Bessie Smith (1894-1937), the Empress of the Blues. Featuring: Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out, St. Louis Blues, Beale Street Mama, Cake Walkin' Babies From Home, Backwater Blues, et al.
“When I begin to fall... I'm really struck, and maybe you are too, by the clarity of Bessie Smith's voice on this and other records. It's partly her perfect diction, accurate intonation, and powerful singing voice, all of which helped.
And you'd have to credit the blues and blues standard songs that Bessie Smith perfected. Like this Nobody Knows You When You're Down and. Out, Jimmy Cox's Words and Music, which we'll hear a full recording of later on in the show.
There's a directness in the blues that lends itself to piercing emotional effect. But it's also Bessie Smith's natural ability to cut through emotionally. I don't know of any other singer who was able to overcome the primitive recording technology of her time quite so completely as Bessie Smith.
And by the way, when this recording was made in September of 1929, the stock market had yet to crash. It was at its all-time peak, only to drastically fall less than two weeks later, the event that precipitated the ten-year-long depression. So Bessie Smith was a little prescient in conveying a calamity of substance and spirit.
But once the crash hit, this record was heard[…]”
From At the Jazz Band Ball: The Empress, Jun 4, 2024
Transcript:
“When I begin to fall... I'm really struck, and maybe you are too, by the clarity of Bessie Smith's voice on this and other records. It's partly her perfect diction, accurate intonation, and powerful singing voice, all of which helped.
And you'd have to credit the blues and blues standard songs that Bessie Smith perfected. Like this Nobody Knows You When You're Down and. Out, Jimmy Cox's Words and Music, which we'll hear a full recording of later on in the show.
There's a directness in the blues that lends itself to piercing emotional effect. But it's also Bessie Smith's natural ability to cut through emotionally. I don't know of any other singer who was able to overcome the primitive recording technology of her time quite so completely as Bessie Smith.
And by the way, when this recording was made in September of 1929, the stock market had yet to crash. It was at its all-time peak, only to drastically fall less than two weeks later, the event that precipitated the ten-year-long depression. So Bessie Smith was a little prescient in conveying a calamity of substance and spirit.
But once the crash hit, this record was heard[…]”
From At the Jazz Band Ball: The Empress, Jun 4, 2024
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/at-the-jazz-band-ball/id1687165125?i=1000657870241
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