120660bk Bessie 6/1/03 10:38 pm Page 8 Also available in the Naxos Jazz Legends series 8.120572 8.120583 8.120609* 8.120611* 8.120616 8.120622* * Not available in the USA 120660bk Bessie 6/1/03 10:38 pm Page 2 BESSIE SMITH The Naxos Historical labels aim to make available the greatest recordings of the history of ‘Downhearted Blues’ recorded music, in the best and truest sound that contemporary technology can provide. To Original Recordings 1923-1924 achieve this aim, Naxos has engaged a number of respected restorers who have the dedication, skill and experience to produce restorations that have set new standards in the “She made life amusing, serious, witty and devastatingly depressing and she field of historical recordings. sang, without compromise, for people who were honest enough to realise David Lennick that life is like that.” (Spike Hughes – Melody Maker obituary, 1937) As a producer of CD reissues, David Lennick’s work in this field grew directly from his own “Bessie’s control of her voice was without parallel; a subtle accent on one needs as a broadcaster specializing in vintage material and the need to make it listenable while syllable could change the entire meaning of a line. Her sense of pitch was as being transmitted through equalizers, compressors and the inherent limitations of A.M. radio. dramatic as it was accurate.” (George Avakian) Equally at home in classical, pop, jazz and nostalgia, Lennick describes himself as exercising as much control as possible on the final product, in conjunction with CEDAR noise reduction To her friends and fans Bessie became known as ‘The Queen of the Blues’ and the record applied by Graham Newton in Toronto. As both broadcaster and re-issue producer, he relies companies elevated her another notch to ‘Empress’. She made the blues her speciality and on his own extensive collection as well as those made available to him by private collectors, under that heading she sang of love, oppression and defeat for a salary often in excess of the University of Toronto, Syracuse University and others. $1500 per week and during the first year of her recording contract alone her sales exceeded two million. The archetypal raw, vaudeville blues singer, she was an American legend for some time before her untimely death and kept her place among black and white blues enthusiasts until Available in our companion series Naxos Nostalgia… changing fashions in popular music finally put her out of vogue. Her recorded legacy, however, continues to fascinate not solely on account of Bessie’s magisterial vocalising but also because of accompaniments featuring such stellar luminaries of early jazz as Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins, Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Tommy Ladnier and Clarence Williams. Bessie first saw the light in Chattanooga, Tennessee on 15 April 1894, one of seven siblings born to William Smith, a part-time Baptist preacher and his wife Laura. Raised in “a little ramshackle cabin”, her early years were marked by struggle and hardship and by the age of nine she had already lost both parents. Her family variously dispersed into vaudeville and travelling entertainment and Bessie, gifted with a voice, took her own first step towards showbiz, singing for nickels and dimes on Chattanooga street-corners, accompanied on guitar by her brother Andrew. An ebullient natural, gifted with a strong voice and a commanding stage presence, 8.120566 8.120630* 8.120659* before long Bessie had followed suit, touring with the Stokes troupe, initially as a dancer. * Not available in the USA 2 8.120660 8.120660 7 120660bk Bessie 6/1/03 10:38 pm Page 6 11. GRAVEYARD DREAM BLUES (Ida Cox) After other similar tours, in 1912 Bessie joined F. S. Wolcott’s Rabbit Foot Mintrels, at the With Jimmy Jones, piano instigation of her “fairy godmother” Gertrude ‘Ma’ Rainey (1886-1939). The Columbus, (Columbia A 4001, mx 81237-3) Recorded 26 September 1923 2:44 Georgia-born cabaret and pioneering female blues singer who later won fame throughout the 12. CEMETERY BLUES (Sid Laney) South and Midwest variously billed ‘The first Race Artist to earn the title of Madame’ and With Jimmy Jones, piano ‘Mother of the Blues’ (tags bestowed largely in recognition of her recordings – she herself made (Columbia 13001-D, mx 81241-3) Recorded 26 September 1923 3:31 about 100) took the virtual orphan Bessie under her wing and honed her raw talent, although 13. ANY WOMAN'S BLUES (Lovie Austin) from most accounts it is likely their relationship was fiery and that they parted on less than With Fletcher Henderson, piano friendly terms. (Columbia 13001-D, mx 81283-3) Recorded 16 October 1923 3:26 14. MISTREATIN' DADDY (Porter Grainger–Bob Ricketts) After leaving the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, Bessie toured for a while around gin-mills and tent- With Don Redman, clarinet; Fletcher Henderson, piano shows (with Charles W. Bailey, Pete Werley’s Florida Blossoms, Silas Green et al). She appeared (Columbia 14000-D, mx 81392-3) Recorded 4 December 1923 3:17 at Charles Bailey’s ‘81’ Theatre in Atlanta, from 1913 and with Hazel Green, at the Douglas 15. EASY COME, EASY GO BLUES (Will Jackson–Eddie Brown) Gilmor Theatre, Baltimore, in 1918. By the early 1920s she was an established star attraction With Harry Reser, guitar; Jimmy Jones, piano on the TOBA (Theatre Owners’ Booking Association) circuit. By 1922, having steadily built up (Columbia 14005-D, mx 81470-4) Recorded 10 January 1924 3:08 great followings in the South and on the East coast, she had established herself in 16. MOONSHINE BLUES (Gertrude Rainey) Philadelphia. She is reputed to have made her very first records early in 1921, in New York, for With Irving Johns, piano the Emerson label, but although they were advertised in the classified columns of the Chicago (Columbia 14018-D, mx 81676-1) Recorded 9 April 1924 3:14 Defender as scheduled for release on 10 March, no trace of these has so far been found. Other 17. BOWEAVIL BLUES (Gertrude Rainey) contemporary ads hint that she may have first auditioned for Columbia around this time and With Irving Johns, piano legend also has it that she was hired by Harry Pace to record various sides for his Black Swan (Columbia 14018-D, mx 81671-3) Recorded 7 April 1924 2:52 label but fired on the spot after exclaiming “Hold on a minute while I spit” in the middle of a 18. HATEFUL BLUES (Perry Bradford) take! With Robert Robbins, violin; Irving Johns, piano (Columbia 14023-D, mx 81672-2) Recorded 8 April 1924 3:08 From early in 1920 OKeh had been recording blues singer Mamie Smith with considerable commercial success and, late in 1922 or early in 1923, with a small backing group which All selections recorded in New York included Sidney Bechet and pianist Clarence Williams (1893-1965) Bessie (who was then in a Transfers & Production: David Lennick show with Bechet at the Dunbar Theatre in Philadelphia) was invited by Fred Hager of OKeh Digital Noise Reduction: Graham Newton Records to make a test of A. J. Piron’s “I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate”. OKeh Original 78's from the collections of Roger Misiewicz and John Wilby rejected this, however, considering her voice “too rough”, her style too unorthodox and therefore without sales potential (Williams gave the test to Bessie, who presumably destroyed Photo of Bessie Smith (b/w original, Michael Ochs Archives/Redferns) it). In February 1923, however, through the combined efforts of Williams and Columbia’s 6 8.120660 8.120660 3 120660bk Bessie 6/1/03 10:38 pm Page 4 A&R man Frank Walker, who was by now keen to inaugurate a more competitive ‘Race Series’, 1. DOWNHEARTED BLUES (Lovie Austin–Alberta Hunter) she recorded the first of 180 known sides (twenty of which unpublished, masters now lost) With Clarence Williams, piano under an exclusive contract which extended until November 1931. Although dropped at that (Columbia A 3844, mx 80863-5) Recorded 16 February 1923 3:24 time by Columbia during the Depression, ongoing sales of her records, it is claimed, helped 2. GULF COAST BLUES (Clarence Williams) save the company from bankruptcy (executive John Hammond, who rated Bessie “the greatest With Clarence Williams, piano artist American jazz ever produced” would add one final session, recorded for the English (Columbia A 3844, mx 80864-3) Recorded 16 February 1923 3:02 market, in November 1933). 3. 'TAIN'T NOBODY'S BIZ-NESS IF I DO (Porter Grainger–Everett Robbins) With Clarence Williams, piano Bessie’s first Columbia sessions involved multiple re-takes. All done by the long-winded and (Columbia A 3898, mx 80862-10) Recorded 26 April 1923 3:23 unnerving acoustical process, few of these were passed for release. Perhaps it was nerves and 4. KEEPS ON A-RAININ' (Spencer Williams–Max Kortlander) she found it necessary to acclimatise to an impersonal acoustic horn now taking the place of With Clarence Williams, piano the more customary audience vibes but Columbia, keen to market her potential, were (Columbia A 3898, mx 80865-10) Recorded 26 April 1923 3:03 accommodating and these earliest sessions, which until that of 26 April 1923 were all 5. YODLING BLUES (Clarence Williams) accompanied at the piano by Williams (they were soon to part painfully after Bessie discovered With Fletcher Henderson, piano he was pocketing 50% of her $125 per-side-used fee!), would produce some of the most (Columbia A 3989, mx 81079-3) Recorded 4 June 1923 3:07 monumental blues sides in jazz history, beginning with the highly influential Downhearted 6.