Bessie Smith
| Year Inducted | Category | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award | |||
| 1989 | Rock and Roll Hall of Fame | "Early influences" | ||
| 1981 | Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame | |||
| 1980 | Blues Hall of Fame | |||
U.S. Postage Stamp
| Year Issued | Stamp | USA | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 29 cents Commemorative stamp | U.S. Postal Stamps |  [15] |
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Digital remastering
Given the technical faults in the majority of her original gramophone recordings -- especially variations in recording speed, which raised or lowered the apparent pitch of her voice, misrepresented the "light and shade" of her phrasing, interpretation and delivery, and altered the apparent key of her performances (sometimes raised or lowered by as much as a semitone) and, also, the fact that the "centre hole" in some of the master recordings had not been in the true middle of the master disc, meaning that there were wide variations in tone, pitch, key and phrasing as the commercially released record revolved around its spindle -- there is a very significant and very positive difference in the performance that Smith delivers in the current digitally remastered versions of her work.
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References in other works
- The rock and roll group The Band, popular during the 1960s and the 1970s, wrote a song about Bessie Smith named after her (the song is included on the album The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan & The Band, first released in 1975). Singer Norah Jones included the song in a 2002 concert performance at the House of Blues. Excerpt of the lyrics to The Band's "Bessie Smith":
"Bessie was more than just a friend of mine
We shared the good times with the bad
Now many a year has passed me by
I still recall the best thing I ever had
I'm just goin' down the road t' see Bessie
Oh, See her soon
Goin' down the road t' see Bessie Smith
When I get there I wonder what she'll do.."
- Kings and Queens, a 1996 album by the Seattle punk band The Gits, included a live piano-accompanied improvisation cover of Smith's "Graveyard Dream Blues" named "Graveyard Blues". The song starts with lead singer Mia Zapata telling the audience that "This is a song by (...) Bessie Smith. This is from her to you..."
- In early 2006, UK alternative rock/hip hop act Bad Music Inc. paid tribute to Smith with their song "Bessie". Excerpt of the lyrics to Bad Music Inc's "Bessie":
"It's easy to forget, or not to be aware
So let me take a moment, I've a legacy to share
Bessie, Bessie sing through your pain..."
- Singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone dedicates her blues song "I Want A Little Sugar In My Bowl" to Bessie Smith on her live album It Is Finished (1974), stating "Bessie Smith, you know?..." before commencing with the song. Ironically, the song title was changed to "I Need a Little Sugar In My Bowl" on the album, and credited to Simone.
- Often the subject of concept albums, Smith has been paid such a recorded tribute by numerous singers, including Juanita Hall, Dinah Washington, and Teresa Brewer.
- Smith is mentioned in Dory Previn's song A Stone for Bessie Smith on her album Mythical Kings & Iguanas. It refers to the fact that Smith's grave remained unmarked until Janis Joplin and Juanita Green bought a headstone.
- The 1948 short story "Blue Melody" by J.D. Salinger and the 1959 play The Death of Bessie Smith by Edward Albee both deal with Smith's death and whites-only hospitals' refusal to treat her. The Salinger story refers to a fictional blues singer named Lida Louise Jones, whose life and death have similarities to Smith's.
- Her Song "See If I'll Care" was used by the early 1990s Screamo band Indian Summer for their song "Angry Son", in which they play their own instruments over her version.
- John Berryman makes frequent reference to Bessie Smith in The Dream Songs
- In the Israeli musical Don't Call Me Black!, there is a song titled Who Murdered Bessie Smith?, discussing the question regarding the ownership of responsibility for Bessie Smith's death.
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References
- ^ Jasen, David A.; Gene Jones (1998). Spreadin' Rhythm Around: Black Popular Songwriters, 1880-1930. Schirmer Books, pp. 289. ISBN 978-0028647425.
- ^ Albertson. Bessie (Revised and Expanded Edition), Yale University Press (New Haven), 2003. ISBN 0-300-09902-9.
- ^ Albertson, 2003, page 11.
- ^ Albertson, 2003.
- ^ Albertson, 2003, pages 14-15.
- ^ Oliver, Paul. Bessie Smith. in Kernfeld, Barry. ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd Edition, Vol. 3. London: MacMillan, 2002. p. 604.
- ^ Albertson, 2003, pp 80.
- ^ Smith's death, and a popular, but now discredited, version of the circumstances surrounding it — namely, that she died as a result of being refused admission to a "Whites Only" hospital in Clarksdale (a myth started by jazz writer/producer John Hammond in an inaccurate article that appeared in the November 1937 issue of Down Beat magazine) — formed the basis for Edward Albee's 1959 one-act play The Death of Bessie Smith.
- ^ Albertson, Bessie, pp. 2-5 and 277.
- ^ Historical marker placed on Mississippi Blues Trail. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2007-02-09.
- ^ Grammy Hall of Fame Award Database
- ^ 2002 Registry choices
- ^ Librarian of Congress Names 50 Sound Recordings to the Inaugural National Recording Registry
- ^ 500 Songs That Shaped Rock
- ^ Bessie Smith: 29 cents Commemorative stamp
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Further reading
- Albertson, Chris, Liner notes, Bessie Smith: The Complete Recordings, Volumes 1 - 5, Sony Music Entertainment, 1991.
- Albertson, Chris, Bessie (Revised and Expanded Edition), Yale University Press (New Haven), 2003. ISBN 0-300-09902-9.
- Brooks, Edward, The Bessie Smith Companion: A Critical and Detailed Appreciation of the Recordings, Da Capo Press (New York), 1982. ISBN 0306762021.
- Davis, Angela Y., Blues Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, Bessie Smith, and Billie Holiday, Pantheon Books (New York), 1998. ISBN 0-679-45005-X.
- Eberhardt, Clifford, Out of Chattanooga, Ebco (Chattanooga), 1994.
- Feinstein, Elaine, Bessie Smith, Viking (New York), 1985, ISBN 0670806420.
- Grimes, Sara, Backwaterblues: In Search of Bessie Smith, Rose Island Pub. (Amherst), 2000, ISBN 0970708904.
- Kay, Jackie, Bessie Smith, Absolute (New York), 1997. ISBN 1-899791-55-8.
- Manera, Alexandria, Bessie Smith, Raintree (Chicago), 2003. ISBN 0739868756.
- Martin, Florence, Bessie Smith, Editions du Limon (Paris), 1994. ISBN 290722431X.
- Oliver, Paul, Bessie Smith, Cassell (London), 1959.
- Palmer, Tony, All You Need is Love: The Story of Popular Music, Grossman Publishers/Viking Press (New York), 1976. ISBN 0-670-11448-0.
- Welding, Pete; Byron, Tony (eds.), Bluesland: Portraits of Twelve Major American Blues Masters, Dutton (New York), 1991. ISBN 0-525-93375-1.
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External links
- Interview with Bessie Smith biographer Chris Albertson
- Listen to Bessie Smith at Jazz Old Time On Line
- Listen to Bessie Smith at The Red Hot Jazz Archive
- Watch Bessie Smith in St. Louis Blues at The Red Hot Jazz Archive
- Bessie Smith Hall in Chattanooga, Tennessee
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