The Essential Bessie Smith

this is LIVE music...

     

with bessie's stuff more than most otehrs, i feel as if i'm being visited by ghosts from generations passed. this music is about as accessible emotionally as it gets- it's sugn TO you- and yet has more complex layers of entendre than just about anything since. that is what is lost to most of today's listeners. and as for emtotion, well, i can't think of a better instance of joy/fun out of the most oppressive problems...

remember also that bessie's generation had NO MICROPHONES, which profoundly influences the style of playing (the piano and horns...) AND singing-- she SHOUTS much more than she whispers.

if you're at all intrigued or mystified by this music i HIGHLY recommend reading Angela Davis' "Blues Legacies and Black Feminism." This not only clarifies the euphemisms and social context but also the performance context. it's brilliant writing and research in itself.

'baking jelly rolls' for instance, would only occur by sheer coincidence in a bakery.

and the 'corn' in black mountain blues probably comes from a keg or bottle rather than an ear...

this is as shallow a tip of the iceberg as i can give.

but remember she is called the EMpress of Blues for a REASON; everything after Bessie has something to do wtih her.