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St. Louis Blues
Empress of The Blues
Bessie Smith gained immediate success in 1923 with her first recording "Down Hearted Blues"/"Gulf Coast Blues." Her renditions of Negro life in the South earned Smith the title "Empress of the Blues." She performed mainly in black theaters, but she did sing one evening at the New York apartment of Carl Van Vechten, a writer and amateur photographer who frequented Harlem nightclubs.
No blues singer can escape the influence of Bessie Smith, "The Empress of the Blues." She gave the music its raw, regal poignancy -- and marketability. Her feverish growls and testifying delivery has informed nearly every facet of African American music, from Mahalia Jacksonto Mary J. Blige.
Born on April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tenn., Bessie took to the stage early in life. As a young girl, she would audition in local amateur vaudeville competitions and by the time she reached 18, she was touring as a dancer. Incorporating a full arsenal of talent -- singing, dancing, and slapstick comedy -- Bessie was a consummate entertainer.
All that is known of her early years is that she grew up in poverty. Singing in the streets for change at the age of ten, she joined a travelling show featuring "Ma" Rainey, who taught her a lot. She played "on the road" for eleven years before recording her first song in 1923. That record sold 780,000 copies, but only made her $125.
Smith often toured the T.O.B.A. (Theatres Owner's Booking Association) circuit, theatres that catered exclusively to African Americans during the days of legal segregation. In 1929, she starred in the 17-minute movie, St. Louis Blues.
As a recording artist, Smith made her first sides in 1922, but the tapes were lost. A year later, she recorded "Down Hearted Blues" for Columbia Records, and it became her first hit. She was soon the highest paid black entertainer in the country. Her celebrity status afforded opportunities to play with top jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong, Fletcher Henderson, and Coleman Hawkins.
Smith thrived in jazz's golden age, but fell on hard times during the Great Depression of the 1930s. The stock market crash of 1929 greatly affected her income. She also had a few other troubles that affected her career: heavy drinking, a failed marriage, and severe emotional problems.
When Smith died of injuries suffered from a car wreck in 1937, her legend began to grow. Since her untimely death, there have been numerous stage plays, books, essays, and songs written about her extraordinary and sadly brief life and musical career.
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