and dramatic style would set the stage for many blues, and rhythm and blues artists to come, including other transitional favorites from the 1950’'s, such as Etta James and Dinah Washington. The female voice of “struggle” did not originate in the 70s with women such
as Janis Joplin or Tina Turner, but stemmed from decades' earlier women of the blues,
importantly, Bessie Smith. Even today women such as Emily Saliers of the “Indigo
Girls” or Melissa Etheridge can be described as singers with the same grit and raw
sound that Bessie Smith introduced in the 1920s. Her talent took her above and beyond
artists such as Mamie Smith and Ma Rainey, as Bessie's record sales soared high above the
average female blues artist of the time (surfin.com./The Blues Flame Cafe/Bessie Smith.
html.) Popular culture's history pages have been singed with the memory of a phenomenal
woman, who both on and off stage made a memorable impression on all who would see her. The
quality of sound that had inevitably driven Bessie to stardom would be mimicked by many,
but never replaced. Born in rural Chattanooga, Tennessee, Bessie began delving into the music scene by singing for nickels and dimes on the street corners of her hometown as a young girl. (lunet.edu/blues/Bessie Smith.html) Though her voice was raw and unrefined, her love for singing the blues came out in her performance and attitude. She began singing in talent shows and touring full time by the age of fourteen. She was discovered by Ma Rainey in 1912. For the next ten years, Bessie would travel with various vaudeville acts such as “Pete Worley’s Cotton Blossoms.” For five of those ten years, Bessie toured under contract with the Theater Owners Booking Association, which handled most blues acts during this time. In 1920, Bessie Smith began giving shows in New York and in New Jersey. However, she was not able to receive a recording contract as she hoped and desperately depended. Upon returning home in 1922 to resume her stage career, Frank Walker of Columbia Records began scouting her shows and the popularity that she had gained amongst her audience members. Convinced that Bessie'’s heavy, unrefined sound was venerable by those who attended her stage performances, Columbia Records signed with her. Record sales of her first album, "“Down Hearted Blues”," hit the roof selling 720,000 copies at seventy-five cents each thus giving a tremendous boost to the blues industry.(bertha.chat-/rvrbendfest/mon.24 html) Her original sound opened the ears of countless people, including “the greats”. Such hits as "Gimme a Pigfoot,”" accompanied by Benny Goodman on his unforgettable clarinet, and "“St. Louis Blues”" with Louis Armstrong on the trumpet, caused quite an upheaval of celebration throughout the black community. Other performers such as Fletcher Henderson, and Sidney Beckett also clamored around this newly accepted star in hopes of playing her back up instrumentals. (lunet.edu / blues / Bessie Smith. html) Blues artists came together creating such harmony that the irony was almost too obvious. The sound of her voice and the excellence with which she sang, could almost disassociate her from the lyrics that blues music had so copiously extended. However, her words were in fact prolific about subjects like violence, heart ache, and death. Such tragedy most prominently emanated through her voice with the mention of domestic abuse and abandonment. Historians believe many of Bessie’'s songs to be autobiographical. "“Nobody Knows When You’re Down and Out"” proves to be a type of confessional that illustrates Smith’'s hardships during her life. While songs such as “"Gin House Blues”" and "“Me and My Gin"” portray Bessie’s preferred drink and her alcoholic tendencies. (lunet. edu / blues/ Bessie Smith. html) Perhaps the immutable, mournful elements of Bessie Smith’s music simply needed an outlet that was greater than what “The Empress” could express, but her intricate character and flamboyant behavior on stage acted in place of any hole left unfilled. A public bisexual preference did not hamper her career amid her fans. However, her open honesty did eventually cause some public questioning of her musical credibility by her critics. Her personal life was in constant turmoil as affairs with both men and women often ended in intensity, mingled with hostility that almost always ended in physical abuse. Even her shortlife ended violently. In 1937, Bessie was killed in a car accident in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Her death resulted from excessive blood loss after her arm was severely severed. Many theorists believe that the haunting, seductive, resonating quality of Bessie’'s volatile voice came from a large display of conflicting emotions that composed her dramatic life. Perhaps the expressive ease and flawless accentuation of her music should likewise be credited to the degrees of warmth, love and support that she had apperceived throughout her life by her numerous fans and her friends. Bessie earned her superb reputation on the strength of her talents. Her association with great jazz musicians which led to the development of vocal techniques, comparable to that of a horn sound, made her a legendary blues artist as well. This technique of singing gave Bessie an even greater vocal range with which she could entertain; not to mention the gift to bend notes in such a way that each sound has its own expression of feelings. An excellent demonstration of this vocal technique used today, is heard from the lead singer of the Indigo Girls, Emily Saliers in her own rendition of Bob Dylan's "Tangled Up In Blue". Like Bessie's, Emily's voice is a sweeping mass of depth and emotion. One can feel her strength through her elements of sound and lyrical tone. Bessie Smith was among the first to blend African and Western modes of music.(Chattanooga net/ chamber/ bessie. html) - (Rosetta Reitz: Jazz Historian) Through her original sound and tone quality, the blues became an art form. Even today, singers and historians study her sound and stage presence. Female singers of the twenties longed to imitate her raw voice and popularity. Smith’'s constant need to be displayed in all aspects of her life served as an example to all black females in the music industry and public arena. Recognized in 1980 for her influence of blues music, Bessie Smith was inducted into “The "Blues Foundation Hall of Fame.”" Then in 1989 she was finally inducted into the “Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” The overwhelming battles that this woman of blues faced throughout her life comprised her very being and made Bessie Smith who she remains today ...a legend. |