Appalachian Collection

Bessie Smith: Appalachian Classic Blues Singer


 

Scope

This pathfinder is intended to be a starting point in research about Bessie Smith. There were some powerful classic blues singers that came from the Appalachian region; Bessie Smith was born and raised in Chattanooga , TN. She became the most outstanding blues singer of the genre. This pathfinder explores her life, character, musical career, and tragedies. This should be used as a guide to discovering more about Bessie Smith and, in addition, locating general works on blues history. The works cited in this pathfinder are limited to English language publications. The works and texts can be found in the WNCLN (Western North Carolina Library Network) system. ( University of North Carolina at Asheville , UNCA; Western Carolina University , WCU; Appalachian State University , ASU).

 

Introduction

General information about Bessie Smith can be found in these texts:

Albertson, Chris. Bessie Smith: Empress of the Blues. New York : W. Kane, 1975. See p. 7-27, "Bessie's Life". ASU Music Library: 75.1.S643 S6033

Bogle, Donald. Brown Sugar: 80 Years of America 's Black Female Superstars. New York : Harmony Books, 1980. See p. 12-16, "Introduction" and p. 28-32, "Bessie Smith". ASU IMC Stacks: 790.2.B6 75B

Harris, Sheldon. Blues Who's Who: A Biographical Dictionary of Blues Singers. New Rochelle , NY : Arlington House, 1979. See p. 462-465, "Bessie Smith". ASU Music Reference: ML102. B6 H3. (Library use only).

Jones, Hettie. Big Star Fallin' Mama: Five Women in Black Music. 1st Edition. New York : Viking Press, Inc., 1974. See p. 41-63, "Bessie Smith". ASU IMC Stacks: 920 J


Library of Congress Subject Headings

Highly Relevant:

  • Blues (Music)
  • Blues (Music) -- History and Criticism
  • Blues Musicians
  • Women Blues Musicians
  • Smith, Bessie -- 1898?-1937

Also Relevant:

  • African Americans -- Music
  • African American Women Musicians
  • African American Musicians -- in Literature

More General:

  • Blues Musicians -- United States -- Biography
  • Feminism and Music -- United States

Related:

  • Blues Music African Influences
  • Blues (Music) Appalachian Region
  • Sound Recordings -- Reviews

Call Numbers

Highly Relevant/Also Relevant:

  • ML 420 ML 54
  • ML 3521 ML 156
  • More General: ML 420
  • ML 3521 ML 3521
  • Related: ML 3556
  • ML 156 PS 3554
  • ML 3521

 

Frequently Mentioned Books

Albertson, Chris. Bessie. New York , Toronto : Stein and Day Publishers, 1972. App Coll Stacks: ML420. S667 A1 1972

Davis , Angela Y. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. New York , Toronto : Pantheon Books, 1998. See index p. 418 for listings of Bessie Smith. App Coll Stacks: ML3521. D355 1998

Kay, Jackie. Bessie Smith. Bath , Somerset , England : Absolute Press, 1997. App Coll Stacks: ML420. S667 1997

Moore, Carman. Somebody's Angel Child: The Story of Bessie Smith. New York : Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1969. ASU IMC Stacks: 92 S 643mo

Oliver, Paul. Bessie Smith. London , Mellbourne, Sydney , Toronto , Cape Town , Johannesburg , Auckland : Cassell and Company Limited, 1959. App Coll Stacks: ML 420. S667 04 1959

 

Guides, Encyclopedias, and Dictionaries containing general information; each text contains specific information about Bessie Smith

Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians. Volume 5, Centennial Edition. New York : Schrimer Books, 2001. See p. 3373-3374, "Bessie Smith" by William Ruhlmann. ASU Music Reference: ML105. B16 2001 Vol.5 (Library use only)

Harris, Sheldon. Blues Who's Who: A Biographical Dictionary of Blues Singers. New Rochelle , NY : Arlington House, 1979. See p. 462-465, "Bessie Smith". ASU Music Reference: ML102.B6 H3 (Library use only)

Herzhaft, Gerard. The Encyclopedia of Blues. 2nd Edition. Fayetteville : The University of Arkansas Press, 1997. See p. 188-189 "Bessie Smith". ASU Music Reference: ML102. B6 H413 1997

Jablonski, Edward. The Encyclopedia of American Music. Garden City, NY: Doubleday and Company, Inc., 1981. See p. 290-291, "Bessie Smith". ASU Music Reference: ML100. J28 (Library use only)

 

These Bibliographies contain a broad selection of information:

**Pay attention to the page numbers listed for each volume.

Ford, Robert. A Blues Bibliography: The International Literature of an Afro-American Music Genre. England : Paul Pelletier, 1999. See p. 551-557. ASU Music Reference: 128. B49 F67 1999 (Library use only)

Hart, Mary L., Brenda M. Eagles, and Lisa N. Howorth. The Blues: A Bibliographic Guide. New York and London : Garland Publishing, Inc., 1989. See p. 384-389. ASU Music Reference: ML128 B49 H3 1989 (Library use only)

 

Abstracts and Indices, listed in order of importance, are useful for basic research about Bessie Smith (search Smith, Bessie):

Biography and Genealogy Master Index

RILM Abstracts and Music Literature

International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP)

Arts and Humanities

Dissertation Abstracts Online

Music Index (must go to ASU Music Library and search for Bessie Smith, some books may be in storage)

 

Journals

American Heritage. Monthly Publication. Cooperstown , NY : Published for the American Association for State and Local History, v.1, no.2, 1950-present. ASU Periodicals

Down Beat. Monthly Publication. Elmhurst , IL : Maher Publications, v. 44 1977-present. ASU Music Library

 

Reviews

Brooks , Edward . The Bessie Smith Companion: A Critical and Detailed Appreciation of the Recordings. New York : De Capo Press, Inc., 1982. WCU General ML420. S667 B7 1982 (Currently out of print; available through Interlibrary Loan)


Other Relevant Material

To truly understand the character, talent, and personality of Bessie Smith, one must listen to her music, read her lyrics, watch videos about her, and surf the web sites that pertain to her. Included in this section is the most relevant material relating to discographies, lyrics, videos, and web sites.

 

Discography

The Complete Recordings: Bessie Smith. New York : Sony Music Entertainment Inc., 1993. ASU Music Library Vol. 1 CD-644a, CD-644b, CD-644-PN. Vol. 2 . Vol. 3 . Vol. 4 .

 

Lyrics

Within these texts and web sites, there are a few of Bessie Smith's Lyrics to her most popular songs:

(Pay attention to the page numbers listed at each site.)

Blues Lyrics Online: Bessie Smith. http://www.geocities.com/BourbonStreet/Delta/2541/blbsmith.htm

Davis , Angela Y. Blues Legacies and Black Feminism. New York , Toronto : Pantheon Books, 1998. See p. 258-358. App Coll Stacks: ML3521. D355 1998

Schuller, Gunther. "Notes on Bessie's Singing Style" in Bessie Smith: Empress of the Blues, by Chris Albertson. New York : W. Kane, 1975. See p. 29-143. ASU Music Library: 75.1.S643 S6033


Videos

Bessie Smith: American Blues Singers. Princeton , NJ : Films for the Humanities, 1988. ASU App Coll Video VC 337

Bessie Smith and Friends, 1929-1941. Rahway , NJ : Videofidelity, Inc., 1986. ASU App Coll Video VC 163 (Contains footage from the St. Louis Blues)

Wild Women Don't Have the Blues: The Women, The Music, The Legacy. San Francisco , CA : California Newsreel, 1989. ASU App Coll Video VC 168


Internet Resources

There are thousands of web sites pertaining to Bessie Smith. Of the sites that were examined, these are a few that are relevant. One's best bet would be to use a general search engine such as www.google.com or www.metacrawler.com. One would search "Bessie Smith".

Bessie Smith: A Web site by Joel Snow at Langston University featuring a biography and discography of Bessie Smith. http://mathrisc1.lunet.edu/blues/Bessie_Smith.html

The Blue Flame Cafe: an interactive biographical encyclopedia of the great blues singers and singers of the blues, from Charley Patton to Stevie Ray Vaughan. (Artists listed alphabetically Search S, for Smith, Bessie)
http://www.blueflamecafe.com

DownBeat.Com: This site showcases blues reviews, album reviews, festivals, blues news, education, the DownBeat magazine, videos, and artists. (Search Bessie Smith)
http://www.downbeat.com

National Women's Hall of Fame: Located in Seneca Falls , NY , the Hall is a shrine to some of the greatest women in the history of this country and a tribute that grows annually with each induction ceremony as it learns to appreciate more about the wonderful contributions that women make to our civilization.
http://www.greatwomen.org

Malaspina Great Books: Library of Congress Citations on Bessie Smith http://www.mala.bc.ca/~mcneil/cit/citlcsmithb.htm

Red Hot Jazz Archive: A History of Jazz Before 1930. This informative site allows one to search bands, music, artists, and essays. http://www.redhotjazz.com/bessie.html

 

Compiler: Katie Nash, May 2001