BESSIE SMITH
(1894 - 1937)

(born April 15, 1894, Chattanooga, Tennessee;
died September 26, 1937, Clarkesdale, Mississippi)
Bessie Smith was the greatest and most influential classic blues singer of the 1920s.  Her full-bodied delivery coupled with a remarkable self-assuredness that worked its way in and around most every note she sang, plus her sharp sense of phrasing, enabled her to influence virtually every female blues singer who followed. 

During her heyday, she sold hundreds of thousands of records and earned upwards of $2000 per week, which was a queenly sum in the 1920s.  She routinely played to packed houses in the South as well as the North and Midwest.

By the time the decade had ended, Smith had become the most respected black singer in America and had recorded a catalog of blues that still stands as the yardstick by which all other female blues singers are measured.

To many blacks, her success represented a triumph over white domination in the entertainment business.  She gave hope to oppressed black women and inspired countless other singers.  Although she died in 1937, still in the prime of her career, she left behind a legacy that is wonderfully rich and practically unparalleled.  She ranks with the best artist the blues has ever produced.

~ Robert Santelli -- The Big Book of Blues : A Biographical Encyclopedia -- Click Here To Buy This Book



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