Bessie Smith Essay -- Biography Biographies

Bessie metalworkerKnown as the Empress Of megrims, Bessie Smith was give tongue to to have revolutionized the vocal end of Blues Music. She showed a lot of fleece as an independent African-American woman. Her style in performance and lyrics ofttimes reflected her lifestyle. Bessie Smith was one of the first female jazz artists, and she paved the focus for many musicians who followed. Bessie was born April 15, 1894 in Chattanooga, Tennessee to a part time Baptist preacher, William Smith, and his wife Laura. The family was large and poor. Soon after she was born her father died. Laura lived until Bessie was only nine years old. The remaining children had to learn to take care of themselves. Her sister genus Viola then raised her. But it was her oldest brother, Clarence, who had the most impact on her. Clarence constantly encouraged Bessie to learn to sing and dance. After Clarence had joined the Moses Stokes Minstrel Show, Bessie got auditions. Bessies race began when she was di scovered by none other than Ma Rainey when Mas revue, the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, was sacking through Chattanooga around 1912 and she had the occasion to hear young Bessie sing. Ma took Bessie on the road with the show and communicated, consciously or not, the subtleties and intricacies of an ancient and soothe emerging art form. (Snow). Bessie started by working small-time traveling encamp shows. With the help of Clarence she began her professional career in 1912, and soon became a feature singer. Smith was an established star with the black audiences throughout the south by the time she moved to Philadelphia in 1921. However, two more years would hunt before she would begin her recording career. Soon after moving to Philadelphia, Smith supposedly auditioned for Okeh and other... ... Pennsylvania. For many African-Americans, Smith was more than just a blues singer, thanks to an aggressive personality and often-excessive lifestyle. It seemed as if she was describing black till age in the 1920s through her songs. Smith recorded at to the lowest degree 160 songs for Columbia Records from 1923 to 1933. Many of these songs are blues classics. Bessie Smith was inducted into the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame in 1980 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989. Bessie Smith had a huge voice capable of strength and softness, which she left hand behind on all her recordings. BibliographyDavis, Angela Y. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. New York Pantheon Books, 1999 Friedwald, Will. go to sleep Singing. New York Da Capo Press, 1996 Sanders, Madelyn. Bessie Smith. Smith, Bessie. Encarta Encyclopedia. 2001 Ed. Snow, Joel. Bessie Smith. September 17, 1995