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Artist:
Bessie Smith
Title:
Empress Of The Blues Volume 2: 1926 – 1933



Details:
Bessie Smith is an American archetype in several different categories. First, she established herself as a leader at a time when women were encouraged to stay in the background. Then, she was one of the first African American stars to 'crossover' - that is, to have an audience in the white community. And she vehemently opposed racism at times and in places when it was not safe. She is also sometimes caricatured as a victim, especially of her husbands and lovers - but even a cursory study of her life reveals a women who would have jeered at such a description. JSP's previous volume covered her career from her first recordings in February 1923 to October 1926. This companion release picks up on her second October 1926 session and flows to her final recordings (for producer John Hammond) in 1933 - four years before she died from injuries sustained in a car crash. In 1926, Bessie Smith was almost certainly the biggest female African American star. Contemporaries like Ethel Waters and Ma Rainey had an equally loyal following, but their appeal was not so wide - Waters’ more sophisticated presentation went down better in the north, while Ma Rainey’s power base was in the south. Bessie’s appeal was national. By the early '30s alcoholism was damaging her reputation and career but the character and power of her voice was undiminished, as can be heard in this essential set.

Label: Jsp

This item was added to our catalog on Friday 09 May, 2008