Wednesday, June 06, 2018

On Memphis Minnie's Birthday- The Queen of The Blues- Bessie Smith

CD REVIEW

The Essential Bessie Smith, Bessie Smith, Columbia, two disc set, 1997


Elsewhere in this space I have mentioned that in the early days of the blues, at least the recorded blues, women vocalists dominated the market. One thinks of Mabel Smith and Ma Rainey in that regard. But the queen of the hill, and the one still best remembered, for roaring out those barrel house blues is Bessie Smith. This little two-disc compilation gives a very nice beginner cross section of the kind of subjects that she sang about-mainly broken-hearted love, no good men and the trials and tribulations of being a black woman on her own.

Bessie's music also represents the place, as with Blind Willie McTell on the male side, where the blues go from the Saturday night juke joints of farm, make that cotton, country to the more sophisticated Southern city locales. Furthermore, she along with Memphis Minnie were the queens of the now lost art of sexual double entendre- you know, 'put a little sugar in my bowl', 'take me for a buggy ride' and other classic lines of that type.

Be aware in listening to this compilation that the quality of the early recordings can be a little grating on the ear but bear with it because this thing just grows on you. It is rather an acquired taste but once you have the Bessie in your head you will not want to turn the damn thing off. Top selections here are a moanful , weary St Louis Blues, Weeping Willow Blues and a novelty song- Jazzbo Brown From Memphis Town that later singers have covered. Are these recordings all the essentials you need to bring you up to speed on Bessie? No way, but go back the first sentence of this paragraph-you will be saving your pennies to get the next album.

Empty Bed Blues, Bessie Smith EMI, 1991

Be aware listening to Bessie is rather an acquired taste but once you have the Bessie in your head you will not want to turn the damn thing off. Unlike compilations that start with her earlier material like Aggravatin' Papa where the quality of the recording gets in the way of your listening pleasure this one is mainly later material with better sound quality. Top selections here are a moanful , weary St Louis Woman, the sexy Easy Rider, the jump two parts of Empty Bed Blues of the title, the down and dirty Me and My Gin and the novelty song Jazzbo Brown From Memphis Town. Are these recordings all the essentials to bring you up to speed on Bessie? No way, but go back the first sentence of this paragraph- you will be saving your pennies to get the next album.

2 comments:

  1. Funny how much she's tied to Elvis's legacy.

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  2. Ren- I believe that you are thinking of Big Mama Thornton and not Bessie Smith in tying black blues singers together with Elvis. Big Mama did the original Hound Dog. Elvis did a cover of that song which helped put him over the top. If you are not thinking of Big Mama in this regard but of Bessie let me know what the connection between her and Elvis is because I can't think of one off-hand. I am putting together a tribute to Big Mama for later but here is a start reviewing her Original Hound Dog album.

    Yes, Big Mama sang the original Hound Dog well before Elvis made it a classic rock and roll hit. Yes, he went on to make millions (although not off of that song as such but as a fresh sex symbol at a time when the youth of my generation were in desperate need of our own icons) while she made about five hundred dollars off of it. But that is not the whole story. Big Mama had a career of her own beyond that song that while not as financially rewarding (due in part to race but also her drinking problem) as Elvis's nevertheless placed her in the pantheon of female blue singers like Bessie Smith and Memphis Minnie- no little accomplishment in itself. That is what is being celebrated here. Other classics in this CD include How Come, Nightmare, They Call Me Big Mama and I Smell a Rat. Is this her best compilation? No, I believe that Ball and Chain is but this has a nice selection. Big Mama belts out the tunes but, as a rule, does not try to overpower them with that big voice. But big or small Mama means the electric blues raw and unchained and that ain't no lie.

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