Track Listing

1. Downhearted Blues
2. Gulf Coast Blues
3. T'ain't Nobody's Business If I Do
4. Keeps On A Rainin'
5. Yodling Blues
6. Bleeding Hearted Blues
7. Lady Luck Blues
8. If You Don't I Know Who Will
9. Nobody In Town Can Bake A Sweet Jelly Roll Like Mine
10. Jail House Blues
11. Graveyard Dream Blues
12. Cemetery Blues
13. Any Woman's Blues
14. Mistreatin' Daddy
15. Easy Come Easy Go Blues
16. Moonshine Blues
17. Boweavil Blues
18. Hateful Blues

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25372 in Music
• Released on: 2003-02-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 59 minutes

Customer Reviews

For All Blues Lovers
Bessie Smith, from humble beginings singing on street corners with her brother playing the guitar, went on to become a household name. Originaly known by her fans as the 'Queen of the Blues' her recording company called her the 'Empress of the Blues'. After hearing her sing you can understand why.

Unfortunately fashions change in music as in everything else. Blues aren't listened to as much as they used to be, and Bessie Smith has just become a footnote, which is really sad. There is nothing quite like the blues, they make us feel better rather paradoxically, probably because they speak to us like no other type of music. We all feel down at times and the blues help us to remember we are not the only ones.

So, sit back and take in the blues of the imcomparable Bessie Smith. All the tracks on this cd are taken from original recordings from 1923-1924 and are from old 78s. You won't get crystal clear sound, there is the old hissing that you expect from old vinyl, but hey that just helps to place these tracks in their time and place, and adds something to the whole album. Most of these songs are just with a piano accompainment.

Just to give you some idea how popular Bessie Smith was, Columbia executive John Hammond called her 'the greatest artist American jazz has ever produced', and it is believed that the sales of her records through the Depression years saved them from going bankrupt.