Dust jacket notes: "Bessie Smith combined natural earthiness and vigor with remarkable musical sensitivity. Her art is a diamond with hundreds of facets. She took the rough, undisciplined blues form and converted it into exquisitely subtle jazz, without losing any of the power. Soul music simply could not exist today without her contribution. She was a pop singer in the best sense. Now, Bessie comes alive again in this unique collection of her most famous songs. Not just copies of sheet music, here are actual transcriptions of her recorded performances, with piano reductions and guitar chords. Chris Albertson contributes a discography and a biographical sketch of Bessie, including newly discovered information and photographs not published in his standard biography, and Gunther Schuller's notes on Bessie's unique singing style are perhaps the only good critical description of her art. This book is the ideal companion to the recent, history-making set of Bessie's complete recordings."

The songs in the songbook portion of the book are: It Makes My Love come Down; Long Road; Jailhouse Blues; Dirty No-Gooder's Blues; Down in the Dumps; In the House Blues; Shipwreck Blues; Safety Mama; Take Me For A Buggy Ride; Blue Blues; Wasted Life Blues; Standin' in the Rain Blues; Squeeze Me; Baby Won't You Please Come Home; Pickpocket Blues; Backwater Blues; Young Woman's Blues; See If I'll Care; New Orleans Hop Scop Blues; Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out; Baby Doll; Please Help Me Get Him Off My Mind; Reckless Blues; My Man Blues; Poor Man's Blues; Hard Time Blues; Tain't Nobody's Biz-Ness If I Do; Cake Walking Babies From Home; Gimme a Pigfoot; Gulf Coast Blues.

Bessie Smith: Empress of the Blues

Arts & Photography

Schuller, Gunther

ALBERTSON, Chris

Music

Schirmer Reference

Bessie

A biography of Bessie Smith, the great singer known as the "Empress of the Blues". Considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time, Bessie Smith was also a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest paid African-American performer of the roaring twenties. This revised and expanded edition of the biography of this extraordinary artist, debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937. Chris Albertson seeks to write with insight and candour about the singer's personal life and her career, supplementing his historical research with dozens of interviews with her relatives, friends and associates, in particular Ruby Walker Smith, a niece by marriage who toured with Bessie for over a decade. For this edition he includes more details of Bessie's early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to events and responses that followed the original publication in 1971.

History

Europe

Barrie Jenkins

Considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time, Bessie Smith was also a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest paid African-American performer of the roaring twenties. This book—a revised and expanded edition of the classic biography of this extraordinary artist—debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937. Chris Albertson writes with insight and candor about the singer’s personal life and her career, supplementing his historical research with dozens of interviews with her relatives, friends, and associates, in particular Ruby Walker Smith, a niece by marriage who toured with Bessie for over a decade. For this new edition he includes more details of Bessie’s early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to events and responses that followed the original publication in 1971.

Bessie: Revised and expanded edition

Americas

Yale University Press

The definitive biography of Bessie Smith, the great singer known as the “Empress of the Blues” Considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time, Bessie Smith was also a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest paid African-American performer of the roaring twenties. This book—a revised and expanded edition of the classic biography of this extraordinary artist—debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937. Chris Albertson writes with insight and candor about the singer’s personal life and her career, supplementing his historical research with dozens of interviews with her relatives, friends, and associates, in particular Ruby Walker Smith, a niece by marriage who toured with Bessie for over a decade. For this new edition he includes more details of Bessie’s early years, new interview material, and a chapter devoted to events and responses that followed the original publication in 1971.

Humor & Entertainment

Biographies & Memoirs

Community & Culture

STEIN AND DAY.

Imperative for all jazz aficionados. DS Publishers Weekly

Arts & Literature

Scarborough House

Bessie Smith, the great singer known as the "Empress of the Blues," is considered by many to be the greatest blues singer of all time. She was also a successful vaudeville entertainer who became the highest-paid African American performer of the Roaring Twenties.Chris Albertson's revised and expanded edition of the biography of this extraordinary artist debunks many of the myths that have circulated since her untimely death in 1937. Albertson writes with insight and candor about the singer's personal life and her career, supplementing his historical research with dozens of interviews with her relatives, friends, and associates, including Ruby Walker Smith, a niece by marriage who toured with Bessie for over a decade.

Tantor Audio

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by ALBERTSON, Chris. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by ALBERTSON, Chris

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by ALBERTSON, Chris. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Bessie Smith: Empress of the Blues

Bessie

Bessie: Revised and expanded edition

Bessie

Bessie

Bessie

Bessie

Bessie