bessie smith

     

Edward Albee wrote a tragic play about this "Empress of the Blues"

Trivia about bessie smith

  • "Spider Man Blues" was a record by this "Empress of the Blues"; Sony should be thinking soundtrack!
  • This blues empress' "Down Hearted Blues" sold 780,000 copies, restoring the ailing Columbia Records
  • The Empress of the Blues
  • This expressive blues "empress" was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee around 1894
  • Leading blues singer of the 1920s who recorded nearly 200 songs
  • In 1970 Janis Joplin helped pay for a gravestone for this "World's Greatest Blues Singer"
  • Known as the "Empress of the Blues", this singer often recorded with jazz great Louis Armstrong
  • Albee's play "The Death of" this singer, the "Empress of the Blues", examines race relations
  • Dinah Washington was "The Queen of the Blues" & this singer was "The Empress of the Blues"