Bessie Smith

Bessie Smith lived just a relatively short life on this earth, but she left a deep mark and a spark that still shines decades after her death - alone among her contemporaries, she is the one remembered from her generation as a trail blazing personality and a talent that still has power to move and impress,thanks to many recordings still available,cherished and played today. Surely, she was not the only one - there were literary a hundred of black female singers at that time and naturally,Bessie must have been influenced by some of them, however her example lead the way - not for nothing her deep,powerful voice gave her a title "Empress of The Blues" and she was absolutely untouchable in her position. If nothing else, once listener get accustomed to her style and talent, this might lead to exploration of other voices of now forgotten 1920s "classic blues" idiom when sassy female singers were the biggest music stars, long before men with guitar re-shaped blues into something completely different (today we associate genre with man-with-a-guitar music).

The very first time I heard the name "Bessie Smith" was probably during my teenage years when I listened Janis Joplin - Joplin was rock singer and therefore something "cool" to listen, along the lines of music like "The Doors" or Jimmy Hendrix. Apparently Joplin was a lifelong fan and even paid for Bessie's tombstone,however it took many years before I finally heard some early demo recordings where Joplin sings blues copying Bessie note by note (and I found it sweet and cute,lonely girl from Port Arthur channeling long gone black blues singer who was definitely not in fashion). Another mention was in connection with Billie Holiday who listened Bessie's recordings in bordellos of Baltimore as she swept the stairs (in her autobiography Holiday would claim she would clean around just to hear those recordings) - I could never exactly hear Bessie in Billie's singing,because Bessie had a deep, powerful earthquake of voice and Holiday was a gentle little squeak compared to her. But now I understand that the older woman had a strong, earthly honesty that appealed to young Holiday and this honesty communicates with listener even today, despite of ancient recordings.

Some twenty years ago I finally laid my hands on Bessie Smith compilation. It was on a tape and titled "The Collection" (I have it on CD now) where her music was presented as a career retrospective, going from very first 1923. hit "Downhearted Blues" to her last 1933. recordings - it took some time before I got used to tiny, muddy sound of now-primitive sound of 1920s recordings but once I got into it, I never got tired of them. Like a message from time machine, Bessie's strong, powerful and massive voice sang about love,passion,heartbreaks and loneliness - she might have recorded them in 1920s but there was nothing old-fashioned about her message or honesty, this woman was real as anything around you as you listen to her music. Of course, some of her experiences as a strong black woman of 1920s were not really connected to my life (and she did had a soft spot for cruel lovers who would beat and abuse her) but on some unconscious, human level she communicates strongly about emotions we all know and experience one time or another in out lives. When she sings "see that long,lonesome road, Lord you know its gotta end" it really breaks your heart, because we all know and understand that feeling of questioning the whole point of existence (a point we all come to in lives). Its this message that communicates so strongly with everybody curious enough to explore her ancient recordings, that still echoes and has a power to impress no matter where on earth you live - in Denmark,young Chris Albertson was impressed enough to became fan and write a definite biography of her life.

I LOVE the music of Bessie Smith - that massive voice backed with plink-plonky piano (usually Clarence Williams) and on later recordings, bunch of the best jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong, I never have enough of it. Maybe its a paradox, because most of her song are downbeat (at least lyrics wise) but they make me happy - she is so strong and powerful that even in the blues I hear defiance, singing along and feeling good. Recently I finally invested into CD Box with her complete recordings and this was the best Christmas present to myself, as many of these recordings I never heard before. Since Bessie introduced me to the whole "classic blues" genre of 1920s and I had discovered many other blues singers who followed her, its very interesting to hear her cover versions of other people's songs - I am still on first CD and already she had recorded songs by Ida Cox and "Ma" Rainey,not to mention "Downhearted blues" that was originally done by Alberta Hunter. There are several double CDs in the box so I made decision to enjoy them slowly month by month and I am very happy so far.