Bessie Smith Essay

In 1938, “Walkin’ Blues” was recorded and written by the Son House as a blues standard. It incorporated melodic and rhythmic elements from other songs which has a strum anticipating guitar styles of R&R. This song had mournful lyrics with

Around 1903 when my parent's died to survive, my brother, Andrew, and I began to perform a musical act on the streets of Chattanooga. I sang and my brother accompanied me on the guitar, often in front of the White Elephant Saloon. In 1912, when Clarence my older brother returned to Chattanooga, he persuaded the managers of his troupe, Lonnie and Cora Fisher, to give me an audition. Consequently, I was hired as a dancer with the Moses Stokes Company, to perform in a show that included the Mother of the Blues, Ma Rainey. Intriguing rumors surround our meeting—legend has it that Ma Rainey literally kidnapped me, that she and her husband forced me to tour with their show, teaching me in the process how to sing the blues. Some rumors say we had

In the 1920’s, blues was a very popular and dominating genre in the music industry. Generally, the blues was sung by African American women because according to the book entitled, “Blues Legacies and Black Feminism” by Angela Davis, “…The most widely heard individual purveyors of the blues—were women.” (Davis 4) The blues delivers certain emotions such as sadness, loneliness, love, sex, and feelings about the certain circumstances the artist may be going through at the time. Two women who dominate this style of music are Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and Bessie Smith. As stated by “Gay & Lesbian Biography”, “The careers of Rainey and Smith are closely interwoven.” Ma Rainey is a woman who is admired for both her amazing vocals and her ability to entertain. Bessie Smith is a woman who started off as a background dancer for her peer Ma Rainey, but then went on to emulate her by outdoing her success. Both women are very talented musicians who can not only sing and entertain, but they also create an impact as two of the most influential feminists during the 1920’s who helped shape the blues into what it is today.

On April 4, 1802 in Hampden, Maine, Dorothea Lynde Dix was born to Joseph and Mary Dix. Due to her mother's poor health, Dix assumed the household duties of tending to the house and caring for her two younger brothers from a very young age. Meanwhile, her father traveled as a preacher who sold religious books that Dix and her family

Music is such a beautiful creation, the way the melody, rhythm, tempo, all mix together to become a masterpiece. One specific genre of music, the blues, was heavily popular in the early 20th century. The blues is a tradition-oriented music style from the rural Southern African-American origin (“Jazz in America”, n.d. ). It usually had secular content, which is disparate from how it was when it first began. Blues music originated in plantations, where slaves sung, using it as a mental escape method from their oppression. Even though it started off in a simple way, it eventually turned into a serious entertainment. Bessie Smith and Billie Holliday, two well-known blues female singers, became hit sensations.

Bessie’s father, George Coleman, moved his family to Waxahachie, Texas, where he bought a quarter-acre of land and built a three-room house where two more daughters of his were born. In 1901 he left his family to go back to Oklahoma. Her mother decided to stay in Waxahachie to raise her family as best as she could. To help her mother Bessie and her siblings started picking cotton from late November into December of every year. When the girls were old enough they helped with the washing that their mother took to make ends meet. (bessiecoleman.org)

While on tour with Gillespie's band in 1946, Fitzgerald met and fell in love with the bassist Ray Brown, whom she married in 1947. (She had been previously married to Benjamin Kornegay, a shipyard worker, but their two-year marriage was annulled in 1943.) Fitzgerald and Brown were divorced in 1952, but they continued to perform together in Brown's own jazz combo.

Around 1920 she settled down in Philadelphia, getting her first big break in 1923 with Columbia Records where she made her first recordings, including the famous ‘Down Hearted Blues’ which became a huge success. Bessie Smith made about 160 recordings in total, singing alongside some of the greatest musicians of the time. Personal Life In 1929 Bessie Smith married Jack Gee. The marriage was turbulent, with both having numerous affairs.

It was exactly what Smith needed, and her career took a huge leap when she signed a contract with Columbia Records in 1923. Her song “Downhearted Blues” passed the critics of America with flying colors, and Bessie Smith’s name grew to be quite popular. She sold 160 titles and took in paychecks of $2,000 a week. That same year, Smith married Jack Gee--not the first, for she had married Earl Love earlier--on June 7th. It’s no secret Bessie Smith was far from being just a one-hit-wonder.

Charley Patton is known as the father of the delta Blue. His official year of birth is unknown but is speculated to be between 1887, 1891. He wasn’t born in the Mississippi Delta however, his family moved there and he spent much of his life there. I believe his Blues came from the fact he was of mixed heritage having black, Cherokee Nation and certainly not in the dominant whit culture. His family moved to the Dockery Plantation which was renowned for its favorable treatment of it sharecroppers and lenience on the musical indulgences of its residents. At the Dockery Plantation, Patton and other gave birth to the Delta Blues. He learned from a man named Henry Sloan who played what is viewed as an early Blues style. He influenced many other artists at the Dockery plantation including younger protégé‘s like Robert Johnson and Howling Wolf. Although Patton as of diminutive stature, he had a gritty, growly voice of a much bigger man which is said to have influenced the distinctive raspy voice of Wolf.

Mamie Smith is credited with making the first recorded blues vocal performance by an African American singer. The song was called "Crazy Blues" and it is hugely popular with the African American audience, helping to create a market for "race records," recordings that were specifically marketed to a black audience. Another important blues singer is the "Mother of Blues," Ma Rainey. She is also one of the first professional blues recording artists and was known for having a powerful voice. Some famous Ma Rainey songs include "See See Rider," "Black Bottom,"and "Prove It on Me." While Ma Rainey was the "Mother of Blues" another artist, Bessie Smith, was considered the "Empress of Blues".Bessie Smith is one of the highest paid African American

Between 1926 and 1929, Jefferson would go to record more than 90 tracks for the Paramount Records label. Songs including “See That My Grave Is Kept Clean,” and “Black Snake Moan,” put Jefferson on the national stage. The approach he took toward his blues was very different from what we know today. While some songs would use nearly identical melodies and guitar rhythms and riffs, others would contain none of the repetition we are used to today in more modern blues artists. On top of this, many of his songs differ in key and tuning.

Kitty Wells and Patsy Cline lead the way for Jean Shepard, Skeeter Davis, Dottie West, Connie Smith, Coretta Lynn, Barbara Mandrell, Tammy Wynette, and Dolly Parton raised to the top of the charts. Dolly was the number one though. When she came to the famous life she had ten best top hits of all time. Ya’ll music lovers out there said, “We really couldn’t adore Dolly more.” As Dolly Parton is a songwriter/ performer/ actress. Dolly was proven herself worthy. The number of career milestones in 25 gold, platinum, and multiplatinum awards. Dolly reached that number and even almost got higher. No other country singer could get that far, but Dolly did and even in a short amount of time. Everybody loved dolly, Dolly’s hits are still amazing today. Some of the old music lovers still love listening to her today. I got into her music because my mom was one of the old music lovers. She told me her name when I was little, so I decided to go to my laptop that the whole family shared and look up Dolly Parton on YouTube. I found all sorts of songs but I was little and I was in school working on numbers and letters and other stuff so I clicked on the song, “9 to 5” and I loved it I would sing it everyday after school then my mom told me to find a different song because it got annoying. I went to go find a different song and it was, “Traveling Man”. I loved that one too, I just stayed up and listened to them all. Now i love them all I even watch some of her movies that she acts

Whitney Houston is a superstar. She works with a lot of people who struggle with additive behaviors. This social exposure has been difficult for her to handle. From media reports, Ms. Houston appears to be very stressed over family matters. She reports that she had a tumultuous marriage; suffering through many years of infidelity and public scandals in addition to the drug and alcohol arrests of her husband. Additionally, Whitney has been embroiled in another legal battle with her father for failure to settle a $100 million debt she owed his company (Whitney Houston, 2011).

Eddie James “Son” House, Jr., an American blues singer and guitarist once stated, "People keep asking me where the blues started and all I can say is that when I was a boy we always was singing in the fields. Not real singing, you know, just hollerin', but we made up our songs about things that was happening to us at the time, and I think that's where the blues started (Cohn, 1993).”